# P-51 accident at OshKosh



## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

Just got word of an accident involving 2 P-51 Mustangs at OshKosh today. So far, I have heard one fatality. More details to follow...


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

From the OshKosh news:


> One dead in AirVenture warbird crash when two planes collide; afternoon airshow suspended
> 
> One person was killed Friday afternoon when two warbirds collided on the south end of the north-south runway at Wittman Regional Airport.
> 
> ...


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

Wow that really stinks, I wonder how that will affect the rest of the event's. I wonder what two mustangs they were.


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## Erich (Jul 27, 2007)

what a total shame and waste......so sorry to hear this and yes we will find out just which pilots and warbirds in the very near days.....

E


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

I just turned on the TV, showed one mustang, couldnt quite see it or marking. Im sure it will be a hot topic tommorrow when I go back to the airshow.


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

Aero-News Network: The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily/Real-Time News and Information Service

They have all the latest, which isn't much at this point.


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## ToughOmbre (Jul 27, 2007)

Sad, very sad.


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

The local news showed one P-51 up on its nose, Looked like the body was aluminum in color with D Day markings.


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

It was just announced in the news today on the two aircraft involved. They where Precious Metal from the movie Races at Reno and the other was the Mustang STANG. My condolences to the families involved. Below are two pictures of these war birds from my collection.


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

Sad to hear it. Do you know where the airplanes were based out of? I am not familiar with either of those 2.


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

evangilder said:


> Sad to hear it. Do you know where the airplanes were based out of? I am not familiar with either of those 2.



Off hand no, I met the owner of the mustang Precious Metal at last years airshow. This mustang was not a warbird in the normal sense. It was build as a 1 for 1 from scratch off the orginal blue prints for a P-51a mustang with an orginal allison engine. This mustang was around a year to a year and a half old. Sad to say I do not rember his name nor do I know if he was flying at the time of todays accident.

Stang I know next to nothing other then from what Ive heard in years past was that it flew regulary at reno.


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

This story gets worse, one of the local stations just reported that this is a father and son team. The do not know which one lived and vice versa. 

This really sucks!!!!!!


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

Was wrong on the age of precious metal but here is a web link on and more pictures.

Precious Metal Modifications


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

OMG! That would be horrible.


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

Precius metal was based out of Ft Lauderdale Florida, There web site is here.

Precious Metal Air Racing Team


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

Update:

Oshkosh Northwestern - Witness: Signs of trouble prior to fatal warbird crash


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## lesofprimus (Jul 27, 2007)

Unfu*kinbelieveable... Wonder if any vid clips will surface.... My sincere respect goes out to the family...


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

I bet there will be video of it. I know some guys got some pictures today.

Here is a video with the eyewitnesses and shots of the scene.
Oshkosh Northwestern


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

More video, including footage of a 1999 collision between a Corsair and a Bearcat at the end of the clip

Mediacenter - WFRV Green Bay: Northeast Wisconsin News, Weather and Sports


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

Such a same, seems like lots of crashes this year. I saw the one that had the landing gear collapse. News is actually wrong. They missed the collision last year of a TBF colliding with a private plane killing one in the private plane.


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## Njaco (Jul 27, 2007)

This is really sad, not only for the warbirds lost but for the families as well. My condolences to all the families though I understand it might be one. That hurts even more.


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## Yak11Fan (Jul 27, 2007)

You have the wrong Precious Metal. Sadly this was Precious Metal II


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## Micdrow (Jul 27, 2007)

Yak11Fan said:


> You have the wrong Precious Metal. Sadly this was Precious Metal II



Are you sure, the mustang at the EAA did NOT say Precious Metal II. As of yesterday that was the only one I saw there. How do you tell the difference?


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## evangilder (Jul 27, 2007)

Unless Precious Metal II has the green wings too, then the picture that Micdrow posted is the right one. The news pages have a particularly disturbing photo of the accident. Fox news had it on their page an hour or so ago. You could clearly see the bright green of the wing's underside.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 27, 2007)

Boy, not a good few days for aviation!


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## Heinz (Jul 27, 2007)

oh that is terrible news...............


