Lefty

[wingman]

The Lefty Gardner Racing Team at Reno 1976. I assume y'all know who won Reno that year.

[Leo]

Re: Lefty

Lefty gave me some of my best memories of the races.
In 82 I spent a few hours out at pylon 4. Lefty was qualifying. We kinda snuck a little outside the pylon for his runs, and I am sure he saw us. He was so low on a couple of passes that we got peppered by pebbles, sand and sticks.
The year he taxied in with a dinged wing from hitting a "tall sagebrush" that looked a bit like a fence post...
All those just plain gorgeous airshow routines. He seemed to enjoy it so much you would think they were going to have to shoot him down, and he filled in many times between races and other acts.

Sigh...

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Lefty

Wow! These photos are just outstanding! Thanks for sharing them!

- Joseph

[wingman]

Re: Lefty

I'm enjoying it. Things were different back then -- both much better, and much worse, for photography.

In retrospect, the equipment and materials feel almost pathetic by 2015 standards.. Film speeds of ASA (ISO) 64 for color and 100 for black and white (400 available but with big tradeoffs). No autofocus. No zooms! No fancy matrix auto exposure. No motor drives -- you snapped a picture, wound the film with your thumb(!) and snapped another one. How many shots per pass does that allow (remember -- you're trying to focus at the same time!)?

The enormous advantage back then was access and view. Very few trailers and motorhomes in the pits, and far fewer vehicles in general. Nobody around in the early mornings and evenings so lots of time to be alone with the airplanes.

Plus -- I was 39 years younger at my first Reno, and had a lot more energy.


Try doing anything like that Lefty shot any time during Race Week 2015...

Neal

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Lefty

"SKY FIRE" put out a video of "Lefty" including his crop dusting days. Interesting.

[Hawker Driver]

Re: Lefty

"SKY FIRE" put out a video of "Lefty" including his crop dusting days. Interesting.

As well as one for Bob Hoover. They don't make them like Lefty anymore...

[Samuel]

Re: Lefty

Some neat shots of Lefty here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDTeE7zkr_k

[toldjaso]

Re: Lefty

I once went to Texas to work on Lefty's P-38. It was sick, and he needed some help with it.
He put me and my friend up at his house, while we were there helping him.
One night, I noticed a scrapbook in his library, as I was looking at some other airplane books he had.
It had the words "Lest We Forget" on the cover. It was a scrapbook of all his time in the Army Air Corps in World War Two.
In it were all of his military orders, from Boot Camp right up to his discharge. Several pictures, several of them during his training in the States.
One thing that really got me was all of the newspaper clippings from his hometown newspapers that had pretty detailed accounts of bombing raids that his group did over in Europe. I guess I always assumed that was censored, I was surprised at how the clippings mentioned the groups, the targets, the losses, and several things I never would have thought would have been reported in the local newspapers. I guess someone back home was saving them for him, and he put them all together in the scrapbook.
He was trained on B-24's, flew several missions in them, and then flew B-17's.
I had to ask him, which did you like better, the B-17 or the B-24?
He looked at me and said "I lost all of my good friends flying B-24's".
I am fortunate to have known him, and I know several of you out there were, too.

[Ron Lewark]

Re: Lefty

Loved those early years. 1976 was my second year there with my wife and two young sons. Stayed at the Mark Twain motel out on south Virginia, anyone remember it? Only missed two years since. We love to get out all the old air race programs and reminisce. Both of my sons have become avid air race fans, not missing a race since 2002, and attending a number of them between 1976 and 2002. Wife and I flew them out in the old 185 to the races when each one turned 21 and again when they each married.

They and we both have fond memories of Lefty, his planes and his races. We can never replace all the good times and memories of the Reno early years, would sure love to recreate them and see all the good people that have passed on and all the great race planes that race no more.

My wife and several of the women in our group finally got tired of the races and haven't gone since 2002, sure didn't stop us, it just became a guys trip. This year several of the women and my wife are going. It won't bring back all the old times and races we all saw for many years, but we wiil make new memories. Can't wait, getting close to cranking up the 185 for it's 37th trip to the races. We even rented two cars, one for the girls so they can head back into town after the races and and the other for us old farts who hang around the pits and races till dusk everyday.
Ron, 42 days and counting down.