Before it was Rare Bear

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

Everybody so loved that three blade...

---

That's me and Gil Iwamasa (RIP), who was my supervisor at Cal-Prop at the time, holding the chocks in that first picture. Must've been a higher RPM run. Notice that fancy GPU? It's the same one the team always used, but Craig Jellison decided to make it look nice. The source for the little Mooneyes fuel tank and the fat tire wagon as I recall might have been a bit suspect, but I doubt anyone would've tried to take it from us. Why would you put a wing on a start cart? Why not?

The second picture is uncomfortable to me for a few reasons.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by knot4u

The people in the background in the second photo are Lyle, BCIV and Clay Lacy.

---

Correct. It was always interesting to watch Lyle and Clay Lacy together. This was in the pit Sunday afternoon before the 1990 Gold Race, I think. Lyle was different when talking to Lacy...

Neal

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by knot4u

The second picture is uncomfortable to me for a few reasons.

---

You want it to go away? I've got lots to replace it with...

Neal

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

You want it to go away? I've got lots to replace it with...

Neal

---

Please don't make it go away I'm working on another wordy answer for it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

You want it to go away? I've got lots to replace it with...

Neal

---

No. I'm not a supporter of erasing the evidence of our history.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

Correct. It was always interesting to watch Lyle and Clay Lacy together. This was in the pit Sunday afternoon before the 1990 Gold Race, I think. Lyle was different when talking to Lacy...

Neal

---

I worked on jets for Clay for a number of years on the 145 repair station side of of his Van Nuys operation. He had a reputation as "ruthless" but I never saw it, he always treated me very well. I remember a CJ2 pulling onto the ramp and BCIV, Lyle and some other guy got out and walked into the building, I pondered (remember I said I was an expert ponderer?) going over to speak to them but they all had very serious looks on their faces and I was already pretty busy. Turned out that other guy was Rod Lewis and for some reason they chose to do the paperwork for the sale of the Bearcat at our facility. I never really understood why it happened there, but it is what it is.

What I've never understood is Rod Lewis buying the fastest racers he can get his hands on and then parking them. Tiger isn't going to sell him Strega, and Bob Button isn't likely to to sell him Voodoo. What was his ambition? Buy fast airplanes and make them slower? He has a nice collection, and some of them actually fly, but he's got the two fastest round motor racers ever and they're both parked. What a waste, he should be ashamed of himself for the disappointment he's left the fans of this sport with.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

I'm sure glad the thread is still moving along. Probably a bit slow and meandering for the Millenials among us, but working pretty good in Geezer time...

---

This Millennial (1987 model) is perfectly happy with how this thread is progressing! Fascinating stuff with every post. :thumbsup:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by knot4u

What I've never understood is Rod Lewis buying the fastest racers he can get his hands on and then parking them. Tiger isn't going to sell him Strega, and Bob Button isn't likely to to sell him Voodoo. What was his ambition? Buy fast airplanes and make them slower? He has a nice collection, and some of them actually fly, but he's got the two fastest round motor racers ever and they're both parked. What a waste, he should be ashamed of himself for the disappointment he's left the fans of this sport with.

---

From a way out in left field spectator's point of view, Rod bought into the upper echelon of air racing and thought he would dominate. When things didn't pan out, exit stage left. (No doubt a ton of details I don't know about that would tell the story) I've seen the same situation play out in sprint car racing through the years. Typically we'll see new faces arrive with the best equipment money can buy, they hang around struggling for 3-5 years, then you never hear from them again. Just gone from the face of the earth. Would love to get a historical account of Rod's air racing /warbird career.

Quote:

---

What I've never understood is Rod Lewis buying the fastest racers he can get his hands on and then parking them.... What a waste, he should be ashamed of himself for the disappointment he's left the fans of this sport with.

---

That's a little harsh...even for someone that has a lot of sweat equity in the Bear.

Rod Lewis should be congratulated and thanked for what he did bring to air racing for several years. And he brought a lot. A couple of fast racers and some of his great collection for all to enjoy year after year. Because he experienced (what had to be) a financial hemorrhage along the way, doesn't necessarily mean he was a "flash in the pan". His priorities undoubtedly changed after that. About that time he has also undertook another huge restoration project at what has to be an enormous expense, so that we can all enjoy seeing an airworthy Connie in the skies again one day. He was not ultimately successful by winning the Reno Gold, but winning at Reno is no easy task.

I say thank you Rod Lewis & company for all you brought to Reno and sharing your collection with the fans.

