F8F BEARCAT First Engine Start w/ Steve Hinton | Hangar Talk | Planes of Fame

[@roninselman6772]

I can't even imagine how awesome it would sound on the deck of an aircraft carrier with dozens of R-2800's thundering, ready for takeoff!

[@TheAmerican1963]

I have been a Boeing 747 structural mechanic for 35 years...........you folks are a National Treasure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@greghelms4458]

I love people that work on, restore, and fly these old airplanes. And I’m extremely jealous of your lives.

[@rossmccready2657]

I could listen to Steve Hinton all day talk airplanes fantastic! I always remember I got my 4 year old to watch Empire if the Sun and the famous wave from the P-51 pilot, the day before Flying Legends! The next day my daughter was on my shoulder waving furiously at the P-51’s and Steve waved back making my daughters day! Please keep these posts coming and Regards to you all from a lock downed UK!

[@Lightjug]

Steve is a class act. I asked for an autograph a few years back at Flying Legends UK and doubled down for a picture. He thrust his flight helmet in my arms and posed with a big smile.

[@christisking1316]

I remember seeing Steve in Chino, when they brought back the planes from the 'Pearl Harbor' shoot. Nice collection out there!

[@sledawgpilot]

Cool to hear that!

[@todd3205]

There was time when i would have never expected to see something like Steve Hinton showing me around a Bearcat.

[@waldothegreat100]

In the 1980’s my wife and I did grunt work at the museum. We’d sweep, clean glass cases, etc. Loved being there around those beautiful old warbirds. Especially liked the Big Band dances.

[@fw1421]

Steve Hinton is a modern legend. He’s flown just about everything.

[@wagonmaster1974]

New definition for an old one. Gives "hanging on the prop" a fresh prospective! Used to mean just pointed skyward with attitude. Never thought of it as dangling [hanging] on a prop spanner... Nice work, all. Beauty of a flying machine!

[@F4FWildcat]

I love your museum. It is my "Happy Place". I drop in when ever I am in the area (I live in Kansas) for a visit. It has been said several time, Steve Hinton, you are THE MAN! Happy landings!!!

[@anthonyc2370]

Thank you for restoring the Bearcat. She is one of the most gorgeous aircraft in aviation history. Amazing work!

[@MalfosRanger]

Seeing a warbird become airworthy is always worthy of celebration. Fantastic work. May she fly for decades to come.

[@gsr4535]

Fabulous! 👍. One of THE best propeller driven fighter airplanes of all time.

[@thomascoussens8757]

Boy, that stirred some memories. My late father and another doctor bought a Bearcat located in Salinas from Gene Akers in 1960. I was four years old and I remember Dad cutting out new covers for the gun ports with tin snips at the kitchen table. He and Dick Brown flew it around the Antelope Valley for a few years, and during that era, stripped all the paint and changed the N-number to something easier to mask and paint: N1111L. Darryl Greenamyer entered the partnership in 1964 and the rest was history. My brothers and I take quiet pride knowing that our Dad was a silent partner in ownership of Conquest 1 when it won Reno all those years and took the 3Km speed record held thirty years by the Nazis.

[@F4FWildcat]

Great story!!! Thanks for sharing that memory!

[@NATES84]

@@F4FWildcat back then I was 22 and sent that plane $25.00 to fly requested on some magazine article .much later I got back a signed picture by Greenamyer of it after the record.Well worth the $25.

[@MontanaWelldigger]

These old aircraft fascinate me. My wife's uncle was a pilot just after WW2 he flew for Johnson's Flying Service, he was quite the character and was a joy to listen to him talk about his flying escapades. I have a copy of his last issued Instrument Rated Pilots License dated 11/09/1966, it lists single and multi engine land based, Grumman TBM, Douglas-B-26, Grumman F7F, North American B-25, Ford 5, Boeing B-17. I just wish I would have been able to fly with him.

[@matthewprather7386]

The most exciting airplane, ever, to my mind. Amazing proportions, clean lines, beautiful from all angles, in the air and on the ground, always looking like it's ready to leap into the air. Glad people can take on projects like this!

[@edalvesinMT]

Steve is a living legend, thanks for preserving history!!!!

[@ninaangelamckissockauthor2345]

Hello from Van Sant Airport! I could watch and listen to this all day. So wonderful.

[@mattinsley1721]

Thank you Mr. Hinton for sharing. It's sad that the Air Show had to be cancelled this year but I hope that all at P.O.F. are staying healthy and productive. I'm glad I paid a week day visit to the museum in February before all the craziness started. For anyone who has never been to this facility it is well worth the effort. Week days are great if you really want to see work and maintenance going on in the restoration hanger. The monthly living history presentations are also a must. Keep em flying!