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## uhhuh35 (Jul 28, 2007)

Precious Metal is a Reno Racer with a Rolls Royce Gryphon engine and contra-rotating propellers.
Precious Metal II, which crashed at Oshkosh, was a P-51A or an A-36 painted to look like The Reno Racer for the Movie "Thunder over Reno" complete with green wings.


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## Wildcat (Jul 28, 2007)

Terrible news...


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## Desert Fox (Jul 28, 2007)

My condolensces for the families of the deceased. RIP


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## pbfoot (Jul 28, 2007)

Bad news . The link I provide shows about 4 pics of this unfortunate meeting

Aero-News Network: The Aviation and Aerospace World's Daily/Real-Time News and Information Service


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jul 28, 2007)

Absolutely Terrible. This has been a bad year for Warbird Aviation.

My condolences to the families.


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## toddolinger (Jul 28, 2007)

It was actually Precious Metal II (tail no. 57) not the FL Precious Metal (tail no. thirty eight). Both aircraft involved are listed here with their owners:
The Gathering of P-51 Mustangs and Legends, Sept 27-30, 2007, Columbus, Ohio, Rickenbacker Field
very sad


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## evangilder (Jul 28, 2007)

Since the media has already reported on this, the pilot that was killed was Gerry Beck. I personally didn;t know him, but know of his work in the warbird community. He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers got out to the Beck family and the friends of Gerry.


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## lesofprimus (Jul 28, 2007)

Unreal photo sequence...


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## ccheese (Jul 28, 2007)

Those photos are awesome. Would you believe there was nothing at all
in the Virginian Pilot, the newspaper for all of the five cities of Hampton
Roads ?

Charles


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## evangilder (Jul 28, 2007)

Aero-news has footage of the incident in a segment about this. 

***WARNING: This is graphic and heartbreaking
Aero News TV - Videos


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jul 28, 2007)

That is just terrible. I certainly would not call the pics awesome though....


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## Gnomey (Jul 28, 2007)

Terrible news, my condolences to the family.


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## johnbr (Jul 28, 2007)

Boy what a very bad week.


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## Erich (Jul 28, 2007)

hate to add to this but with the crash at Dayton OH today, well Aviation overall is getting a butt kicking extreme ~ what a mess, remember the airliner recently with all those poor lives gone ........... !


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## CRASHGATE3 (Jul 28, 2007)

Just got in from work and seen this......heartbreaking....
I saw this at Duxford when the P38 went in.....the wheel pointing upwards and the tarp over the wreck......it breaks me up
My friend is there too on holiday..
These guys do this for our enjoyment and to keep history alive ..so my respects and condolences to all involved


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## ccheese (Jul 29, 2007)

I am really surprised. Not a single word about the P-51 crash, in our local
newspaper. I did see a 1 inch item about the crash at Dayton. However,
there is a five column spread about the news helo's that crashed. I would
expect more out of community that has so many military air bases. We have
NAS Norfolk, NAS Oceana, NAF Fentress, Langley AFB and probably others.

Charles


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## timshatz (Jul 30, 2007)

Sad. Condolences.


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## hofy (Jul 30, 2007)

The crash at Oshkosh was a tragic loss. I was there and it will stick in my memory forever. Our prayers are with you and your family Gerald Beck.
I think it has already been cleared up in this thread that this was NOT the air racer Precious Metal, but Precious Metal II. Gerry built this P51A model from the original blue prints. It was Allison powered. About 5 minutes before the crash they announced he planned to build 12 more of these. I just hope someone picks up where he left off, it would be a shame to see his dreams and hard work just fade away.


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (Jul 30, 2007)

There won't be as many planes left in 10 years if they keep crashing.


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## DOUGRD (Jul 30, 2007)

In regard to the P-51A that we are referring to as "Precious Metal II'. The markings on the cowling say "Precious Metal" There is no "II" on it. I know this because I took that cowling off the aircraft just the Friday before Oshkosh because of a mag problem. Mr. Beck landed here for fuel on his way to Wisconsin when he noted the problem. I didn't get to meet him but my boss came in on Sat. and helped with the mag change and said he was a really friendly sort of guy and had a lot of mustang time in his logbook. We have some nice 35mm photos of him and the plane but unfortunately I don't have a way to load them in the computer. I did get some very good detail shots of the plane and it was amazing. By the way the green "paint" was really that sticky mylar film that can be peeled off. I hope too that someone picks up his banner and carries on with the "A" project. I think this should be referred to as "Black July" for the airshow circuit.