GP

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BellCobraIV

Connor,

The stock canopy was used until the 1971 era, after that the first canopy modified was the "cut down shaped canopy" with the fibreglass rear section. Lyle didn't really like how much that canopy interfered with cockpit lighting and shadows, but it's what we had so no priority was set for it's replacement.

Lyle always supported the Reno National Air Races downtown parade. For Reno 1972 the Bearcat was flown from Stead to the Reno Cannon airport to be towed in the parade through the town, if I'm recalling correctly Clay flew his Mustang down for the parade as well. Lyle stood in the cockpit during the parade and the canopy was rolled all the way back, we had noticed at that point in history that when the canopy was rolled all the way back the emergency jettisoning mechanism would strike part of the structure for the overturn brace, so a pre-flight item was added to check that the mechanism was secured. The next day after the parade when Lyle was flying back to Reno Stead, the item was missed. Lyle got back to Stead and flew around the course kind of high to look at it. Suddenly the canopy released from the airplane catching Lyle by surprise and striking his head as it went. So as a result we borrowed the stock canopy from Bud Fountain and left his Bearcat covered in plastic. When we got back home after the races Lyle, Myself, and my Mom with out dachshund Susie all piled into the F250 and returned the canopy to Reno and installed it back on Bud's Bearcat. We didn't have an extended cab truck and it was a manual transmission so after a while Lyle would say what gear he wanted, push in the clutch and I shifted. I always remember that horribly crowded ride to Reno and back from Orange County. It was fun.

So after Reno 1972 the new all plastic canopy was made using the same windscreen as the previous one.

The shape was made by making a plaster piece and basically removing plaster where it didn't look right. There was one of the aerodynamic guys I think from Douglas that came by the hangar to look at it and he said that everyone had done a good job, he commented that the fineness ratio was ten times better than Darryl's little bubble canopy so we were all happy and the guy that made everybody else's canopies made that one as set from the plaster mold.

We would eventually in the 1980s replace that canopy due to age and sun damage from when the airplane sat outside after the belly landing in Mojave. That new canopy had an integral antenna on the inside rear surface which allowed us to remove the wire antenna and their resultant drag. At that point the area behind the canopy on the fuselage was built up slightly and the rear of the canopy frame modified to match, also at this point the rollers were replaced with Teflon slides that reduced the amount of rocking and play the canopy had making the whole assembly really tight. There was of course still air gaps around the canopy that allowed a slight bit of resultant drag. There were thought of taping the canopy closed for the 3Km record but ultimately the runway was too narrow to line up on Lyle tried lining up with the canopy closed but aborted the landing when transitioning from the slip to the landing. (Side note: this point of the landing when you are slipping to line up with the runway and transition to the nose up 3 point position, the tiny ailerons would momentarily loose effect and the airplane if you didn't stay on too of it would like to roll onto it's back, not a problem as long as you know it's coming and knew how to avoid it.)

That is the canopy story.

---

Another excellent story, thanks John!

-Connor

Let's take a second to align ourselves with what this thread is trying to accomplish. In the last couple of days we as a group participating in this thread have deviated from the concept of the thread.

The concept of the thread was the early development of what would become the fastest piston engine airplane of it's time. To the point of what Rod Lewis has brought to air racing and the warbird/classic aviation or what he has not brought, well that belongs in another thread not this one. It would be to easy as people do to criticize Rod or Lyle for that sake of the argument for what they did or did not do. I'm not try to jump on anyone who has a critique, but lets stay focused on the subject at hand.

The Rare Bear is truly a unique experimental journey. Unfortunately for the airplane quite a few of the original people that banged their heads against the wall to overcome what would work, did work, and did not work have either passed away or flat out decided that they had enough.

The program at the time Lyle operated it achieved more than every goal that we set for it and then some. The original goals were to restore the Bearcat. The next goal was to make the airplane "overly competitive" and enjoy multiple year wins that would define the competition level for the sport. To set the 3Km world record, to set the time to climb to 10,000 feet. All of the goals were met and achieved.

For those of you that missed it the era of the 7s when Reno was won by either Rare Bear or Strega was the best air racing ever. Both teams fed on each other for inspiration to go faster and faster. I'm glad that I was an integral part of the effort.

Let's not go down the road of criticism of Rod Lewis's efforts. Nobody, freakin' nobody else was thinking about the next year of racing on the final approach to the landing as much as Lyle, he thought about the program 24 hours a day, 365 1/4 days a year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AAFO_WSagar

John will correct me if I'm wrong It may well be possible that there was only one pilot who had the natural instinct, years of experience, knowledge of the systems and confidence in his machine and control of or complete lack of fear to extract all the airplane had to give. It can never be argued that the Rare Bear is an extraordinary machine created by amazing people but would it ever have been the racer that it is without Lyle Shelton flying it?

