[Talisker]

A friend of mine sent me some pictures of the plane showing what appears to be the pilot slumped over in the seat...

Then he's got pictures that conflict mightily with others, because they show NO PILOT.

5-point harness, pilot could be dead and he'd still be strapped in place, and therefore be fully visible. But - no pilot in these pictures. How?

And...

No fire? (yes he minimized his fuel load for weight purposes while racing. but the race wasn't over yet, and he still had enough fuel to fly and race. So why didn't it burn? And why were victims and spectators covered with dust, instead of fuel?)

Reno (yesterday, P-51):

West Virgina (today, T-28):

[MediaMole]

The canopy on Galloping ghost is as small as physically possible. The pilot’s head is barely visible under normal circumstances.

Here’s a photo from better times that shows how small the canopy is and how the pilot’s head looks.

http://www.maggiesnotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Galloping_Ghost_25.jpg

[LibertyRocks]

On another thread someone who seemed to know planes (maybe even this one itself) said the plane was designed to disintegrate upon impact, thus minimizing the loss of life and the lack of fire. I don’t know anything about this, but thought you should know there was discussion of the lack of fire and no big debris somewhere in these threads.