In the late 60s to early 70s Bob was racing in the early days of T-6 racing at the Reno (Nevada) air races and flying a Hawker Sea Fury in the unlimited class one year in 1970. He raced his T-6 from 1968 until 1975. After buying the T-6 and a few fixes he had a total of $3,500 invested in it. Back at that time he was in the Airforce instructing in T-37 Jets while having a blast racing his T-6 (You may want to ask him about how to recover from an inverted spins in a T-37 Jet). It is interesting to listen to his story about how the Reno air races were started in the late 60s and how simple the rules were back then. Unfortunately, some of the pilots he started out with did not survive. He recollected the time when the race was held in Cape May (Maryland) and the starting procedure was changed from a standing start off the runway to a running start in the air. At the first try five out of six T-6 racers crashed before reaching the first pilon and all five pilots were killed. Luckily for Bob he didn’t have the money to race that year and didn’t attend that race. Below are just some of the pictures he presented during one of our monthly chapter meeting. Again, very interesting and it shows even though we are a small chapter we have very interesting stories to tell. Thank you, Bob, again from all Members for sharing your experience.
Bob around 1970 in the Hawker Sea Fury
Bob in the Hawker Sea Fury taking on a P-51 Mustang (believe it or not, this picture was taking from the ground)
Bob in the Hawker Sea Fury on the outside (right) passing other racers. This picture also shows how low to the ground the racers are flying.
Bob in the T-37 jet flying formation with his own T-6 flown by his room mate
If you ever wondered why there was a Number 88 painted on Bob's RV-6, it was his race number when racing his T-6. Here he is posing with it.