Bear Driver

[BUD_XXX]

So, did anybody see or hear from Mr J Penney during the PRS....

Does anybody know?.... did they let him go too?

I sure hope we have not seen the last of him in the Bear!

I haven't heard anything about him since last Sept....?

[flyingjibus]

Re: Bear Driver

I have not heard anything to confirm this, but I am 100% positive they will not replace him untill he says he is done.

On top of his impressive list of wins he has saved that airplane from becoming a pile of twisted metal several times.

Experience behind a wrench is a little easier to replace then experience behind the stick.....

[T. Adams]

Re: Bear Driver

He was at PRS for a least one day, saw him driving around.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Bear Driver

John is "breaking in" Stu Dawson (one of the REALLY nice guys in this sport!) to drive the Bear...

I don't think there is any reason to speculate anything other than that John is showing Stu how to handle the Bear.

There is one more piece of the puzzle... The guy who bought the airplane seems to be a hell of a stick (witness his line around the sticks at PRS, the fact that he's one of a few who can fly a P-38 safely).... One day, Rare Bear will, likely, be flown by its owner...

[Shawn Aro]

Re: Bear Driver

shawn

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Bear Driver

Experience behind a wrench is a little easier to replace then experience behind the stick.....

Oh boy... I missed this one...

I respect, very highly, both sides of this.. but I'm going to quote Tom Dwelle... (as well as I can) from the 2000 "World of Wings" pilot attempt/episode... went something like.. "It's easy for me, I just hang on and try not to die.. I'm at the top of a really steep pyramid, and it takes all of the sides and bottom of this to make this happen" that isn't really exactly what Tom said but it's the gist.. (I'll try to find the DVD of that show and nail it better)

I'm not sure how many "sticks" would agree with you..

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Bear Driver

Now now, it takes a team to make it work. Best plane/lousy pilot vrs Best pilot/lousy plane same result. All you NASCAR followers saw that last Sunday when Ambrose had the best car but blew it when he killed the engine under caution to save fuel & couldn't get it restarted in time. NASCAR moved him back a few spots & that cost him the race.

[bulldawg66]

Re: Bear Driver

In reference to Mr. Penney, the Rarebear website has recently been updated with the home page being a tribute to Lyle. The store is finally open with very limited sales items, and the crew page is updated with Mr. Penney being listed 1st under "Pilots".
I think it's definitely safe to say that, Yes, John will be harnessing up the Bear again this year!

Tom

[kiwiracefan]

Re: Bear Driver

Now now, it takes a team to make it work. Best plane/lousy pilot vrs Best pilot/lousy plane same result. All you NASCAR followers saw that last Sunday when Ambrose had the best car but blew it when he killed the engine under caution to save fuel & couldn't get it restarted in time. NASCAR moved him back a few spots & that cost him the race.

Ahhh Marcus Ambrose... what a chump he used to race V8 supercars in australia and they have a 6hr endurance race every year at bathurst in australia, it stops petrol heads in Australia as well as here in NZ.
the last time he raced there him and another driver were battling after a restart when both drivers get out of their cars it nearly came to a brawl..
Have a look on youtube for Ambrose vs Murphy bathurst and laugh....

V8 Supercars are 5L v8s, produce around 650-700bhp weigh around 32-3500lbs and put their power through the rear wheels and small 17x9" tires... great racing between GM & Ford

[bulldawg66]

Re: Bear Driver

BTW, I noticed on the Bear's crew page that Mel Gregoire is not listed. Has he been considered a crew member these last years or is/was he just a "technical advisor" for the engine program?
I know he IS the go to man for 3350 advise! My brother and I have loved talking to him every year - and I love his tatoos.

Tom

[flyingjibus]

Re: Bear Driver

Oh boy... I missed this one...

