By Doug Rozendaal
Imagine that you were the first American to win a World Aerobatic Championship. Imagine also that you have flown as the leader of the most successful airshow team in history for 25 years. Along this run you have flown over 15,000 hours and 3000 airshows. You have been highly successful in the "real world" as one of the biggest car dealers in the country. You have won most of the aviation achievement awards in the airshow industry. What would you do now? Blast off for British Columbia in your Grumman Widgeon for a summer of fun and fishing or would you climb in your Conquest and see the rest of the world that is not at the airport of every major city in America that you have performed at? Not if you are Charlie Hillard. Charlie would have already begun planning for the next phase of your airshow career, bought and restored a Hawker Fury, and be anxiously awaiting the next airshow season. That's what Charlie would have done and that is what he did.
Why a Warbird? "I was looking for a new Challenge." Charlie told me. "When the Eagles decided to hang it up a few years ago, I knew that I was not ready to quit flying airshows. I always had an ambition to fly my own warbird." He said His first idea was to look for a P-40. "A P-40 is fast airplane with a relatively fat wing and would have made a good airshow airplane. But I could not find a suitable project." Another thing that attracted Charlie to warbirds was the ferry speed. At 270 knots cruise the airplane could sleep in her own hanger on most Sunday nights. Charlie is looking forward to that as well. Dennis Sanders took Charlie for a ride in a two-seat Fury at Oshkosh and Mark Clark had a Fury project for sale from the Tallichet collection. The parts were loaded in a truck for the ride from Chino, California to Breckenridge, Texas where Nelson Ezell resides. Nelson performed his restoration magic and the Lone Star Fury was born.
The Hawker "Fury" was the ultimate British propeller driven fighter. It, like the Grumman Bearcat, came too late to be a factor in W.W.II. These two types rival for position as the finest piston fighter ever built. Engine problems initially plagued the model until the Bristol Centarus engine was developed. The Queens navy was in need of a faster fighter and a tail hook was added to the type resulting in the most popular model, the "SeaFury". The Fury saw short service as a fighter in Korea and claims the first kill of a Russian MIG 15. Early on in the conflict the jets became prevalent and the Hawkers became ground attack hunters. Furys and SeaFurys were flown by the British, Australian, Canadian, and Dutch armed forces early in their careers. Later in their lives these airplanes were flown by other forces like Iraq, Pakistan and even the Cubans flew Furys during the Bay of Pigs.
The Lone Star Fury is not your average airplane. The Centarus Engine was removed and traded for a Curtiss Wright R-3350. Charlie says the availability of parts and operating expertise made the -3350 a better choice. The tailplane came from a two-seat variant and is slightly larger than stock to open the Center of Gravity envelope and provide a little more margin. It is A big airplane at 8500# empty and the bright red, pearl white and blue paint scheme with the obligatory Lone Star emblazoned on the cowling will accomplish Charlie's goal of having an airplane that is "instantly recognizable as mine." When in the air the Lone Star Fury sports a smoke system with two gasoline/smoke oil burners on the wingtips and conventional smoke on the exhaust of the 2600 horsepower engine. These features, combined with the Wright's romantic roar will make the Lone Star Fury a crowd pleaser for sure.
When Charlie starts talking about flying the Lone Star Fury, his voice gets higher and he sounds like a kid who just got his first ride in a Cub. "This is allot different than the Eagle, When you do a loop in the Eagle you end up overhead at 8 to 9 hundred feet. In the Fury you come buy at 300+ knots, pull back on the stick and the next thing you know you are at 4000 feet looking over your shoulder at the ground, it's neat!" Charlie went on to say, "You have so much speed and momentum, and because of the speed, you have to plan so much farther ahead of the airplane. If you are not in right place at the top of a maneuver you could be in real trouble, and not even know it!" One thing that has impressed Charlie about the Fury is the control balance, "At 200 knots or 300 knots, you just lay the stick over and around you go, it does not load up with speed like many of the W.W.II fighters." Charlie admits readily however, "I have had to get used to 4 to 5 second rolls instead of the less than 1 second I have become accustomed to." I got the impression that the Fury lacks docile demeanor in the stall arena found in most aerobatic mounts. Charlie said, "You have to fly to fly it carefully, it doesn't give allot of warning and gets a little wicked when it lets go." I would believe it.
Charlie is one of the first big name airshow performers to move from little airplanes up to a heavy warbird. I wondered if he thought this might be a trend. He did not think so. Without his own good fortune and the enthusiastic support of his three major sponsors, Avemco, Fina, and Lexus it would not be possible to campaign a project of this magnitude. The maintenance and acquisition cost are very high. Charlie's full time mechanic and crew chief J.J. Janovetz reports that his workload has quadrupled since the Fury arrived. J.J. and Charlie are currently developing a progressive and "preventive" maintenance schedule to stay ahead of the airplane and maintain the dependability required.
Charlie has a couple of airshow routines worked out and he promises that there will be lots of action, and speed, close to show center, with lots of noise and smoke. I am quite certain that his enthusiasm for this new airplane will be apparent as he flies for crowds around the country this summer. He is planning 12 shows this summer and intends to fly the Widgeon some too. His first show with the "Lone Star Fury" is the Phoenix 500 March 29,30, and 31. My guess is it will be a great one.
Note: Charlie Hillard was killed at Sun & Fun 1996 while landing the Lonestar Fury. The airplane flipped over and Charlie was pinned in and suffocated.
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