F8F-2 Bearcat "Rare Bear" Reno 2013 

Rear Bear has special importance to me. My best friend from childhood, Lyle, picked most of the plane ( crashed) up, on a trailer and drove to my home where it sat for a week. The plane was rebuilt by a wonderful group of mostly volunteers, to eventually become Rare Bear, and speed record holder ! Lyle passed away at age 77….the number Rare Bear carried.

Every enthusiast needs to witness this bird fly in person. The sound will send chills up and down your spine, the giant motor combined with the unique sound of propellor tips breaking the sound barrier, it's an experience you'll never forget. Make the trip! Hopefully Mr Bear will fly at the next Reno race.

Congratulations........ Best Reno videos I have seen. No rock music, no commentary, just airplane sounds and damn good camera work. Great quality. Thanks!

My dad worked on this plane when I was a boy. I got to see it in the hanger at Compton airport several times and sit in it once. I remember my dad talking with Lyle Shelton and hearing some of the stories about this plane. My dad lived his whole life around planes and called the Rare Bears hanger his home, literally. He passed his love of aircraft down to me and my brother’s.

The big R-3350's sound is simply astonishing!

hahah, the Bearcat is honestly more prop than it is plane. What a spectacular beast!

That paint job makes her look 60 years younger!! I love it! 😍

I was lucky enough to be there. It was one of the last races that most of the big name Unlimiteds attended before they were retired, restored to stock or fell to calamity. It was awesome!

Thank you. No jockrock BS. Just pure, real sound.

What a spectacular bit of paintwork on this bird. I recall being on the pylons with press passes as a teenager while watching the warbirds whip by. Rare Bear and of course, the Sea furys were my favorite

I just love Rare Bear. I've been going to the Reno races on and off for a log time and have always enjoyed looking at the beautiful bird. Best of luck to the crew.

That sputtering sound is so satisfying

Great video - just the real goods in steady high def and great sound - no music, no bad zooms, no jiggles - perfect - do some more!

This probably the best sounding THING ever

And another awesome portrait of an Reno-Racer. Keep up the good work !

The Bearcat was always one of my favorite aircraft after seeing this bird perform at air shows!

That idle is to die for!!! crank up the volume :-)

I was watching this bird when Lyle Shelton ( If I spelled the name right) Was the pilot. Love the sound. Distinctive.

What a wonderful sound, beast.

I have been most fortunate to see the Bear race in years,past. Great historic air racer of its time.

Beautiful video indeed - thank you for sharing this with us.

It’s a rebuilt F8 Bearcat with the engine from an A1 Skyraider.

I am happy to see the 'Bear' is alive and well? I am ancient history, was on the 1985 effort. We did the flap 'removal' and other things, lots and lots of memories and pictures. Great time, first shot for 'John Penny', etc., etc. Never forget it!

Thats how you do a video with the Bear......no gd music Awesome camera and sound sir.

I absolutely love these planes to start with and this particular one is OUTSTANDING! tremendous job building this one. Hats off to you! Well done 👏

That sound!!!!

What a magnificent airplane, gosh darn she’s beautiful

I never get tired of hearing the roar of that Double wasp engine. Its awesome.

what a piece of history...growing up in socal and flying in and out of VanNuys airport..i used to walk by Rare Bear sitting at a tie down near the cessna FBO....the airframe wasn't modified like it is now..had the original engine in it..painted white with the bear on the vertical stab

I know very little about aero engines, but the staccato exhaust sound at idle on this machine tells me that I like it! I have been employed for over 25 years in the automobile/motorcycle industry, and am fairly caught up in the performance end of things. So, to hear that plane's engine is very enjoyable to me!

Anyone who is learning to fly watching this should take note of the rudder during take-off, and immediately after the wheels leave the ground.

Wow! Beautifully done, Jason! As always!

My Great Uncle is John Penney, never got to see him too much, but always kept track of what he was doing on the Bear in Reno, unfortunately the chance to go to the Races in Reno never were in the cards, but always had admiration for his love for the skies. I took to the love of things on rails

GREAT !!! Thanks for sharing !

Pure engine sound and stuff thats happening at the time of the flight.... just how it should be!!! Thanks for leaving it raw!! Also who the hell in the right mind would thumbs down this video???? It makes no sense.... because the video is awesome!!!!

Love the Rare Bear!

that start-up though

Le Rear Bear! Mon préféré même avec ces nouvelles couleurs et son moteur surpuissant il est de plus en plus magnifique! Merci pour cette vidéo

The sexiest unlimited racer of all time, bar none.

Holy crap I didn’t know this didn’t have flaps. Of everything about the plane that honestly seems the most incredible. It really sacrifices all for speed

Thanx for yet another great and perfectly done video... Cripes, that 1st lap wuz QUICK! cheers

Looks like a prop from an Osprey! That thing is massive! Love the video.

Great Hi-Def-Video of my favorite Prop-Driven Racer and keep up the Great Work. I changed from being a Mustang-Fan,to a Bearcat-Fan when I saw Bill Fornof 's Copper-Colored-F8F-2 Bearcat perform for the Navy-Relief-Fund, while I was in the Navy years ago.

