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OT: Cleveland Air Racing Photo-Collection

Bomber_12th

Bomber_12th

SOH-CM-2025
I figured there would be a good number of members here who would be interested in viewing this:

http://www.airrace.com/1949%20NAR%20.htm

It was an amazing time period, when you could easily go out and buy a Mustang or King Cobra, and go racing. If you wanted to try something a bit different, why not just buy a Martin B-26, or a DH Mosquito? :d

Be sure to check out the color-photos at the bottom of the page, and take in those highly-modified T-6's!
 
Thanks for the head's up, very interesting link and you were right about the color pics at the end, Nice to see the collection.
 
Wow very interesting..love the Spit, Mosquito (never knew they raced those in the States) and the Super Corsairs...and never seen those cut down T-6s before either
 
My, how things have changed. Could you imagine seeing a race lineup of civilian F-16s and F-15s all with custom paint jobs?
 
Wonderful period of aviation history and development, especially the earlier 1929 - 1939 Thompson Races.

Some nice shots of Bill Odom and the heavily modified ex Jacquie Cochran P-51C 'Beguine'
Tragically lost at the 1949 event together with 'Odom and a couple of people on the ground.
Helped bring an end to Cleveland races

Albert
www.warbirdsim.com
 
Wonderful period of aviation history and development, especially the earlier 1929 - 1939 Thompson Races.
Click to expand...
It was, but now too many people look at it as 'ancient'. Only 250 Mph?? No smell of BBQ lighter fluid? no deafening sounds to scare kids? -- It really was a wonderful time.

tigisfat said:
My, how things have changed. Could you imagine seeing a race lineup of civilian F-16s and F-15s all with custom paint jobs?
Click to expand...

Nope. That's what finally ended the races. It was no longer something that could be raced by civilians (in part because the military changed the rules about surplus aircraft). Gone were the days of rich boy's toys and private development of technology.

The fun of the Cleveland races that drew over 100,000 spectators to the 1929 era was that it was all close to the crowd and near a large population base. Back then it was all about innovation and the daring pilots in a new adventure. Now it would be about security, technology, eco-awareness and cookie-cutter airplanes.

Can you imagine how much the citizens would love a bunch of AB roar over their houses, the odd unintentional sonic boom... that wouldn't even be happy times in the Nevada desert.

Look at the popularity of the Red Bull races... a hundred thousand citizens close up to small prop planes flying through downtown and you can see it all on TV. Part nostalgia, part modern. I doubt even Red Bull could afford to field a race of F-class planes.

of course, there is the Flight Sim option...:jump:

Rob
 
Thanks for the link Bomber. Bob Odegaard had his restored Super Corsair at the Fargo Air Museum for a while. I guess it was originally owned by Cook Cleland and raced in the 40s. I heard that when Odegaard's group found it, that it was in a barn somewhere. Here are a few pics from the museum. Odegaard even raced his a while for a few years out in Reno, painted as #57. He recently sold it....

What an era - they sure drew a crowd!

View attachment 5885 View attachment 5884
 
Snaker, it was amazing seeing seeing Odegaard's F2G at every given opportunity, and to think of how much history the airframe has. I was disappointed when I heard that it was sold (now based in Arizona, with a very private owner) - but thankfully, Odegaard's second F2G restoration, "Race 74", I've heard, is very near its first flight. The monetary return for selling "Race 57", I think was needed at the time to help get Race 74 finished, as well as fund another Corsair project that he and his son own/are restoring for themselves at this time too.
 
When I though Cleveland Air Races Photo Collection, I thought it was about these pictures.....

p36-7.jpg
 
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