Dave Stephens sadly lost his F9F Panther late on Sunday to a mechanical failure..
The plane had flown so well for the rest of the weekend and the sight of Dave and Ali flying formation was one of the highlights of the show.
Dave said of the event "Sad to see my Panther go in but no one was hurt so im happy. it was both elevators that
detached. Totally my fault, we were flying formation and i was a bit behind and Ali called loop. i hit full throttle in level flight (which i never do with the Panther) and as i pulled for the loop there was a short flutter then they were gone! all i could do was turn away from the crowd, point it towards the fields and shut the motor down (hence no fire as there would have still been 4+ litres of fuel on board) i hit full flap and speed brakes to slow her down a bit. after 3 hours looking and with help from about 15 people (thanks everyone!) we found it on top of a concrete pill box. so far i think i have salvaged 2 servos. the rest is destroyed."
The good news for fans of Dave and Ali's jets is that Dave said "I will buy another as i enjoy flying it so much and the extra challenge of flying formation is what floats my boat at the moment!"
Watch this space, Dave will be back..
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