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## DOUGRD (Jul 30, 2007)

Everyone, Please forgive me if the first two lines of the above posting sound kind of snooty or like I'm trying to be some kind of know-it-all ass. That was not my intent whatsoever. But I reread it and editted it and it still sounds snooty to me. Sorry.


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## evangilder (Jul 30, 2007)

No worries. This last weekend will be one that will be remember for the sorrows. It has left a lot of people with a loss that is hard to comprehend.


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## Micdrow (Jul 31, 2007)

DOUGRD said:


> Everyone, Please forgive me if the first two lines of the above posting sound kind of snooty or like I'm trying to be some kind of know-it-all ass. That was not my intent whatsoever. But I reread it and editted it and it still sounds snooty to me. Sorry.



No biggy just confusing. Both aircraft say the same thing as far as name goes. As for the tradigy it will take alot of time to heal at the EAA and hopfully the lessons learned will help prevent further mistakes both in the loss of lives and aircraft.


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## DOUGRD (Jul 31, 2007)

Just to let folks know, there was a memorial service held for Mr. Beck in his hometown of Wahpeton, N.D. It was something that was sort of private just for the local community. Over one thousand people attended. Today at the Fargo Air Museum another memorial service and I believe the funeral were held. It was to last approx. two hours. I'll have a report on this tomorrow as my boss attended the event.


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## DOUGRD (Aug 1, 2007)

evangilder said:


> No worries. This last weekend will be one that will be remember for the sorrows. It has left a lot of people with a loss that is hard to comprehend.



Evan you're right about that but you know I wonder why. We hear about car wrecks with fatalities or a house fire with fatalities and it doesn't hit us like a warbird crash does it? Even an airliner crash doesn't seem to hit as deeply. At least not according to the reactions I've witnessed these many years in aviation. What is it about a warbird that strikes such a deep cord? Now I heard about the crash just moments after it happened, I mean the wreckage was still burning when we got the call at work from someone we know who was there. That was about 1520 and until 1600 you could hear a pin drop in the hangar and the strange part is that I'm the only real warbird nut there. I wonder if it's because of all the other history that is recalled when we see one of these machines. Especially here in this forum. What drew us all here but the facination with WW2 and the aircraft that flew then? All these thoughts came to mind within seconds of hearing the news. But I've thought about it so much more since then. This is what I think is why we react the way we do. These warbirds, these machines of a dark era past evoke thoughts of the young, sometimes gallant, sometimes fearful airmen who flew in them, who flew with them, who flew against them, who cheered as they flew overhead and those who prayed they would not pass this way again.


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## DOUGRD (Aug 1, 2007)

Mr. Becks memorial service and funeral were held yesterday at the Fargo Air Museum. Approx 1500 people attended the service. Mr Beck was certainly an aviation minded individual. As had been previously agreed to by Mr. Beck and his wife he was buried in a Propeller Box. He really had panache!


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## SoD Stitch (Aug 3, 2007)

DOUGRD said:


> Evan you're right about that but you know I wonder why. We hear about car wrecks with fatalities or a house fire with fatalities and it doesn't hit us like a warbird crash does it? Even an airliner crash doesn't seem to hit as deeply. At least not according to the reactions I've witnessed these many years in aviation. What is it about a warbird that strikes such a deep cord? Now I heard about the crash just moments after it happened, I mean the wreckage was still burning when we got the call at work from someone we know who was there. That was about 1520 and until 1600 you could hear a pin drop in the hangar and the strange part is that I'm the only real warbird nut there. I wonder if it's because of all the other history that is recalled when we see one of these machines. Especially here in this forum. What drew us all here but the facination with WW2 and the aircraft that flew then? All these thoughts came to mind within seconds of hearing the news. But I've thought about it so much more since then. This is what I think is why we react the way we do. These warbirds, these machines of a dark era past evoke thoughts of the young, sometimes gallant, sometimes fearful airmen who flew in them, who flew with them, who flew against them, who cheered as they flew overhead and those who prayed they would not pass this way again.



