Howard Pardue and his beloved Grumman XF8F-1 Bearcat.

Howard Pardue, one of the most respected warbird display pilots of the past 30 years, died on April 4 when his Grumman XF8F-1 Bearcat crashed shortly after take-off from Stephens County Airport near Breckinridge, West Texas, USA. During the late 1970s and 1980s oilman Pardue was a driving force behind one of the great warbird events, the Breckenridge Air Show, at which he displayed his Bearcat, Hawker Fury, Grumman F4F Wildcat and Vought F4U-4 Corsair.

He flew in the National Air Races at Reno 29 times, founded the Breckenridge Aviation Museum, and flew aircraft from The Fighter Collection at Duxford displays from the mid-1980s onwards. A US Navy Tailhook Legacy Flight pilot since 2002, Pardue had more than 11,000hr in his log book.

Born in Breckinridge in February 1935, Pardue joined the US Marine Corps in 1953. Following training at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida he flew the Grumman F9F Panther, North American FJ-4 Fury, Vought F8U Crusader, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom and Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, retiring from the Service after 12 years with the rank of major. He will be remembered mostly for his displays in the Bearcat, NL14HP/Bu90446. It was the oldest surviving example, being the tenth of 23 development aircraft built by Grumman in early 1945.