She failed to keep her airspeed, and did the Vmc roll and crashed on the north side of the runway right across from our hangar. Though you are supposed to not have the prop feathered if you want to do the demo. The former United States Air Force aircraft, serial number 44-15651, was owned by Aero Trans Corp in Ocala, Florida. Insurance companies have separate policies for covering antique vehicles and that has been litigation over the scope of such policies as in Sanner v. Zurich-American Ins. The Galloping Ghost was a highly modified former military plane that in 2010 had come out of retirement after undergoing major modifications, including removal of the underbelly radiator and installation of a "boil-off" cooling system, as well as other modifications that the owner described as designed to make the plane more efficient. The pilot was not sharp enough to retard power when he lost control, and our instructor did not get it quick enough. at the gate. Among the dead was pilot Jimmy Leeward, 74, of Ocala, Fla., a veteran airman and stunt pilot who named his P-51 Mustang fighter plane the "Galloping Ghost," according to Mike Houghton, president and CEO of Reno Air Races. It also recovered video cards from the plane's on-board camera and said there were numerous still and video images. During the landing the plane's longer propeller, modified for racing, clipped the runway surface, causing the plane to drift off the edge of the runway, collapsing part of the landing gear, causing only minor injuries to pilot Dr. Cliff Cummins.[13]. A woman pilot for another operator was taking off on 26, lost power on one engine, and tried to keep it flying when she still had about 3000′ of runway left. Pilot Jimmy Leeward, 74, of Ocala, Fla., also died in the crash. Jimmy Leeward was born on October 21, 1936 in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, USA as James Kent Leeward. She was thrown back into the aft part of the fuselage, and with the aft CG they could not recover from the spin and it went flat and she could not crawl forward against the spin. We figured out that they were doing a Vmc demonstration and she was looking up between the seats. Ten people were killed and 70 wounded in the horrific crash. Of course, he, too, would become a pilot. ... shows long time Reno Air Race pilot Jimmy Leeward with his P51 Mustang. The modifications had made the aircraft lighter and reduced drag but decreased stability. One body was found floating in an oil slick on the water but the other body was not immediately recovered. 2d 252 (1995). Leeward grew up around airplanes and at age 11 or 12 often flew a Piper Cub with his father. I told him that if anybody did anyting to him such as firing him or reprimand or enforcement action, to call a major TV station and give them the story. Mr. James Jimmy Kent Leeward of Ocala, FL, died Friday, September 16th @ 4:20 pm when the vintage WWII era fighter, a P-51 Mustang (the Galloping Ghost), he was piloting crashed into the grandstands while competing at … He was landing at night and forgot to put the rollers out. James Leeward, 74, and his P-51 Mustang, The Galloping Ghost, were in third place and had just rounded pylon number 8 when the aircraft abruptly pitched up, rolled inverted, then nosedived. [17] A photograph taken just before the crash showed the airplane inverted and part of the left elevator trim tab missing. [9][12] The canopy was about the size of the ones on Formula One aircraft. The new theory of aviation mechanic J.R. Walker is that the seat slipped back so that Leeward lost control of the plane. Jimmy Leeward was piloting the plane that went down in a grandstand Friday afternoon, killing at least three people and creating a horrific scene strewn with body parts and smoking debris. 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