Art Vance, one of Air Racing's best....

[TreeDoc]

I post this because I knew Art. Art and his son Dan park their travel trailer not 20 feet from mine at our Duck Club in northern California. Art was big time in the Air Racing community as well as for the ducks. He would donate rides in his P-51D currently named "Speedball Alice" with the proceeds going directly to the CWA (California Waterfowl Association).

We'll miss you, Art. Blue Skies my friend.

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Legendary pilot Art Vance, a fixture at Reno's National Championship Air Races, was killed Saturday while attempting an emergency landing on a median of Interstate 40 near Monterey, Tenn.

Vance, the president of the Unlimited Air Racing Association, was killed when his vintage World War II Grumman F6-F Hellcat hit the ground and burst into flames, according to eyewitness reports.

"Art's passing is a huge loss to air racing, and our event will not be the same without him flying overhead during the Unlimited Races, briefing the class and providing priceless counsel and humor to all of us within the sport," said Reno Air Racing Association spokeswoman Valerie Enos in a prepared statement. "He provided the steady hand on the stick of leadership for the Unlimited Class that guided them in growing and racing safely here in Reno."

Vance, from Sebastopol, Calif., first raced in Reno's air races in 1984, flying in 32 races, according to race documents. In 2002, he flew his Hawker Sea Fury 415 mph -- his fastest race in Reno.

Vance, who flew the pace plane for all Unlimited Races during the 2005 National Championship Air Races, was flying from Sevierville, Tenn., to an air show in Little Rock, Ark., when the accident occurred, Kathleen Bergen of the Federal Aviation Administration office in Atlanta told the Cookeville, Tenn., Herald-Citizen newspaper. The FAA is investigating the accident.

Vance was alone in the plane. The wreckage backed up traffic for more than five hours on Interstate 40, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety.

Traffic in the rugged area was heavier than usual because of fans leaving the University of Tennessee football game in Knoxville, according to the Herald-Citizen.

Witness Jim Winters of Monterey, Tenn., told the Herald-Citizen he saw the plane as it appeared to try an emergency landing on the interstate.

"It was like a movie to see that plane suddenly appear. He wasn't that far above me," he said.

Winters said he saw "fire fly" when he thought the plane might have hit a power line.

[captain2k_ca]

It is always sad to lose a pilot.

[indyhntr]

Condolences Treedoc. I've lost some close friends in crashes and its never quite the same afterwards in many respects.