The ** crash of an F8F Bearcat** at Breckenridge, Texas, last week that claimed the life of well known air racer and airshow performer Howard Pardue came during an abortive aerobatic maneuver. According the NTSB’s preliminary report on the crash, Pardue was executing a low-level manuever that somehow went terribly wrong.
A witness, a pilot who was waiting to take off behind Pardue, described the chain of events to investigators. Pardue “reportedly announced over the radio that he was going to perform a Half Cuban Eight aerobatic maneuver after takeoff and then overfly the runway in the opposite direction,” according to the NTSB report.