The circumstances that brought Lyle to where he was, military training, years of experience with the engine. innate ability to feel what was needed. and I'm sure I mentioned complete lack of, or control of, FEAR!

I just don't think you can discuss the accomplishments of that airplane and extraordinary crew without factoring in the extremely rare skills and determination of Lyle Shelton!

---

I have nothing to disagree with there.

John, do you have any recollection or know of what Lyle's comments were after the first flight in the airplane?

I'm just imagining what a thrill the early flights must have been like, the ultimate piston fighter with even more power... -Before the clipped wings, I imagine it was less of a handful?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CJAM427

John, do you have any recollection or know of what Lyle's comments were after the first flight in the airplane?

I'm just imagining what a thrill the early flights must have been like, the ultimate piston fighter with even more power... -Before the clipped wings, I imagine it was less of a handful?

---

The handful aspect is partially a frame of mind. Lyle did a couple of airshows where he did aerobatics in the airplane in the 1971 to 1974 era and enjoyed them. When Lyle was doing test flights out of Inyokern if he liked the way the airplane was running we could watch the purple stripe on the left wing swap to right to left to right to left. On more than one occasion he would lose our visual scan flying off towards the mountains and sneak back around going to a very low level and from the opposite direction than he'd been flying off inhe would "attack" us by flying over the old B-29 "A" bomb hangar just clearing it's roof. Once when we had towed the Bear out to the runway to save the brakes, he started the engine got ready to take off, he took off retracted the gear did one half of a Cuban 8 and buzzed us as we sat out there on the end of the runway. Lyle enjoyed the airplane, Skip took the Bear to the Paso Robles airshow. I got a phone call from friends of mine that were at the show and told me how awesome the aerobatic act Skip had done. So the Jekyll and Hyde aspect was a mindset.

I think after the first flight, there was probably a yellow sheet on things to fix. He probably talked to Cliff Putnam, Bill Hickle about the flight. We celebrated with champagne at Aero-Sport in Chino that night.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BellCobraIV

Let's take a second to align ourselves with what this thread is trying to accomplish. In the last couple of days we as a group participating in this thread have deviated from the concept of the thread.

---

You got to admit, though, that we got some good mileage out of that Pete Behenna shot of the exhaust being welded up...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

You got to admit, though, that we got some good mileage out of that Pete Behenna shot of the exhaust being welded up...

---

Absolutely! I'm trying to get deeper into the conversation about what we did, what worked, what didn't. I'm not trying to bash the new owner for what he did. Once upon a time someone was trying to get Lyle to criticize Rod for something they were doing on the Bearcat. Lyle just said, "He bought the airplane, it's his to do things with however he wants."

To be clear Rod wanted Lyle to be there in Reno for the races. He offered to send a jet down to Bakersfield and supply Lyle with rooms. The first year Lyle was in so much pain from a back injury, the second year he just had no desire to go back to Reno.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BellCobraIV

The handful aspect is partially a frame of mind.

So the Jekyll and Hyde aspect was a mindset. I think after the first flight, there was probably a yellow sheet on things to fix. He probably talked to Cliff Putnam, Bill Hickle about the flight. We celebrated with champagne at Aero-Sport in Chino that night.

---

First flight day, I think, by Birch Matthews.

In flight -- a couple of years later, by Pete Behenna

Did you partake in the libations that night after the first flight, John? You would have been what age? 11 or so?

Neal

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

First flight day, I think, by Birch Matthews.

In flight -- a couple of years later, by Pete Behenna

Did you partake in the libations that night after the first flight, John? You would have been what age? 11 or so?

Neal

---

Neal,
I was 10 then. I still remember my Mom had bought Champagne for the celebration of the airplane's first flight. She wanted to crack one of the bottles on a propeller blade to christen the Able Cat....yeah, she was stopped, I did have a small cup. We drove out to Chino as did most of the people we knew. I remember that everyone was really upbeat as there were issues, but no major issues with the Cat.
John

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BellCobraIV

Connor,

The stock canopy was used until the 1971 era, after that the first canopy modified was the "cut down shaped canopy" with the fibreglass rear section. Lyle didn't really like how much that canopy interfered with cockpit lighting and shadows, but it's what we had so no priority was set for it's replacement.


So after Reno 1972 the new all plastic canopy was made using the same windscreen as the previous one.

The shape was made by making a plaster piece and basically removing plaster where it didn't look right. There was one of the aerodynamic guys I think from Douglas that came by the hangar to look at it and he said that everyone had done a good job, he commented that the fineness ratio was ten times better than Darryl's little bubble canopy so we were all happy and the guy that made everybody else's canopies made that one as set from the plaster mold.

