Some old Reno pics

[SpinB]

Rollin'

..when i saw this, my mind snapped back to Johnny Kazian's voice, 'Is that some kinda' flyin'? Oh Yeah!

[N22252]

..when i saw this, my mind snapped back to Johnny Kazian's voice, 'Is that some kinda' flyin'? Oh Yeah!

.

[wingman]

There have been some pretty dramatic Reno arrivals over the years, but that one beats them all. Do we know who took the pictures?

[Jan]

They're from Walt's collection, a good portion of which he gave Dad. I can think of a few possible candidates but I don't actually know for certain. Eric Everill - Eric's (my brother's) godfather - could have taken these. He was an outstanding photographer, not much known by the air racing world but a professional shooting in other realms like advertising. He traveled to Reno along with Dad in the early years.

[wingman]

They were done with quite a long lens -- fairly unusual in those days

[wingman]

I must admit that I have known some very likeable Corsairs. This one was owned by an Alabama good ole boy named Merle Gustafson. He did a beautiful great swooping aerobatic routine in this airplane at Reno 1979. I happened to be on pylon 1 (at the runway intersection) for this routine on the first day of racing. It turned out that the intersection was his key point for many of his maneuvers. I'll never forget standing there watching that airplane just get bigger and bigger and then go whistling by at 100 feet high. Very cool...

An old interview with Merle: F4U CORSAIR - "Angel of Okinawa" (youtube.com)

[Jan]

Ha! Good memories. More so because we and Dad actually met Merle twice. Not at Reno but in Alabama. Merle was actually from Tallulah, Louisiana, not Alabama. But he was widely known in warbird circles and well liked. He did lots of flying on his own and with the CAF. As you can imagine, Mac was the connection. We hung out with Merle at Mac's place in Eufaula, Alabama. Good guy.

His son Steve Gustafson flew T-6s for a long time, including with the AeroShell Aerobatic Team. Merle passed away in 1984 or 85 - not in a flying accident. He had an accident while welding on a shrimp boat.

The youtube link you sent is cool but there's actually a short documentary that was made in 1975 about Merle with sponsorship from Pennzoil. It's called "The Country Boy Crop Duster". It's good fun to watch and the opening footage is wayyy cool!

F-0089 The Country Boy Crop Duster Merle Gustafson Angel of Okinawa Video (youtube.com)

Btw, "Angel of Okinawa" is still around. I think Kermit Weeks has owned it since the 1990s.

[Sparrow]

I have been to Steve's place several times. He took several of us in his cart to the levy in back of his house one evening to show us his little friend settin out there on the log!! This evening when we first entered his house, he had the video you mention above playing about his Dad. Far as I know, he still is flying with the T-6 team although the sponsorship has changed recently. This is not too far from VTR airport where i was working on a customer Mustang at the time.

[Big_Jim]

Merle passed away in 1984 or 85 - not in a flying accident. He had an accident while welding on a shrimp boat.

I will always remember that because it was during race week, 1984.

[Jan]

I will always remember that because it was during race week, 1984.

Yep, tragic. I think I remember hearing there was an explosion of some kind but I may be incorrect.

[wingman]

So a little quiz question: The Corsair looks a little different in bare metal. This one did race on occasion, and may have been the slowest of all the slow Corsairs. Name the airplane, pilot, and venue.

Lots of clues here...

Neal

[niki62]

So a little quiz question: The Corsair looks a little different in bare metal. This one did race on occasion, and may have been the slowest of all the slow Corsairs. Name the airplane, pilot, and venue.

Lots of clues here...

Neal

Bob Gilford, Blue Max.

[wingman]

That was fast, and correct. It was at Mojave 1979. This one is Reno 1985. Note the red Sea Fury running up.

[MRE]

Ridge Runner in the background of bare metal Corsair.

[wingman]

Ridge Runner in the background of bare metal Corsair.

Yep. There was often cool stuff in the background of Mojave shots...