[@hughscot]

Really happy to see people restoring these old aircraft.

[@Ripper13F1V]

Thanks Steve, awesome stuff! As a teen in the 80's volunteering every single day I could, it's more than just seeing an airplane fly for me. It's the countless hours problem solving and the pure love of doing it, not to mention the characters and camaraderie. Ed (God rest his soul) took A LOT of time with me and instilled attention to detail and history behind everything. I tried to stick around so I could be a permanent part of Chino, but I couldn't find a job locally and my parents moved away. I'm always trying to get back so I can be at the museum and helping behind the scenes. I suppose once it is in your blood, it doesn't go away. I always wonder if I could have got a job locally how things would be.

[@markmullins1967]

It’s always nice to see these old planes running/flying

[@christopheschwartz7374]

Un travail remarquable et minutieux pour ce légendaire: F8F Bearcat! En plus il est aussi mon préféré, bien-sûr! Merci pour le partage vraiment passionnant! Un abonné de France.👍

[@tmjacks1]

My all time favorite aircraft fantastic work on it. Working on a 1/4 scale RC Beracat now and can't wait to get it in the air for the first time.

[@MrGTO-ze7vb]

Thank you Steve for all the work you and your crew do on these historic planes.!!

[@sledawgpilot]

Jet thrust discussion was really interesting. Love to see the knowledge of these kinds of planes being preserved.

[@Imustfly]

My hands down favorite of all the Cats from The Iron Works ! So well proportioned,...all business and the 2800's lopey idle has a universal appeal to gearheads like me !!! Thanks for the update,....will be watching for video of the flight around the patch !!

[@davidmcleod7757]

nice to see that you work on them as well flying them good work mr Hinton

[@DumbledoreMcCracken]

I can't believe there is a more wonderful toy in private hands anywhere.

[@johnshaft5613]

Hinton is such an amazing guy. Flies everything, AND turns the wrenches along with full understanding of the technical end of things. I would not blindly trade lives with many people, but I think I would with him. I hope he is grooming others to carry on with the warbird passion.

[@bobdyer422]

That's what Dr.Frankenstein said about his Monster "It's Alive!" I like this Monster {F8F} better though, can't wait to see it fly. Also a pleasure to listen to Steve talk planes, an expert you can bet on.

[@Zoydian]

I thought the same thing when he said "it's alive!" :)

[@craigpennington1251]

Seriously, you guys need an overhead crane. It makes hard heavy work a lot easier. Mr. Hinto is a fortunate man to do what he's doing. Living a dream that most just dream about and that is flying these awesome birds. Thanks for keeping history alive and well.

[@thomb629]

Great video! Hope to see the first flight soon. And please keep adding these great voice overs by Steve Hinton, enjoyable and very interesting to listen to!

[@___axg96___63]

A round of applause for the team! I heard about this museum when I was a little kid. It was featured in a video game I used to play, and I see your aircraft collection has only gotten bigger!

[@kenuffelman8187]

Superb job Steve! You have the respect of this recip mechanic. Mostly on ole shakey. C124C Globemasters!

[@planker]

Excellent, I'll check your other post for progress. Thanks.... If I was going to build a Hot-Rod it would be a Bearcat.

[@outofcomms]

That is a sweet sound! When I was a technician back in California I did some strain gage instrumentation work for Lyle Sheldon on the “Rear Bear” F8 at Van Nuys. “Rare Bear” F8

[@Rydon66]

Amazing Bearcat - great work Planes of Fame - can't wait to see it @ your May 2021 Airshow

[@HoundDogMech]

Round Motors just have that sound. Love'em. Thanks for the Video looking forward to the Maiden flight.

[@kh40yr]

Pops took a ride with Steve at The Planes of Fame back in the early days. A Texan ride was $140 and there was a B-25?? that could be rode for about $250 a hr at the time. Late 70's-Early 80's??. Pops took the T-6 ride and mom sighed relief. The one that stood out at the museum for me was the MXY-7 Ohka. It was still outside in the weather awaiting refurb , ,in the old dirt walkaround paths. Bet it felt good to hang that prop finally. Motor took right to startup,,a good one. No flames or big bangers. No making metal. Congrats!

