RARE BEAR

The wrecked F8F-2 Bearcat that became Air Racing’s winningest Unlimited racer

- JAN TEGLER

One hundred feet above the Mojave Desert, Lyle Shelton fought to control his famed F8F-2 Bearcat. “The Spirit of ’77,” as the racer was known at the time, was on a qualifying lap, rounding the 8.5-mile racecourse at close to 420 mph.

Mac McClain, flying the Rolls-Royce Griffon powered “Red Baron” RB-51, had already qualified ahead of the rest of the field for the 1976 California National Air Races at over 418 mph. But Lyle wanted the top spot.

An oil line not suitable for the modified 3,200 horsepower Wright 3350 radial roaring in front of Shelton had been installed in a thrash to get the Bearcat ready. Suddenly it ruptured and the big engine seized. Already a two-time national champion in air racing’s Unlimited class with thousands of hours as a U.S. Navy pilot flying AD-6 Skyraiders, A-4 Skyhawks, and T-38s on exchange with the U.S. Air Force, Shelton knew what to do. He hauled back on the stick and zoomed up off the course, trading airspeed for altitude. “’77’s a mayday!,” he said on the air race frequency.

Maydays and deadsticks in the one-of-a-kind racer weren’t new to Lyle. In 1970, his second year of racing the Bear, his 3350 developed a serious case of hiccups when too much nitromethane was added to the plane’s water injection/anti-detonation system, causing it to quit running for several two to three-second intervals then smoke badly. Shelton mayday and landed hot, blowing two tires. Speeding toward the end of the runway, he had to ground loop the airplane in the overrun to save himself and the racer.