gary1954 wrote:
Mark Allen M wrote:
I note the Cen-Tex logo on the side of this example, was this owned by John Stokes; I recall him be a "Colonel" in the CAF.
This was at the 1975 California National Air Races at Mojave. "Sly ol" Vernon Thorpe raced it for John Stokes.
Funny story about Vernon in this plane at Mojave that year. During the Unlimited heat race on Friday, Jim Pate was scheduled to be the pilot for Lyle Shelton's F8F Bearcat sponsored by Aircraft Cylinder & Turbine. Pate had never been around the course at Mojave, since Lyle had qualified the plane. So Lyle told Jim to just pick a guy and follow him around the course as best as he could. Pate thinks to himself that Vernon Thorpe is a pretty good stick, so he'll just follow him around. Unfortunately, this was just a 'for fun' race with no outcome or placement for the Consolation or Championship races, so it really didn't count for anything. Vernon knows he can't be competitive with the other planes in the heat, so he decides to just go have some fun.
The planes come down the chute and Bob Hoover lets them go. Around the first couple of pylons they go, and Vernon cuts way inside and diagonally across the race course, cutting a couple pylons, and coming out in first place on the backstretch. Vernon thinks that's pretty fun, so he does it again on the next lap. And the next lap. Poor old Jim Pate just plays follow-the-leader and for several laps cuts deep inside the course. Both Vernon and Pate get disqualified, and Shelton is just fuming. Pate never flew the airplane again.
IIRC, at some point that weekend the engine froze up solid on Vernon and the Sea Fury was down hard for a while at Mojave.