[@altonkenne579]

I miss seeing bill and corkey fornof in their father son arial performances saw them at NAS corpus Christi in 1970 in their F8F bearcats best performers ever ! RIP BILL

[@tutekohe1361]

I just watched a KZbin documentary on the Focke-Wulf FW190 and it had similar numbers to this beautiful plane. It had a 42 litre Jumo radial of about 2000hp with 50:50 water/ methanol mix to compensate for very poor fuel quality. It also was a very strongly built plane with wide stance undercarriage and durability and, I imagine, similar performance in the air.

[@RCINFORMER]

The F8F & the F7F were the 2 most epic beasts to come out of WWII.

[@Tree_Dee]

Very Pretty, can't wait to see the paint job.

[@jabo190d]

I've visited your excellent warbird museum many times in the last few years .I've peeked in the hangar and seen the Bearcat in various stages of restoration .Glad to see it running and ready to fly .

[@markbowling3475]

Thanks for sharing Sir ! Goodluck and have alittle fun up there when you get her in the air !

[@Bobbywasabi64]

Steve is one of the most talented and luckiest aviators today

[@divyajnana]

The last of the super piston fighters. It looks half the size of the f6f. And what a stance.

[@kevin_6217]

What a quality engine! What a quality fellow who knows how to start it too!

[@danielblythe5337]

What a great close up video here! So great to see them putting the prop on it too!

[@CNDUK-q8r]

Good luck from the UK. Epic rebuild story, thanks for sharing.

[@sduncanfoto]

I remember being at Reno as a kid when Steve was flying the Red Barron

[@shangri-la-la-la]

Hope to see Rare Bear race again soon. But you haven't truly experienced the air races until you are at the Pylons with them flying right over head.

[@shura0107]

Nice. I live near this museum, and I've been by before. Thoroughly impressed by all the restored airplanes, and even static displays.

[@Zoydian]

You guys should be very proud of your work!! It's great to see this old bear come to life, and the scenery and the colors are simply overwhelming. Thanks for sharing!

[@maverick1685]

Love the Bearcat. My Favorite.

[@gravityalwayswins1434]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks! Was on the hangar deck of Enterprise docked in San Diego. Man those WWII era planes....I tell yuh...soul moving.

[@Rob-vv5yn]

Nice to see another Bearcat shortly flying

[@bretz71]

Love the sound of a R-2800 in the morning. And afternoon. And night! If I could do a Vulcan mind meld to gain knowledge with anyone in aviation, it would be Steve Hinton. I miss the Red Baron and the Super Corsair!

[@russellmcdowell1193]

Very big thank you for sharing. Great to listen to specs and how it all comes together.

[@fredmaney]

Excellent video. I enjoyed the accompanying commentary.

[@ryanmoeller3308]

Such an AMAZING aircraft!! I wanna come back out and see your collection again!! I'd love to meet Mr. Hinton and talk about airplanes. Keep up the GREAT work!! 👍👍

[@CJR505]

Fantastic video Mr. Hinton. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more of these. Top Quality stuff, super high speed. Thanks again.

[@setchey97]

Cool to see it running! Could Steve give us an update on the Hispano Buchon project that's underway?

[@highnitro707]

excellent content here! Steve is such a cool dude I wish I could meet him.

[@glennbrymer4065]

Thank you for sharing this. These old planes sound so awesome. Y'all are doing a super job.

[@Trojan0304]

Great sound of P&W, can’t wait for Air Museum to reopen

[@cfrincon]

Love this videos, thanks a bunch for sharing!

[@meauxjeaux431]

Bill and Corky Fornoff's twin Bearcat acrobatic team....Those were the days ! Corky's (N007A) one was built from spare parts for Grumman's VP for personal use and no armor was ever installed. Many other weight reducing items were also left out, such as gun bays, etc., plus the engine was 200HP larger than all the others. It was the fastest stock (if you want to call it that) prop propelled airplane ever built. It was eventually sold to a university for their metiorology program. It proved to be too hot for anybody there to handle, so it was sold and Bill Fornof bought it to replace the P-51 that Corky was using in the Fornof aerobatic team. I'm almost positive that it was also the last WW2 prop fighter ever built by anybody. It was esentially a funny car with wings, except it was almost three times FASTER !

[@patrickboos1919]

Great work on the video , I can't wait to see more on the Bearcat what ever you do to it . Steve I saw you at the Reno Air Races in 2010 , I had wonderful time there Thankyou very much.

[@Peter-ox7wh]

Awesome video Thanks for all the explanation

[@bluetopguitar1104]

This is one version of heaven.