We would eventually in the 1980s replace that canopy due to age and sun damage from when the airplane sat outside after the belly landing in Mojave. That new canopy had an integral antenna on the inside rear surface which allowed us to remove the wire antenna and their resultant drag. At that point the area behind the canopy on the fuselage was built up slightly and the rear of the canopy frame modified to match, also at this point the rollers were replaced with Teflon slides that reduced the amount of rocking and play the canopy had making the whole assembly really tight.

That is the canopy story.

---

You know, John, that this is a pretty disappointing story. I've always really admired this canopy -- it is just so "right" -- it's a work of art. It has also gone 550 mph without complaint. I've always envisioned some genius in the Bear Brain Trust secretly planning out a magical shape just to show the Bolands and Greenamyers and Zeuschels of the world what a "touring canopy" could be.

So it turns out that the guys just crank out a low shape (why the solid rear portion anyway?) and fly it til it breaks. So then they use the old windscreen and mock up a new shape til it just "looks right". They then win multiiple Renos in various racing eras and set records and all sorts of stuff.

So it just looked right?

Neal

Intermediate stages...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

Intermediate stages...

---

The canopy is the same one in both pictures, however here are two pictures of WAY before it was Rare Bear. At this point unbeknown to us a wreck was in Valparaiso waiting for someone to love it. There were a LOT of cigars around then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BellCobraIV

The canopy is the same one in both pictures, however here are two pictures of WAY before it was Rare Bear. At this point unbeknown to us a wreck was in Valparaiso waiting for someone to love it. There were a LOT of cigars around then.

---

Navy pilot with cigar. Boy in spiffy red shirt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jan

Navy pilot with cigar. Boy in spiffy red shirt.

---

Don'tcha wish photographs could record the subject's thoughts at the time of exposure...

Having the world by the ass has to feel pretty damn good!

So I have a question.

Corky Meyer (I think) wrote about F8Fs having break away wing tips. The idea was that the wing could be lighter if it was made to break in a controllable way when certain G loads were reached.

My question is: is that breakaway point where the Bear got its wings clipped?

(P.S. Navy pilot with cigar. Boy in spiffy red shirt. Yellow Luscombe with windmill generator.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by L.E.D.

So I have a question.

Corky Meyer (I think) wrote about F8Fs having break away wing tips. The idea was that the wing could be lighter if it was made to break in a controllable way when certain G loads were reached.

My question is: is that breakaway point where the Bear got its wings clipped?

(P.S. Navy pilot with cigar. Boy in spiffy red shirt. Yellow Luscombe with windmill generator.)

---

Yes, the wings got clipped at the production break. Note; there were three aileron hinges. You wanted to keep at least two of them.

Just for reference. Everyone is commenting on my"spiffy" red shirt but hey! look at how clean my white tennis shoes were. Couldn't do that with a round motor!

Great pictures, John. Did your Mom take them?

The shot of Lyle is fascinating. There's the "Naviness" of course, but there's also a presence. This is the guy who's about to ride the fire breathing dragon. What a decade he would have...

I fussed with it a bit -- is this OK?

John, did you guys ever have any issues with the fabric covered control surfaces. Would have been interesting if you guys had gotten a Mustang.

Here is a picture from Reno 64 That I think best shows where the "Navy Pilot" wanted to be heading....Fate was waiting for the chance.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MRE

John, did you guys ever have any issues with the fabric covered control surfaces. Would have been interesting if you guys had gotten a Mustang.

---

Mike,
I may be wrong, but I don't believe that N66111 ever went fast enough to damage the control surfaces....Even thogh if you look closely at pictures of the airplane the rudder was recovered at one point. So maybe?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MRE

John, did you guys ever have any issues with the fabric covered control surfaces. Would have been interesting if you guys had gotten a Mustang.

---

There was a bit of time when Richard Vartanian owned N13Y the Anson Johnson airplane. The fuselage actually was shipped out to Chino. Somewhere in all of the boxes of pictures there are Lyle's pictures of the fuselage on a skid next to the Aero-Sport hangar. Now if Lyle and the Aero-Sport guys would have had that airframe to race how would that have changed the scenery? Who would have done the Merlin work? Lyle was talking about getting a Mustang and putting a Griffon with a five blade propeller in 1968.

Lyle would NOT have been in Compton to have chance meetings with Bill Hickle. Would an established business like Aero-Sport have welcomed the menagerie of humans that assembled the Bearcat. Too many variables to account for, as it was Lyle and his Bearcat fell into a perfect storm.

