Vol.35, No. 03- April 2012 - You`ll Never See This Again!

You’ll Probably Never
See This Again!
Rare flight of two Super Corsairs
by Moose Peterson
The darkness of the desert morning was
shattered as the hangar doors were cracked
open and lit up the ramp. They slid open to
reveal a piece of aviation history not seen
for six decades that fate had brought back
together again. Sparkling there in the hangar lights were the only two airworthy Super Corsairs, R acer #57 and R acer #74,
waiting to take to the skies for an event all
said would most likely never happen again!
These aircraft took a long road to reach
this day. They were hangared for this historic day at the Arizona CAF Wing based at
Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona. Racer #57 BN
88458-F2G-1 is hangared full time in Chandler, Arizona. Racer #74 BN 88463-F2G-2
is spending its first winter since restoration at the CAF Wing, arriving after it raced
at Reno in 2011. It is only fitting since the
man responsible for restoring both of these
aircraft, Robert Odegaard, also winters in
Mesa. It was Robert’s passion that brought
these two aircraft together for this day.
The story of the Super Corsairs is a fascinating one in aviation lore. Their development began when Pratt & Whitney proposed
in 1939 that its new R-4360 radial engine be
fitted in an FG-1. In planning for the invasion of Japan, war planners believed kamikaze attacks were possible. Development
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APRIL 2012
continued on until Goodyear received the contract to start building the
Super Corsair in March 1944. Their production was sped up in response to
kamikaze attacks, which started in the Pacific in October 1944.
The contract was to deliver 418 F2G-1s and 10 F2G-2s. The F2G-1 was
the land-based fighter version, while the F2G-2 had modifications for
carrier operations. The Super Corsair modifications from the FG-1 were
the massive R-4360 powerplant, bubble-type canopy armaments of six
.50-caliber Browning machine guns, and the ability to carry eight 5-inch
rockets and up to 1,600 pounds in bombs plus provisions to carry two
droppable external tanks. By August 1945, a total of 10 Super Corsairs
were manufactured, five F2G-1 and five F2G-2. The combination of the F8F
Bearcat already in service, and its outperforming the Super Corsair, and
the war drawing to a close stopped production with the 10 Super Corsairs.
None ever saw action.
The fate for most of those 10 Super Corsairs was similar to most WWII
veteran aircraft. Six of the Supers—BN 88456-F2G-1, BN 88455-F2G-1, BN
88459-F2G-2, BN 88460-F2G-2, BN 88461-F2G-2, and BN 88462-F2G-2—
went off to various Navy locations, San Diego, California, Columbus, Ohio,
and NAS Patuxent, and were further tested, yet all were scrapped by the
end of 1947.
www.warbirds-eaa.org 1 5
Because of WWII, the National Air
Races took a hiatus from 1942-45,
resuming in 1946. In that year, Cook
Cleland, a WWII veteran Navy avia-
“It arrived
as a box of
parts...”
16 APRIL 2012
tor, raced in the Thompson Trophy in a
FG-1D and came in sixth behind Army
Air Force Mustangs and Airacobras.
Cleland approached his friend Adm.
“Bull” Halsey (wanting Navy to beat
Army), who quietly had three of the
Super Corsairs declared surplus; Cleland then purchased them. Cook Cleland ended up owning and his team
flew four Super Corsairs: BN 14693F2G-1 Race #94, BN 88457-F2G-1
Race #84, BN 88458-F2G-1 Race #57,
and BN 88463-F2G-2 Race #74.
In 1947, Cook Cleland flew #74 to
win the Thompson Trophy with a top
speed of 396.131 mph. Tony Janazzo
piloted #84, and on the seventh lap he
crashed and was killed. Dick Becker,
piloting #94, took second with a speed
of 390.133 mph. In 1948 #74 was piloted by Dick Becker, and while it failed
to finish, he piloted #74 to two laps
doing 410 mph. In 1949 Cleland took
his modified #94 to first place. Dick
Becker piloted #74 and was the fastest
qualifier at 414.592 mph. At the end of
his qualifying run gears stripped in the
front case, and it was out of the race.
With the end of the Cleveland races
after the tragic accident, Cleland abandoned his F2Gs in 1950 at his home
field in Willoughby, Ohio.
Other than an “aerobatics” demonstration in #57 in the summer of 1950,
the Supers were parked. That’s when
fate stepped in for #57 and #74. On 7
July 1953 for the sum of $500, Walter
Soplata purchased #74 and hauled it
to his “collection” in Newbury, Ohio.
There it was stored until 26 August
1997 when the Crawford Auto-Aviation
Museum in Cleveland purchased #74
F2G-2 to make it into a static display.
The museum hired renowned aviation restorer/pilot Robert Odegaard
to restore it, with the project getting
started in 1999.
Racer #57 didn’t lead as charmed a
life as #74. In 1954 it was towed from
Cleland’s to Joe Loecy’s machine shop
in Chardon, Ohio, for storage until
1964. In ’64 while stationed in Alaska,
Cleland thought of attempting a bid
on the world propeller-driven land
plane speed record using #57. Enlisting the help of Dick Becker and Chuck
Toman, #57 was disassembled and
shipped to Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
The project fell through because of a
lack of funds, so #57 found itself outside deteriorating more.
In 1968, John Trainor purchased
#57 to make a static display of it. He
was tragically killed in a Mustang
crash. In 1984, Harry Doan acquired
#57 for restoration, and tragically, he
was killed in a crash of a Skyraider.
