"newsman" wrote in message
news:2946073.lXFTgLWdPN@loopback...
On Tuesday 05 August 2003 10:01 Ditch wrote:

http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=113264

That is really sad to hear. Condolences his family and friends.

I never got a chance to see the replica in person. Does anyone have any
pics
from Oshkosh of that beautiful bird?

I spent quite a bit of time at OSH talking to the owner and pilot. He had
twice as much time in the H-1 as did Hughes. He said he was comfortable up
to 360 mph but felt the plane could do close to 400 mph. 30 percent power
gave him 300 mph. He spent 35,000 hours and over a million dollars in
material and now his life. Really sucks. He was a down to earth kind of
guy who spent a lot of time at OSH sitting under the wing and talking to
people. The plane was outstanding.



-John
*You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed, Grumman or
North
American*