.
... AeroSport's "Supe" Hoisington at right ...

Sledge

Attachment 26382

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MRE

John, did you guys ever have any issues with the fabric covered control surfaces. Would have been interesting if you guys had gotten a Mustang.

---

I can remember asking the same question about the fabric. I was told there was a couple of different reasons for staying with fabric. One was it was fairly easily repairable, the other sounded odd considering how modified the airplane was, recovering in either aluminum or composite sounds simple but it's not. Control surfaces have their own center of gravity that has to be correct or they'll get into a divergent oscillation known as flutter. Flutter tears airplanes apart and kills pilots. New control surfaces would've required an enormous amount of engineering and testing. Grumman put a lot of work into making sure those control surfaces wouldn't flutter, I have no idea who made that call, but I can't remember ever having a control surface issue so they must've been correct in their assumption. The Bearcat pushed a lot of envelopes but it seemed that wasn't one. I never met Carl Friend, but I've been told his next big idea for the Bearcat was a V-tail. I have a feeling I might have been being hazed (20' of flight line, 1 gallon of prop wash sort of thing) but I don't know, maybe it's true?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MRE

John, did you guys ever have any issues with the fabric covered control surfaces. Would have been interesting if you guys had gotten a Mustang.

---

Sorry, I had the last Mustang pictures on my mind with the first answer. Lief gave you the answer why we didn't change them. They just required constant inspection and one big item was that the bearings on the trim tabs could not have any play. When those bearings showed any sign of perceptible movement we changed the bearings. Corky Meyer was keen on that being a potential major failure cause to trim tabs, and control surface damage.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by knot4u

Thanks for confirming my memories John, I hope I wasn't sharing too much. Now regarding my question about Juniors, have you given it any thought?

---

Lief,
It's based in the feudal system of peerage. A hereditary title could be conferred upon an individual for their service to the crown. That title would be passed down by bloodline to the next male heir. So as such that is how you end up with a George V, who had an eldest son who became Edward VIII, who had a younger brother who became George VI. Upon the death of George VI, the next person in the lineage was a female. Had she had a younger brother there could have been a George VII or a Edward IX. So since there was no male heir Elizabeth II had to be crowned.

So while it doesn't make sense among the lowly masses males get to have an issue number, however since females are not automatically in the line of succession in the case of a female with a younger brother for instance. The females do not automatically get an issue number.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BellCobraIV

Lief,
It's based in the feudal system of peerage. A hereditary title could be conferred upon an individual for their service to the crown. That title would be passed down by bloodline to the next male heir. So as such that is how you end up with a George V, who had an eldest son who became Edward VIII, who had a younger brother who became George VI. Upon the death of George VI, the next person in the lineage was a female. Had she had a younger brother there could have been a George VII or a Edward IX. So since there was no male heir Elizabeth II had to be crowned.

So while it doesn't make sense among the lowly masses males get to have an issue number, however since females are not automatically in the line of succession in the case of a female with a younger brother for instance. The females do not automatically get an issue number.

---

I understand the numbers, but while we do continue to use some of the conventions of our history I don't recall having ever read about a junior back then as either a title or simply a name and I can't find any good reason to not name a daughter after her mother as a simple show of respect to the mother and use the nickname "Junior". It seems like an American thing to name boys after their dad and call them junior. I apologize if I've derailed this thread again but I've never gotten a satisfactory answer to that question. Thanks for your response.

Okay, Johnny Boy....here's a couple of Scooby Snacks for you. Photographer Gary Maisak posted these on FB this morning. Race 77 from November, 1974. After some heated discussion, our best guess is the ANG open house at Van Nuys.

Those shots are really quite nice. They clean up well and show lots of detail. If this is fall 1974 shouldn't there be more victory markings on the fuselage? And does anyone know what is written on the wingtip? It is unreadable in this scan. It seems they had two radio sponsors -- a sign of troubles to come?

Neal

And I still have questions about that first engine. It came from a scrap heap -- never sealed up or preserved. So were the cylinders still usable? What about accessories -- pumps and hoses and such. How much support was provided during build up from AC&T? Was the work done in Hangar F-8? Did Cliff Putnam do most of the engine work?

When did Mel Gregoire get involved with the program?

What was done about ADI? These engines did have ADI in airline service, didn't they? I understand that ADI was installed but not working during that first Reno.

This Birch Matthews photo of the first Reno is the best I've ever seen. Does anybody have color shots they could share?

Neal

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wingman

Everybody so loved that three blade...

---

I'm curious to know what John and Lief have to say about the second photo here...