I respect, very highly, both sides of this.. but I'm going to quote Tom Dwelle... (as well as I can) from the 2000 "World of Wings" pilot attempt/episode... went something like.. "It's easy for me, I just hang on and try not to die.. I'm at the top of a really steep pyramid, and it takes all of the sides and bottom of this to make this happen" that isn't really exactly what Tom said but it's the gist.. (I'll try to find the DVD of that show and nail it better)

I'm not sure how many "sticks" would agree with you..

Re-read what I said Wayne. The Key word here is experiance. I am in know way saying that the wrench side is easier or less important. I am merely saying that it is easier to make really good mechanics then make really good pilots.

You can teach someone the ins and outs of a 3350 with a pen and paper and a few engines on stands.

To teach someone to round the pylons ahead of 8 other planes, AND teach them how to handle situations like landing gear not coming down when you are running on fumes in a priceless and irreplaceable beast of a machine that is hard to handle in the best of situations is a whole different challange.


I think you know what I mean.....

[mayday51]

Re: Bear Driver

Re-read what I said Wayne. The Key word here is experiance. I am in know way saying that the wrench side is easier or less important. I am merely saying that it is easier to make really good mechanics then make really good pilots.

You can teach someone the ins and outs of a 3350 with a pen and paper and a few engines on stands.

To teach someone to round the pylons ahead of 8 other planes, AND teach them how to handle situations like landing gear not coming down when you are running on fumes in a priceless and irreplaceable beast of a machine that is hard to handle in the best of situations is a whole different challange.


I think you know what I mean.....

You can with book and hands on become a pilot or a wrench.
to be truely good takes a lot of time with hands on.
Some will just be good.
Some will be better.
A few seem to develop an inate gift
that sets them well apart from their peers.

...(add in that personal factor too )


The exposure and experience to the warbird based
mechanicals is now extremely limited. I am watching
skills disappear as I type.
(the whole mechanical/machinist world is loosing old school science and art)


Top level pilots don't fair much better.
There are few planes at or near max performance levels.
(our air racers)
Combat (dogfight in specific) fight experience is near zero.
(with none in sight )

.....You want my bottom line on this....

We are watching valuable skills disappear from both sides of the coin.

[BellCobraIV]

Re: Bear Driver

The exposure and experience to the warbird based
mechanicals is now extremely limited. I am watching
skills disappear as I type.
(the whole mechanical/machinist world is loosing old school science and art)

.....You want my bottom line on this....

We are watching valuable skills disappear from both sides of the coin.

You are unfortunately quite correct here in your points community school programs that do in fact teach machine work anymore overwelmingly teach CNC based machine work. The programmers that program CNC machines except for a very few have no manual machine experience to draw on when programs are being written. I just today talked with someone that was bemoaning the fact that real machinists that turn handles and read blueprint and micrometers sre a dying breed. At the shop where I work we have in the last five and a half years have to make our own machinists and the frustrations there are other shops after they are trained make moves to steal them for a buck or less more an hour. But machine work is demanding and requires the ability to think in perspective, and operate in a 3D mindset. Which is not a talent that everybody can learn.

[Randy Haskin]

Re: Bear Driver

Combat (dogfight in specific) fight experience is near zero. (with none in sight )

.....You want my bottom line on this....

We are watching valuable skills disappear from both sides of the coin.

IMHO, one doesn't actually have to have maneuvered a high performance aircraft against another high performance aircraft in combat to have learned and honed the stick-and-rudder skills that ultimately come from that experience.

All of the people I know who have achieved combat air-to-air kills (F-15C pilots and one F-16 pilot) have said that scenarios they had to solve in training were much more difficult than the one they faced in real life which culminated in shooting down another aircraft.

From my personal experience, outside of the 'fear factor' of actually being shot at, my Red Flag sorties were much more complex than anything I experienced on a combat mission.

Bottom line: flying skills learned in training can be just as good as those learned under fire, especially when we're talking about the types of skills that would apply to air racing (ergo, nothing to do with tactics or weapon employment).