Racer #57 was then sold to Don Knapp
who shipped #57 to Texas for restoration, but he was killed in the crash
of his Mustang. Ownership was then
transferred to Lone Star Flight Museum. It started restoration on #57
in 1990, working on frame repair and
spar corrosion. Then in 1996 Robert
Odegaard acquired Racer #57.
“It arrived as a box of parts,” Bob
told me when I asked about starting
the restoration. “It was in nowhere
near as good of condition as #74
when we started.” In 1999, nearly 50
years to the day when Bill McKillen
piloted #57 to a third-place finish in
the Thompson Trophy Race, #57 took
to the skies again in Kindred, North
Dakota. Meanwhile #74 was in a crate
newly acquired by the Crawford awaiting restoration as a static display. In
2001 the museum fell on hard times,
so #74 was put into storage. Then in
2007 Tom Ungurean (current owner)
purchased Racer #74, and it was put
in the hands of Odegaard Aviation to
restore it to airworthy. Robert, Brady,
and Casey Odegaard first turned over
that R-4360 outside their hangar at
Kindred, North Dakota, on 24 June
2011. Later test flights found the engine making metal, but it was repaired
and flying at the Reno Air Races in
September 2011.
Ron Pratte purchased Racer #57
from the Odegaard family in December 2008. Racer #57 joined Mr. Pratte’s collection of classic aircraft and
automobiles, raising funds for children’s charities. Racer #57, prior to
our 27 December 2011 flight, had just
come out of an extensive 10-month
restoration, which included aircraft
disassembly and reassembly, rebuilding the landing gear, installing new
hoses, carburetor removal and reinstallation, et al., by Robert Odegaard;
re-covering the control surfaces by aircraft mechanic Julie White; stripping
and painting the entire aircraft by Don
Copeland and his son, Chris, while the
aircraft was disassembled; and overhauling the carburetor by Martin King.
The mission for our day was really pretty simple compared to all it
took for the Supers to get there, an
air-to-air shoot with these two racing
and aviation legends. After the hangar doors were opened, Bob, Casey,
Larry, Jake, and I proceeded to roll out
the two racers. “Where do you want
to place them?” Bob asked. “Well, can
we do a derby start?” I asked jokingly.
Larry (pilot for #57 who takes really
good care of the Super) grimaced,
Casey smirked, and Bob gave me that
Odegaard smile. (A derby start is
www.warbirds-eaa.org 1 7
what they did at the Thompson where
the aircraft would be on the ground,
and like a horse race, when the flag
dropped the aircraft gun it and speed
down the dirt to get airborne.) So
while historically correct, not a good
idea, especially with #57 freshly out of
paint (and what a gorgeous paint job!).
I then suggested the ramp, leading out
to the warm-up area.
With the planes parked, up in the
lift we went to begin shooting. Starting before the sun was up and shooting until well afterward, you can’t help
but be memorized by these aircraft.
But the airport started to come to life,
so we had to move the two Super Corsairs back in front of the CAF hangars.
And there they stayed all afternoon.
Visitors to the Wing had no idea the
treat they were in for when they came
that day. To say these two legends
were popular is stating the obvious!
As Bob constantly says, “These are not
my aircraft; they belong to everyone
to enjoy,” and on this day, hundreds
stared and asked questions while enjoying these gorgeous aircraft.
Morning rolled into the afternoon,
and at 1400 it was flight-brief time.
Bob ran the brief and good thing;
there was a bit of orchestrating to get
all the flights in, but by 1440 we were
all in our respective aircraft with props
turning. We arrived on the ramp when
all of a sudden we heard Bob say he
was returning to the hangar, and we
saw him turned around taxiing back.
By the time we got back to the hangar and out of the A36, Bob was down,
out of his flight suit, and talking with
Casey. Seconds later the amazing volunteers at the Arizona CAF Wing had
tools, rags, and gantries in place, and
the cowling was coming off #74. “Not
firing on all cylinders, got some fouled
plugs.” Having watched Bob and Casey
at work, I wasn’t worried, and within
45 minutes, five plugs were R&R, and
we were taxiing again. Soon we were in
the air, completing our mission.
There really are no words to express what it’s like to be hanging out a
door of an A36, flying next to a Super
Corsair piloted by Bob Odegaard and
next to him another piloted by Casey
Odegaard. Even through the DC you
can hear the great throaty sound of
the R-4360 as that bent wing seems
to reach out and touch you. I tried to
imagine what it would have been like
to be in these mighty machines, chasing each other around the pylons at
Cleveland, the engine screaming as
they bit at the air to catch each other.
It was quite an honor to be a part of
their history, if only for this brief moment in time. Our flight lasted only 25
minutes, but I will never forget it. It
was 60 years in the making, and luckily, for the foreseeable future, perhaps
you’ll see these two amazing aircraft in
full glory yourself. As to the question
whether they will ever fly together
again, though, we were simply told,
“You’ll probably never see this again!”
I want to thank Robert Odegaard,
Casey Odegaard, and Larry Perkins for
helping in the writing of this piece. Racer
#57 piloted by Robert Odegaard. Racer
#74 piloted by Casey Odegaard. Photo
platform A36 Bonanza piloted by Jeff
Mark and Brian Churchill.
by Jean Barbaud
http://jeanbarbaud.blogspot.com
18 APRIL 2012