Friends of an air competition and movie stunt pilot whose plane bumped into the border of the ham up at a show said the 74-year-old was a competent airman and member of a tight-knit flying community.
Pilot Jimmy Leeward of Ocala, Fla., passed away in the crash Friday after evidently losing grip of the P-51 Mustang, which twisted into a box seat area at the National Championship Air Races at about 4:30 p.m. Friday. Leeward and no less than two others were died, several were wounded.
Family members were presented in air show and saw the crash, said Reno Air Races President and CEO Mike Houghton.
"They apparently are destroyed," he said. "I said to Jimmy's son and his wife desired me to recognize that Jimmy would not want us to postpone the races but occasionally you have to make things that are not very much-liked."
Leeward's pilot's medical records were advanced, and he was "a much trained, very competent pilot," Houghton said. He'd been racing at the show in Reno since 1975.
Everyone knows him. It's a tight-knit family," Houghton said. "He's been here for a long, long time."
Leeward said in an interview at the air show Thursday with Live Airshow TV, standing in front of his plane "The Galloping Ghost" and saying he didn't would like to show his hand on how speedy the plane could go.
"We've been playing poker since last Monday. And ... it's stand by, we're ready to show a couple more cards, so we'll see on Friday what goes on, and on Saturday we'll likely proceed and play our third top, and on Sunday we'll do our fourth ace," Leeward said in the interview.
Leeward owned the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team and was a authentic racing pilot. His website says he had flown not less than 120 races and gave out as a stunt pilot for a number of movies, as well as "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."
The vintage plane raced in the "Unlimited" category, where the planes race wingtip-to-wingtip at momentums more than 500 mph.
"How speedy will she go? Hold on tight, you'll discover rapidly enough. Reno Air Races 2011 ..." said a teaser on Leeward's website.
A post on his Facebook page Friday afternoon said "Jimmy is beginning up immediately" and posted a link to live video of the air-show. As stories of Leeward's killing reached, Facebook users posted remarks and sympathies on the post.
Steve Silver, 69, was Leeward's next-door neighbor at a gated community in Ocala, Fla.
"He's been my friend for numerous years," Silver said. "He was not less than a much trained pilot. He was in fact quite a guy."
Given Leeward's knowledge with flying, Silver said he misgivings pilot mistake was the reason of the incident.
"It would be my thinking there was some sort of mechanical failure," Silver said.
Maureen Higgins, of Alabama, said Leeward was the competent pilot she knew. She was at the air show and said she could see his profile while the plane was going down. He was married and his wife frequently taken a trip with him.
"He's a magnificent pilot, not a jeopardy taker," she said. "He was in the third lap and all of a unexpected he lost control."
Leeward and his wife had two adult sons, Dirk and Kent, according to Leeward's website.
