Can't watch it.  He was a close friend of many of the locals here.  He will be missed. 

Kinda ghoulish, but it is the "best" footage I've seen so far; actually shows what happened in great detail.

I was there but not near the flight line when it happened; didn't even know it was two aircraft or that Beck had been killed until later. Very sad.

Anyone who flies anything in RL should read the "More info" attached to the video; this is a classic example of how even very experienced pilots can make small errors that snowball into disasters... even when it involves "Day One" stuff like confirming (with your eyes) that the approach path is clear when turning final., or asking again if there's any doubt whatsoever as to who just said what.

beaky wrote on Jul 14^th, 2008 at 5:18pm:


I'm sure this isn't the first accident the blindspot on the P-51 and other long nosed fighters has caused.  From what I've heard, it appears he thought the other P-51 had already landed, but it was another one he had seen.  He had no idea that one was just under his nose until the last minute when he pulled up.  What caused the crash was a combination of going to full power and yanking back to avoid the other aircraft.  It torque rolled it into the ground.  However, if it wasn't for that, there may have been two funerals.

.....