Rare bear cockpit pics

[Peashooter]

The wingnut might be associated with the O2 regulator. Looks like a diaphram of sorts.

Or, when one's sphincter has a hold of the seat real tight, you loosen that wingnut...uncurls your toes, too!

[AAFO_WSagar]

LOL Peas... I hope one of the crew chimes in but it also could just be a "plug" blocking one of the internal fresh air vents.. In that first cockpit shot that I put up, in roughly the same area of the side panel, there is, what looks to be, a fresh air vent.. could be that this is another outlet for that system that they have decided to block off??

Hummn... here's a close up of it... It might also be some sort of fluid tank and this could be the "cap" for it.....

Crew??? Slackman???????

Wayne

[Unregistered]

Previous posting was noting the Rare Bear as fan sponsered......and that's fine.......Please, please don't take this wrong, but I've been curious, money is always a problem with the bear, which is easily understood. The airplane has been modified for one thing, and that's speed, I love the plane. Again, don't take this wrong, but why doesn't Lyle sell the plane to someone that has the $$$ to really race it. I'm sure he loves the bird, I know I do mine, but he doesn't drive it anymore, so again, I wonder why he doesn't sell it to a someone who could put the $$ into her and really make her go.

[Alpine]

When were these pics taken? The pic on their site shows everything white? just curious as to which it is now. Also anyone have pics of the rest of the cockpit and everything behind the seat/under the canopy? They would also be a big help.
Thanks

[AAFO_WSagar]

Alpine, they were taken last June...

[AAFO_WSagar]

Originally posted by Unregistered
Previous posting was noting the Rare Bear as fan sponsered......and that's fine.......Please, please don't take this wrong, but I've been curious, money is always a problem with the bear, which is easily understood. The airplane has been modified for one thing, and that's speed, I love the plane. Again, don't take this wrong, but why doesn't Lyle sell the plane to someone that has the $$$ to really race it. I'm sure he loves the bird, I know I do mine, but he doesn't drive it anymore, so again, I wonder why he doesn't sell it to a someone who could put the $$ into her and really make her go.

Hummn Unregistered.. I guess the answer to this would be, I don't think us "fans" would like to see this. Those of us who were there during the airplane's heyday, who witnessed the head to head battles that went on year after year.. and also know the sacrifices that Lyle has made over the years, as well as the contributions to the sport he's made, we'd not like to see Lyle sell the airplane.. Even if it seems to make the most sense at times..

Besides, the list of those who might buy her and then have the $$ and smarts to make her work better than she is now is pretty short...

That's my $.02 on the subject at least..

Wayne
PS... I really do wish you guys who ask these really deep questions would SIGN YOUR POSTS! What's with the need to keep your identity hidden??? We don't make you register but we DO ask that you have the courtesy to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE!

[77AMT]

Hey Wayne and all,

To identify the picture with the wingnut in it... It is the ADI Tank Cap/Plug.

Roger

[AAFO_WSagar]

Originally posted by 77AMT
Hey Wayne and all,

To identify the picture with the wingnut in it... It is the ADI Tank Cap/Plug.

Roger

Hey... thanks Roger.. I thought it was probably a tank on closer inspection of the picture... Thanks for the clarification!

How's it goin down there???????

HOPE to get down that way soon and say hello to all ya's!

Wayne

[matt]

unregistered i understand your point about the bear being better off in some one elses hands but see it from his point of view.

you bought this thing nearly 40 years ago, labored for months as hard as you could to get it flying and hopefully race. you invested fortune after fortune into it, had some great and some not so great times with it, made and lost friends around it, she has only gotten faster with age and last but definetly not least, it's a challenge to fly (if you've ever heard him tell stories about how it flies your eyes would pop out of your skull), simply put he loves the airplane and has put too much into to just it go.

besides, i think it would lose some of the flare it has if someone else owned it, "Lyle Sheltons' Rare Bear" just sounds right...

[AAFO_WSagar]

Hey Matt,

A truly beautiful explanation!

"Lyle Shelton's Rare Bear" .... Indeed... If it leaves his hands, then, perhaps, only the Smithsonian would be fittng ey (sorry if any typos, I do not have my reading glasses and, it's all a blur!) Truly though Matt, nobody could have put it better!

Wayne
PS... are you 21 yet? You really do owe me a brew!

[claylemon]

Wayne, I hope you were kidding about the Smithsonian. The idea of "Lyle Shelton's Rare Bear" sitting in a museum sticks in my craw. You might as well put her next to "Roy Roger's Trigger" and watch her fade away into ablivion.

The only way to keep her alive is to keep her FLYING! Who would ever be able to respect the feats of THE BEAR while sitting inside a sand free and air conditioned building.


Love always, Clay

[Race 29]

Clay,
I can see your point and I do agree that some aircraft are much better in the sky. But I really do hope that when Lyle does finally decide to hang it up, that the Bear goes to the Smithsonian (even if it is on the other side of the country) I beleive it's just as deserving as Wiley Post's Winne Mae, the X-15, Boeing 247, etc. Certainly more deserving than Conquest 1. I'm not knocking Greenameyer at all, I'm definatly a fan, but in terms of historical significance and acheavement. There's not too many Bearcats around anymore, and Rare Bear is certainly the "Bear-est" of them all. I couldn't see it in anyone elses hands. We've had a few modified Mustangs restored back to stock, I'd really hate to see that happen to the Bear, I'd rather she was preserved in her "last raced in" state. Just my two yen.

Race 29

[Peashooter]

Conquest is in the Smithsonian for many amazing, historic racing achievements. But perhaps chief among them is breaking the 3km speed record. (was it 1969, 483 mph?) Imagine, the previous record (469), ostensibly by an ME-109, was set by a state-run "propaganda machine" only to be wrested away by a minimally funded group of brilliant (free!) individuals, 30 years later, simply pursuing a passion and a dream. Conquest's achievement is enshrined and honored appropriately in the Smithsonian. Certainly, the Bear's flying days will come to an end -- not soon, hopefully -- and it's rightful place has definitely been earned. 528 mph 15 years ago is an irrevocable honorary pass into those hallowed halls. Peas

[matt]

thanks wayne, no, i'll be 19 the end of this april. seems ages ago i was a 15 year old brat getting everything wrong and getting on peoples cases, now i'm just a 19 year old brat, lol.

clay i agree with you, what i wouldn't give to see a lot of ex-racers (conquest 1, anson johnson's scoopless mustang, etc.) flying today.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Originally posted by claylemon
Wayne, I hope you were kidding about the Smithsonian. The idea of "Lyle Shelton's Rare Bear" sitting in a museum sticks in my craw. You might as well put her next to "Roy Roger's Trigger" and watch her fade away into ablivion.

Clay, the mention was really retorical. I can't envision the airplane owned or flown by anyone else but the current combo..

Wayne