This is so sad. I have met Jim a couple of times at Oshkosh. He was a great guy and was one of the easiest performers to talk with. This week really has been one of the greatest for me since it was my first time to Oshkosh in the RV-10 but also one of the worst because of this and the loss of the P-51 pilot at Oshkosh.

My thoughts are with both families.
 
Give yourself an out...

Jim Leroy was a great airshow pilot and a great guy. Got to know him while on the F-117 demo team piloting air shows. During this time astronaut Frank Borman gave us all some good advice, "Always give yourself an out. The audience doesn't know the difference between 100 feet and 300 feet or 7 Gs compared to 9 Gs. Give yourself a chance, an escape avenue if things go wrong." This was after he was unable to fly in the Heritage flight because his F-15 wingman for Heritage had over G'd during the F-15 demo thereby 'breaking' the jet so that is was grounded for the remainder of the weekend awaiting parts.

Jim joins his fellow 'Masters of Disaster' , Bobby Younkin (bought my first RV-4 from him!) and Jimmy Franklin (always willing to share a beer with fellow airshow buds) in dying while performing. All will be missed and we all need to look at our own 'performances' and give ourselves an out.

Tailwinds Jim Leroy!
 
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