Warbird Information Exchange

Bummer. Sounds like he's okay. No info on the plane. Here is the report as seen on ASB.

http://www.asb.tv/forums/index.php?showtopic=6210&hl=

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-Al Sauer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spookythecat

It was the first pass of his routine. He was cranking along pretty good, but when he pulled up, the gear dropped. It was determined this broke a gear strut. His landing was obstructed by the B-2 hangers, so I did not see it.
The announcer made it sound like the airboss had stated the gear did not collapse, but that they were not going risk a collapse taxiing it from the runway. It took about three hours to clear the runway, but I never saw the Wildcat after that, so I can't comment on whether or not the aircraft was damaged further on landing.

I had been taking video with my little point and shoot, but decided to take a still on this pass...Oh well. This was about 1-2 seconds before the gear dropped.

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-Dante Cosentino

One year at Oshkosh they were going to have a tribute to some Navy pilots and were going to have 5 wildcats in attendance. One Wildcat, I believe it was Dick Foote's, decided to land at Fond du Lac to refuel before going into Oshkosh.
Well, the pattern was busy and he forgot to lower the gear. The airplane skidded down the runway centerline and came to a stop. Further inspection revealed the only damage was the curled prop tips because there is a big chunk of metal just aft of gear on the bottom of fuselage that absorbed the impact and it just slid on this item. It was something to do with the airplane being able to be catapulted.
It's a very tough little bird. They jacked it up, cranked down the gear and put another prop on it and he flew it home.

Here is a picture to show what Marine Air is talking about.

Some more pictures here: http://www.airshowbuzz.com/forums/index ... ntry114655

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.