Dick Foote's Wildcat

[Beachy]

Hey All, don't know why this just popped into my head tonight, but I got to thinking about Mr. Foote's "passenger-converted" Wildcat ( ) -- was speaking with a friend about it, and we're wondering if there's any substantiation to the claim that it's a Wildcat that he test flew "back in the day" --

I've seen an old P & W company magazine (I think it was a P & W one, it's down in the basement in a box somewhere) with a write up on him test flying a Corsair, but I never gave his Wildcat any thought in relation to him test flying it......

Anyone got any scoop on this for me?

[Mike]

See page 11

http://www.vacwarbirds.org/oldnewslette ... ramble.pdf

The article refers to him as 'Chief test pilot for General Motors' before going to Vought, so I'd assume that yes, he did test fly a lot of FM-2 Wildcats, so it's quite possible that he had test-flown his own example when it came off the line.

Last edited by Mike on Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Jerry O'Neill]

When Dick lived in CT, I ran into him frequently. That FM-2 he owns was indeed in his WWII Eastern Aircraft Test Pilot Log Book.
He test flew it out of the factory in Linden, NJ.
Jerry

[Beachy]

Thanks, Guys!

[PeterA]

I presume this would be the Wildcat, a shot I took back in 1974.

At that time Fred Edison was the owner. He kindly took me for a little 'stooge' around the local area at Windsor, Ontario, in close formation with Rudy Frasca on one side in his Wildcat and the Champlin Hellcat on the other.

It really was quite amusing to unbuckle and be able to kneel or stand and talk with the pilot through the internal hatch.

I seem to remember that Dick Foote was also at this gathering in another type.

PeterA

[wls3]

Here is a photo from the mid 90s. It was taken at the
Valiant Air Command's show at TICO.

It shows Mr. Foote on wing with a passenger sitting in side entrance door.

A/C displays the same N# as on Peter's above photo.

Bill

[Ryan Keough]

Does anyone have a photo of the "passenger" compartment of the Wildcat? I am curious to see the arrangement.

My friend Frank Schaufler flew with Dick back when he was in CT during a formation flight with a Harrier... back before the days of a heritage flight! I guess the Harrier pilot didn't have much formation experience with dissimilar planes and had a real close call with the plane.

[Pat Carry]

Ryan, check www.warbirdregistry.org/f4fregistry/f4f-86680.htm

[PeterA]

... in close formation with Rudy Frasca on one side in his Wildcat and the Champlin Hellcat on the other.

I seem to remember that Dick Foote was also at this gathering in another type.

The view from the multi-seat Wildcat.

...looking through my notes, I better correct my last post. That was Preston Parish in N1PP on the port side and Dwaine Trenton in N103V on the starboard.

PeterA

[seabee1526]

nice

[marine air]

Many years ago at Oshkosh, they were going to feature a bunch of WW II Wildcat pilots and were expecting 7 or 8 Wildcats to attend. Well, Dick Foote was preparing to land at Fond du Lac, and had to make a go around. He raised the gear and then forgot to lower it on the second attempt. There's a triangular chunk of metal on the belly used to attach the cables for a catapult launch. It slid down the runway on that and the only damage to the aircraft was a bent prop.
Me and a friend heard about the mishap and made our way to Fond du Lac to see it. They had already quickly lifted it, lowered the gear and rolled it into a locked hangar.