My reasons for lamenting these tragedies are both egalitarian and selfish; I am saddened at the loss of human life, but I am also saddened by the loss of a piece of history. There are only a finite number of Warbirds left in the world; every time one crashes or is destroyed means one less Warbird in the world. This is especially true for the "real" Warbirds, such as the P-51 the P-38 (I'm sorry, I know the T-6 is officially considered a Warbird, but I don't consider the T-6 to be a "real" Warbird, even though my family has owned several of them). If people continue to fly them (and, by inference, eventually crash them), there won't be any Warbirds left.


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## evangilder (Aug 3, 2007)

It really depends on your definition of "real" warbird. There are many restored aircraft that carry only the nameplate as "original" equipment. They can do a lot with custom fabrication today and many of the warbirds that still fly have a lot of modern parts and components in them.

A lot of the fellows that I hang out with mourn higher the loss of someone involved in warbirds is because the warbird community is very small. There are not that many people involved in aviation that have the connection with warbirds like Gerry Beck did. Anyone who rebuilds, flies and has the profound passion for warbirds like he did is someone who is a champion for the warbird movement. His name becomes recognized in the warbird community regardless of whether you have met him or not. It's like the names Steve Hinton or Ed Maloney. Anyone in the warbird community will know those names.


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## YakFlyer (Oct 11, 2007)

What I am confused about, is why they were landing in such close formation. In all of my 4 years being involved with warbirds and airshow flying, I have never heard or seen pilots land together in close formation - it is unheard of in these parts. There is just far too much room for human or mechanical error, particularly in the roll out. 
When I saw the video of this accident, on YouTube for christ sake (someone showed me..) it just made me feel sick, for the loss of a life, from someone doing what we all love to see, take these old aeroplanes to the air.


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## Micdrow (Oct 12, 2007)

The rules may change after this accident but Ive been going to this airshow off and on for the last 20 years. One off the things that make it great are the take off and landing of the war birds. They try and simulate group landing and take off. One year they had 12 P-51's take off in pairs with about 50 feet seperation. Was quite cool to watch but like you said accidents can happen. Off hand I can not rember there name but there is a T-6 acrobat team that prides itself on taking off and landing simutanious in formation. 

Alot also depends on runways. The EAA's main runway's can handle 747-400's and C-5 Galaxies so there is plenty of room for a pair of mustangs to take off or land.


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (Oct 12, 2007)

I'm glad the Mustangs and Legends had no casualties. 

Trying to form 20 P-51's in formation, I bet, wasn't easy.


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## rcpilotjr (Feb 18, 2008)

Who knows the N number of the green plane and what was the name of the other P-51


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## Bucksnort101 (Feb 21, 2008)

Not sure of the N # on the P-51, I believe that plane was built by Gerald Beck. Other plance was owned by Bob Odegaard, piloted by Caset Odegaard.

Pilot with UND ties killed at Oshkosh - SiouxSports.com Forum

Here's more info on the P-51A replica built by Gerald Beck.

A more than 51% 51


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## rcpilotjr (Feb 21, 2008)

someone by the name of dick james died to. i've read a lot and dont know if this crash has any relation.


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## evangilder (Feb 21, 2008)

The P-51 crash at OshKosh had only one fatality, Gerry Beck.


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## evangilder (Feb 21, 2008)

Dick James was killed in 2005.

2005 - 07/27 - WB Pilot Dick James Killed in FDL County Crash


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## rcpilotjr (Feb 23, 2008)

evangilder said:


> Dick James was killed in 2005.
> 
> 2005 - 07/27 - WB Pilot Dick James Killed in FDL County Crash


was his real name richard? i looked at the crash and it said richard james. I'M CONFUSED!!


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## rcpilotjr (Feb 23, 2008)

another site said "richard james was killed when his p-51 stalled at the top of the lazy eight and never regained control


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## evangilder (Feb 23, 2008)

Dick is a nickname for Richard, so they are the same.


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## rcpilotjr (Feb 23, 2008)

OK......Very sad


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