Modified F8 Bearcat Rare Bear

[sparbolt63]

Think that prop was off of a P-3 Orion, if I remember correctly.......

[edj66]

Bear Cat? Isn't it a Sea Fury or something?

[chubsmagoo]

@edj66 It is a modified Bearcat. Thus the name Rare Bear.

[Treetop64]

Fixed-pitch prop. I had no idea...

[vendetta81]

@Treetop64 it's not fixed pitch, fully adjustable.

[cantroos]

so what I have a fan with a propeller bigger than that and it isn't 60 years old, what's so great about all these old fashioned planes, put that in a contest against a stealth bomber and it'll get left in the dust, like a pickup truck racing a ferarri.

[barbwire7308]

@cantroos actually stealth bombers aint that quick or that agile, so it would be more like a ferrari from the 60's against a ferrari of the 80's. I mean an F-18 or a Eurofighter that would be something else. the stealth is a dodgy comparison.

[vendetta81]

@cantroos small, small minds. this is the worlds' fastest piston powered aircraft. think of it like this; a cessna 182 vs. rare bear = learjet vs. f-22. get the picture?

[Treetop64]

@cantroos

To say that you are missing the point would be an understatement...

[DG121480]

I think I saw one of those props at a naval shipyard once.

[MrPhipper]

Gigundus, absolutely Gigundus.

[rugman66]

I miss that prop on RB. It was so big that you'll notice takeoff and landing is tail down. Otherwise you could get a prop stike.

[barthoedemaker]

Performance version, really nice

[TheBattleWagon]

Yeah this was the one I was thinking of ! Vretical climb till the oxigen gets to thin for the engine to run no climb stall!

[kubota422]

I am remembering that this F8 was sold as a/the model in Japan.

[16sag7]

I watched the crew do many modification on this aircraft when it was stationed at the Compton airport back in the early seventies. I used to go to the Reno Races with the crew in my earliy teens When Lyle Shelton piloted this beauty. This plane has gone through a lot of changes since I was a little airport brat.

[TheRealInvaderZim]

Few teams have the love, that sustained the Rare Bear , and the will to win-when the money wasn't there. Love this vid --- and will always have a place in my heart for the Lyle Shelton dream.

[WakeUpDummies]

Now, you are a BIG brat! LOL! Kidding ;)

Indeed. I have also been to airshows (Oshkosh) since 1976. I was a wee lad at the time and I saw this plane a few times. Never been to Reno though :(

[kubota422]

F8 is very beautiful. I think, that a/the F8 racer is very very beautiful.

Although I become vacant with Japanese I like F8 very much.

Thick propeller, big roundPropeller cover , long foot, and the beautiful coating, all of the high vertical tail bodies of a/the feeling wonderful

[Ireg2post1]

I just gotta say, that's one bad mother of an airplane!

[chubsmagoo]

Butter Knife prop lol

[geraldhaislet1991]

look at the size of that prop. i would love to fly it.

[blownglasslide]

What's really nuts is that you can clearly hear Rare Bear OVER the sound of the Tomcat's TWO jet engines. BEAST!

[DantehMan]

That thing's a goddamn cartoon...

[WakeUpDummies]

A badass cartoon

[DantehMan]

Haha, okay, good point.

[WakeUpDummies]

haha! It does look like one with that prop from hell

[Polybun]

@WakeUpDummies I was thining the same thing, that's the most agressive 3 blade prop I've ever seen.

[WakeUpDummies]

Its HUGE!

[mjkobb]

That engine/prop combination had the coolest sound when it went by. Never heard anything like it before or since.

[tickdog3]

jeeze with a prop like that i bet that thing can almost break the sound barrier... hehehe

[horizonflyer9]

that's not an airplane with a propeller! that's a propeller with an airplane!

[Chopin742]

"rare" bear. It is too fast to be rear bear.

[braydomzo]

That just cheered me up!!!!!!!! skip holm is a legend. Shelton used to fly it also.

[Anacinc]

Looks more like a huge prop with a little plane attached to it ;-)

[osu67]

That was the bearcat's design principle. put the BIGGEST radial into the smallest airframe for incredible climb rate. Too bad they entered the war so late and saw no real service.

[pasley21]

That Prop has the blades from a P-3 Orion was a great combination with that Wright R-3350 are not quite sure why they dropped this very promissing application and reverted back to a Skyraider prop so if anyone knows please pass on the information and correct me if i'm wrong but i'm pretty sure the pilot was John Penney at this time.

[klesmer]

I may be wrong pasley but I heard the air race gods banned that prop because they felt there were too many cubic dollars gong into Rare Bear. If anyone else had more info please chime in.

[pasley21]

That would make sense seems like when they get a good thing going demographics always get in the way but the thing that I dont understand 'still' about that is that if that is the case arent the rules of unlimited air racing to as fast as possible with a internal combustion engine and a propeller

[klesmer]

It's the same in auto racing, when someone wins alot the whining always wins out. I'm not sure that was the reason but that's what I heard.

[Zuloff]

I remember hearing some chatter a while ago about that modified P3 prop. The ban was for a large and dangerous wake on the race course as I recall, not cost.

[klesmer]

Thanks Zuloff, that makes sense.

[PropperJ]

@klesmer This prop was faster in straight line , but four blade is faster at Reno...

[WranglerSlim]

The propeller has a pretty steep angle of attack! Fast plane, though.

[taofledermaus]

Wow, that prop looks like it belongs on the back of a ship! What a legend!

[erad5]

thats a tad unusual, ive never seen rare bear and a sea fury mixed in a navy legacy flight. that's pretty cool

[lvkeith83]

You were reading my  mind with that one.

The pilot was Skip Holm