Reno Air Crash

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Trish and Rob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zejdh6Ab478&feature=player_embedded

Earlier this week, I spoke to our friend Lynn Gernon, who is married to Bruce Gernon, Rob’s co-author of The Fog. She said that she and Bruce were headed out to Reno for the airshow over the weekend.  So Friday I checked one of my online news sites and saw that a WWII, P-51 fighter plane had crashed into the grandstands at the Reno airshow.

I immediately thought of Lynn and Bruce. I scrolled through my cell numbers, couldn’t find Lynn’s number, and ran to the back of the house to get the number from Megan. She is working part-time at a business their daughter owns and had the number. I texted Lynn and was relieved to find out they hadn’t attended the air show today.

Here are the details. Around 4:30 PM Reno time,  the P-51 Mustang crashed into a box-seat area in front of the grandstand. It appeared that the pilot, 74-year-old Jimmy Leeward of Ocala, Florida, a veteran air man and stunt pilot, had lost control of the plane. Leeward was a stunt pilot for the movies Amelia and Cloud Dancer.

According to the Huffington Post, “the competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.”

While reading about the disaster, I was struck by the name of Leeward’s plane, which may push this story into the realm of a global synchro: Galloping Ghost.

Why that name? If you’re  a stunt pilot, flying in risky air shows, why would you even dare to call your plane anything related to ghosts? Isn’t that like, well, tempting fate? Or did Leeward have some inking  of the future?

 

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16 Responses to Reno Air Crash

  1. Ray G says:
    September 22, 2011 at 11:08 am

    I read that the pilot was tempting fate in another way by recently having the plane modified to drastically increase horsepower and speed. The author thought the plane was then over powered and reacted differently than with the original engine the airframe was designed for.

    Ray

  2. Nancy says:
    September 19, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    Obviously this was a great disaster for our area – right on the heels of the shooting in Carson City. We had many friends working and volunteering at the air show that day and feel blessed that none of them were injured, or at least we think not. They have not released all of the names yet.

    However, this plane had been modified by shortening the wings by a huge margin. The pilot had been interviewed a few days before this accident and he stated he would be testing the limits of the plane on Friday. He had been “biding his time” for the first couple of days and planned on making his move on Friday. He was just moving from third place to second place when the accident occured. He had stated that “we’ll see what will happen on Friday.” Meaning we would see what the modifications would produce.

    I guess we did. Here is a direct quote:

    “The 65-year-old “Galloping Ghost” underwent years of massive overhauls that took a full 10 feet off its wingspan. The ailerons the back edges of the main wings used to control balance were cut from about 60 inches to 32.”

  3. terri patrick says:
    September 19, 2011 at 11:49 am

    We had friends attending these air races and they were in the grandstands within 50 and 100 feet of the crash. While this is a horrible tragedy and we’ve heard direct comments about the sudden explosion of body parts and shrapnel, aviation insiders are very thankful that it wasn’t worse. The potential if the P-51 was at an angle, instead of nose-in, would have been worse as it would have cut a wider path and greater horrors as it tumbled through spectators. There could have been more of a fiery explosion as well.

    Stunt pilots often tempt fate with the names of their planes and the acts they perform. They are aware they ride the knife edge and will do so for years and events around the globe. Pilots often state they want-to-go in a spit second crash while doing what they love as the slow decline of age or illness is a greater horror.

  4. gypsy says:
    September 19, 2011 at 11:24 am

    oh, and then, there’s the thing of the number of air show crashes recently –

  5. gypsy says:
    September 19, 2011 at 11:22 am

    in answer to your questions – perhaps, both? what a name story! and i could not help but notice that number 51 rearing its head again – the other 51s being the ages of kara kennedy and eleanor mondale, both of whom died last week at the age of 51 –

  6. 67 Not Out - Mike Perry says:
    September 19, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Saw this on UK television. I think it was picked up because recently a UK airforce pilot of the Red Arrows was also killed at an air display. Report here. No reason for the crash has been established. As for the name ‘Galloping Ghost’ – not a good choice.

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