Last flight of "Redhead"

[@bobmarren9166]

I met Gorden back in 1968 at his home in Santa Monica. Great guy with history. Stayed at his place for a few weeks with my friend his nephew. We were visiting from Florida at the time.

[@davidisrael9585]

Gordon is my great uncle. He went on to be a lead engineer for Grumman. Including the development of the Hellcat. He later worked for Bill Lear as the lead engineer for the first Lear Jet.

[@sbtoddiv]

This would be my grandfather's brother. I'm assuming this would make us related.

[@sbtoddiv]

my grandfather went on to manage lagurdia after building planes with his brother in the early 30's

[@georgeisrael4748]

@@sbtoddiv it appears that way!!

[@davidisrael9585]

@@sbtoddiv So your grandfather was Edward. Mine was Jack. It was Clyde, Jack (Jerome), Gordon, Edward, and Robert. Howdy cousin.

[@KingOfAllAnimals]

I remember seeing pictures of this plane years ago as it had a very unusual experimental wing with some rather unique characteristics. Wing loading was distributed in a very unusual manner with the chord of the wing being greater outboard of the plane. I would have to imagine this plane could turn or at least roll like crazy. It also would have entertained better low end stall speeds. I am not sure if these are Elliptic wings or compound Elliptic wings. I cannot recall ANY other aircraft to use these kind of wings. The Redhead racer was truly one of a kind. I am curious if it sits in a museum. This air-frame deserves memorization for how unique it was. I would hope it sits in the Smithsonian or one of many other air museums. You could see it in the film, the dirt strip took it out. Wait a tick... I bet there was no dirt strip. I bet it was just a field landing. Still, the pilot walked away from the crash and the plane actually didn't fly apart. A testament to the builders in making strong air frames.

[@cloudstreets1396]

This is back when men were men and women were glad of it.

[@bogdog999]

Many of those men died young. Harsh times.

[@painterjohn512]

Man this is awesome!! Im working on a Radial Rocket, its a new aircraft serial number 5. But im painting it to pay homage to the air racers of the 30s, with a modern twist on it.

[@Aeronca11]

Actually, from a rescue perspective, most airshows now have fire and EMTs there and the crowd gets in the way and puts themselves at risk. They also slow down the rescue, they don't have any tools to get the pilot out, etc. etc. etc. We might be more callous then what we imagine the old days where, but we are also wiser to actually allow the professionals to do their work without crowd control making it difficult.

[@Yosemite-George-61]

Thanks Bomber Guy ! I'll buy you a pint any time !

[@welshpete12]

I wonder how much , G , the pilot and plane took doing this sort of flying !

[@zvent1]

Wow Bomberguy you come up with some of the best footage I have ever seen! Have you ever come accross any footage of Roscoe Turners #121 Gilmore Oil Red Lion? Keep posting those great vids please. Best on the net.

[@kenjohan]

When an accident happens the first thing the speaker says to the spectators is: "Stay where you are!" I presume he expects this order to be obeyed.

[@guzzinerd]

kaizasolseiboy, I do not agree. There are many fine people in the world, being cynical helps nothing. Bomberguy, great footage! I really appreciate you posting this, it gives me faith in the fact that people share for no more reason than mutual interest .

[@Nuance5]

Yes - I'm sure it is. Pete was the first racer DGA - and it made Benny a lot of money!

[@laurieavery6965]

It is my understanding that Gordon and all of his brothers were redheads.

[@jethou1]

@cockpit001 Definition of a landing: "A crash you can walk away from"!

[@jorgenelsonfelix52]

👋😎

[@roustabout4458]

The "redhead" reminds me of what could be a rough GeeBee prototype. Visibility must have been lousy out of that thing. Any landing at all would have been by guess and by gosh.

[@foxprogt]

wow rugged little plane

[@carmium]

@BadIdeas101 Modern planes don't generally top out at 220 mph and land at 40. If you're talking small planes, I've seen a comparable modern light plane make a similar landing with about the same damage.

[@mazdarodi]

It would be interesting to see if "Redhead" came from the engine or engine parts being painted red. The word testarossa in Italian means "red head" and the early Ferrari Testarossas were called that because of the engine cam covers being painted red. Any way it goes, those Menasco engines were difficult to keep maintained. But since my ex is a red head and I'd bet much more money on the "Redhead" name being a testimony to temperamental behavior. I've got first hand experience with that.

[@davidisrael9585]

Both brothers who built the Redhead were redheads, Gordon and Edward

[@phil656565]

wow has omaha sure has changed

[@grahamkeithtodd]

any landing you can walk away from is a good landing......lol,what a lucky bugger he was to walk away from that one however...

[@Phardel]

Is that Ben Howard's "Pete" in the early part of the clip?

[@davidisrael9585]

Probably. Gordon went to work for Howard Aircraft

[@corbystarlet]

maybe it had a red cowl?

[@650nelson]

Watch him land errrrr....fuck up. There's a good chap

[@billysoccerboypayne]

no air bag ?

[@stickman3214]

... Seriously?

[@rexluminus9867]

No but lost of air ! I told him don't use the front brake so hard.

[@yurasseck]

corrida de avião em 1937.

[@BadIdeas101]

seriously, when have you seen a modern plane stay together like that in a crash like that? modern planes would have shattered into 1,000,000 pieces

[@cockpit001]

"Look at him land!?" Are you kidding? That's NOT al landing! LOL.

[@ahz123]

@ineedasmoke100 My friend helped someone who had fallen and broken an ankle once, and got sued by the person. They person's lawyer sued everyone in the vicinity, hoping someone had insurance.

[@13aceofspades13]

Yet again if someone tried to help today, the officials may not let them, thats why I wouldnt go in there otherwise heck yes dive in and help man that needs help for crying out loud what am I doing here with this fricking camcorder looking stupid. But officials look at the possibilities of the aircraft possibly bursting into flame, sometimes a person there is a person in the way of the fire crew if the plane catches fire!

[@Aviator111167]

Is he dun dieded

[@jameschase18]

lol he doesnt know how to land.. kido