I went to the Reno Air Races back in 1988 and Rare Bear was one of my faves! We had Pit Passes so we got up close to all of the aircraft.

Now this is the "Sound of Music", great video, without any crappy, porn, background music to ruin it. Thanks for posting this, Rare Bear, RULES!.

Beautiful plane. May it fly forever! I just noticed, the tailwheel retracts, too! If I squint, it reminds me a bit of the T-28 I flew in the Navy - that wonderful radial sound.

Lovely bearcat video,my favorite Grumman aircraft ,must go to reno oneday ☺

I wanna see more rare bear. that thing's as sweet as it gets. I want it!

Such a cool looking aircraft.

What a beast!

Once Upon a Time, an engine was born with a plane stuck at it. What a brutal sound!

It is a beautiful airplane. I saw it at Reno when it had the P3 orion propeller and the sound it made as it flew by was chilling!

i love seeing these old warbirds being used for something cool

I've never had the honor of working a radial before. My father sure did. 22 years Navy. Ww2. I remember him talking of triple compounding the Pratt and Whitney 9 cylinders.

Roll over Beethoven,tell Tchaikovsky the news,there's a better song going 'round,and it's played by a r-3350,conducted by Stewart Dawson.Sweet,sweet music.Keep it coming Voodoo-1650.Well done sir.

I saw the new engine once after they had just installed it. It was a machinists dream. Just a work of art. A real hot rod. This is supposed to be the baddest plane out there.

Cool footage, thanks! I like how you can see the alternating cylinders firing at 5:45

So beautiful! Какой красивый!

UNREAL the sound of the P&W .

RU-vid should have a heart icon next to the thumbs.

OMG the sound!

That Is JUST Fucking SICK Thanks A Million..! Once AGAIN YOUR Da Best.. It's YOUR Videos SPREAD OUT Throughout The YEAR, That Get US ALL Through The WAIT For NEXT YEAR..!

I love Rare Bear.

Beautiful! The sound was always awesome. She hauled butt.. if the engine held together.

I really miss this plane. It’s not the same anymore.

I had the honor to be Lyle’s copilot many times, at TWA, on the MD-80. He was a great stick, but I had to help him on which buttons and knobs to use🤪. The MCP mode control panel was complex.

excellent

DAMN that Bear can sing!

Sublime

Yes cooling drag is a problem solved by P-51. The vSpits were SUPPOSED to have a lo-drag system but did not. The later wing by Supermarine was not as sucessful as Mitchells orriginal . It had large amounts of washout to keep the ailerons lively near a stall BUT washout added drag to a really good wing as well.

What a beast

A bit of historical info. JohnPenny told me he would 'actually' lose 5 pounds during the race. The 'firewall' on the 'bear' is only a sheet of aluminum, and 18 cylinders pumping out over 4000 HP generates a lot of heat! Part of the reason for wearing the Mask, along with the possibility of asphyxiation. The radios were encased with a pocket to hold ice, to keep them cool enough to keep working! Fun stuff! GO 'BEAR'!

WOW.

The Hellcat at !:55 is love at first sight!

At idle is sounds like my cammed ls. Fantastic!

God what a sound.

I saw this plane back in the mid 90s at the air races in Mesa Arizona. It smoked the field. I think it had a 3 bladed prop back then.

WHAT a SOUND!!! 😳😳😳

That was the LAP speed!!!

That's a good-sounding engine!

You don't see many American radials with a spinner ?? This installation is super-neat , SeaFury Like , love it !!

Sweet .............

Very nice Aircraft.!

The colors detract from seeing her beautiful form ! Anyone else agree ?

that is one bad ass hotrod

sounds even more awesome than the r2800!

Nice 3 points landing. Textbook.

Great plane.

Beee-ooootiful bird....

Hauling!!

The Rare Bear should have kept that monstrous 3 bladed prop!Well, I guess Rare Bear's racing days are over! The new owner has her in a special hangar and appears to have retired the Bear! I guess this plane was so popular, and won so many Reno Golds as well as a lot of other races that is it fitting she be allowed to rest on peace! I certainly wouldn't want this plane to have an accident and crash and be gomne forever so I guess this retirement is for the good of the Sport of Air Racing.

I love how Grumman built aircraft can do 3 wheel lift offs like its nothing lol freaking naval aviation haha

As awesome as this race Bearcat is, I can say watching and hearing a stock late war P51, P47, P38, F4U, F6F or Spitfire really does for me.

473 mph wow ;-)

Seen this Bad MFr n Van Nuys, always the most distant airplane in the Valley

what i didn't know until we got there in 2007 is that they run NOS. holed pistons happen.

I remember seeing Rare Bear as a purple and white engineless derelict at Van Nuys Airport every week when I went to Civil Air Patrol meetings at the Condors circa 1978-82.

She is Beautiful but I will bet that with the reduced size of the control surfaces and the power of a full race engine, She is a Beast at low speed.

amazing small controle surfices

VERY GOOD 👍 🇧🇷