[@danielkennedy1524]

Great info! CNO is outstanding!thank you

[@flyerbob124]

Good job. Nice to see the airplane running plus seeing my friends is good too.

[@goaheadmakeourdayscooterpe9644]

Thank you Sir , I truly enjoyed this video from start to finish with the great narration and explanation of the work being done.

[@daveculver1691]

Steve, you have the greatest job in the world...

[@1701Larry]

OK ---------- I just love everything about the F-8 Bearcat. It was designed and built in something like 6 months to give the odd hundred small Jeep Carriers a plane that was equivalent in Combat to the bigger F-6 Hellcat that was shooting everything out of the sky but could not operate off of the Jeep Carriers because of its size and weight (forget about the F-4 Corsair). The F-4 Wildcat and its light weight F-2 Jeep carrier variant was still simply outclassed by most Jap fighters with long climb times to altitude. The F-8 was like putting modern F-35 B's on Marine Amphib Carriers today. The F-8 was a war changing fighter even if it was late in the war and didn't have a chance to prove itself. If not for the Atomic bomb ending the war the F-8 would have made the difference as thousands of fast human guided rocket missiles (and anything else that could fly) deluged our fleet aiming for the big fleet carriers and troop transports. So many fleet carriers were already knocked out of Combat that the Carriers damaged in the last big battle had to go to the East Coast to be repaired with no guarantee of when they could even get a dry or repair dock let alone return to Combat. In 6 months the War could very well have degraded to a Jeep Carrier war. With the War depending on how fast new Jeep Carriers and F-8's could be built. Personally I think that if the war had continued they would have had to replace the F-6 on the surviving Fleet Carriers with the F-8 not only because it was a better fighter but each carrier could have carried an additional 12 to 24 Fighters in the same space.

[@zandvoort8616]

A wonderful design.

[@LeachimSagrav333]

Badass hotrod you got there👍

[@walteralter9061]

Sweet. Those were the days, they got us to here.

[@steveanderson9718]

Way Kool Stuff....... coming to work everyday and doin this would be pretty close to perfect... Keep up the good work !!

[@jamesnull5415]

Very nicely done!!!

[@flyingfortressrc1794]

So great to see. Thank you for getting another bird closer to the air

[@5alex7]

Great memories of Steve driving the forklift at Dijon, France lifting the contra-propeller for Christophe Jacquard's brand new Spitfire MkXIX :-)

[@joshuajespersen3336]

Amazing! I'm glad to see it finally running!

[@Portrayalpress]

How exciting! Looking forward to seeing more. Thank you for taking the time to share.

[@TheAmtrack69]

Beautiful!

[@redblackvette]

Keep the videos coming. Look forward to the test flight.

[@bernardanderson7569]

I'll be excited to seeing the next run

[@j.buggyman7867]

Thanks guys, I find this kind of stuff fascinating, partially because my dad was a WWII Ranger, climbed up the cliffs at D-day etc. He told me it always encouraged him to see Thunderbolts, and P-51s and similar American aircraft flying over head when he was scouting behind enemy lines. Of course he wouldn't have seen this Navy plane, but you know what I mean. I hope you keep it stock because I'm from Sacramento and have seen the Reno Air Races several times and don't like those modified monstrosities they fly. BTW I just subscribed and hit the like button.

[@nakotaapache4674]

i love to see so beautieful planes alive. must be a pleasure to work them to.

[@bbbbb816]

Spectacular machine

[@mrmagoo916]

That is wicked, great work.

[@Flapswgm]

Keep up the great work Steve. In the future, if you already have a paint scheme or destination for a specific plane, can you include that info in the clip? I'd love to know if this plane will ever see the Reno Races. Thanks so much.

[@dam4274]

J.W. “Bill” Fornof, a former Navy pilot who owned a Terrebonne Parish car dealership, died 40 years ago this week when his powerful fighter plane crashed in a Rhode Island air show. Fornof, 46, and his son, Corky, then 25, were performing in twin propeller-driven F-8-F Bearcats for the Navy Relief Fund in North Kingston, R.I., before a crowd estimated at 75,000. Onlookers reportedly thought the two planes had touched just before the crash, but federal aviation investigators ruled metal fatigue caused one wing to fall from the plane in flight. The crash was reported the following day in the June 6, 1971, issue of the Houma Daily Courier. “The elder Fornof had over 6,000 flying hours and his son has been flying since 1967,” The Courier reported. “The crash, the second in as many days at the base, occurred in a wooded area off Quidnesset Road, one and one-half miles from the end of the airport runway. Fornof’s body was recovered from the wreckage. “The younger Fornof circled the site several times before returning to the base. “The Fornofs’ performance was the second to last act in the show and had been under way for about 10 minutes before the plane went out of control. His son, Thomas, was taking pictures of the act at the time the mishap occurred. The entire Fornof family was attending the event. “The Navy’s famed precision flying team, The Blue Angels, scheduled as the finale of the show after the Fornofs, did not fly. However, the Navy said the air show would go on as scheduled Sunday as a salute to Fornof who flew for the Navy at the close of World War II and later during the Korean conflict.” “Fornof,” the newspaper said, became a naval aviator at the age of 19 after receiving his wings in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1945. He flew early model Grumman fighters prior to the end of World War II. “He was recalled to duty in 1948, he flew F4U-5 Corsair’s from the deck of the aircraft carrier Midway. He was returned to civilian life in 1949 but was recalled in 1952 for the Korean conflict. “He flew Grumman Panther Jets aboard the aircraft carrier Boxer. Following the war he did some flying aboard jet aircraft. “The Bearcat ... also built by Grumman ... was the last of propeller driven aircraft built in the U.S. Built as a shipboard aircraft, it was not completed soon enough to see action in World War II. “The Bearcat is equipped with a 2250 horsepower engine, quite large for the particular type of aircraft. “Fornof was raised in New Orleans ... son of the late William H. Fornof and Mrs. Jean Fornof of 113 Mulberry Drive in Metairie. “Survivors also include members of his immediate family; his wife, the former Mona Chitty, one daughter, Sissy, residing in New York, and four boys, John Jr., (Corky), who was flying with him at the time of the accident, Tommy, Terry, and Rhet,” the 1971 article reported. Fornof had come to “Houma in April of 1954 when he opened a Cadillac-Oldsmobile dealership on Barrow Street. The business was relocated to a new and larger building on West Main St., on April 30, 1970.“ Since the fatal crash, Fornof’s dealership has changed hands at least twice. The Bill Fornof Memorial chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association is still active in Houma. Corky Fornof no longer resides in Houma but reportedly continues an involvement with air shows. Aviation enthusiasts still talk of Bill Fornof on aviation websites: “Went for a ride with Bill in the plane and as he was a Navy carrier pilot I do remember him landing tail wheel first,” Bud Marshall wrote. Alex Fornof, a grandson wrote: “Sadly, I never met Papa Bill because he was taken in an aircraft accident when my father was 13. My father also flies F-15 in the USAF. Flying is in my family and I’m 18 now and I have 50 hours in the Cessna 172.“ Bill Testroet added: “Bill was the local Cadillac Dealer in Houma, and I believe that the metallic colors on these aircraft are factory colors used on Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles of the 70′s era.“ Keith Leckelt remembered Fornof’s “beautiful plane flying over Houma when I was a kid. You could hear the distinctive sound of that engine and all would stop and marvel at Bill and Corky doing what they loved best.“ Ed Auble saw Bill Fornof perform at a Texas air show: “He started his take-off run, got to take-off speed, lifted the plane about three foot off the runway, pulled up the gear, kept accelerating till he reached the end of the runway, pulled the nose up and climbed.“ Mike Hewlett saw the final flight: “I was at the air show at NAS Quonset Point, RI, when Bill Fornof was lost in his Bearcat. Corky was flying very tight on his wing as they performed a beautiful barrel roll while heading north. A steep climb to bleed airspeed, and a tight turn followed to head south, and then a dive to accelerate. They must have been pushing 400 knots when suddenly the wing departed the aircraft. Corky’s plane was hit by debris, but no serious damage.” June 8, 2011

[@altonkenne579]

Love your detailed story I saw them in 1970 in corpus Christi texas. I was 9yrs old my dad was a pilot so I loved planes the F8F and the piper j3 cub are my favorite aircraft thank you for the fornof story

[@Stromzilla]

Thank you for sharing.

[@88SC]

He spoke about Super Corsair. I still miss it. But looking forward to seeing this Bearcat back in the air.

[@mitchcarley]

Fantastic - in all ways! Thank you POF!

[@MegaMRCHURRO]

Can you please announce when you are going to fly it so we can have our eyes and ears open. I would love to see the first flight

[@allinmyhead]

Always loved this aircraft

[@2Phast4Rocket]

can't wait to see it in person at the airshow next year.

[@todd3205]

Mr. Hinton mentioned a super Corsair. Was it the one that Walter Soplata owned? i saw it a few times in his back yard, and have some pictures.