From the Archives: Plane flown through building
The highlight of the National Air Circus is stunt pilot Cliff Winters’ flight into a mock building, destroying the structure and his Fairchild PT-19 aircraft, then walking away from the wreckage.
Under the headline “Air Circus Pilot Rams Into Building’” this photo ran with a short story in the Los Angeles Times that began:
About 20,000 persons watched stunt pilot Cliff Winters purposely crash a Fairchild PT-19 airplane through a building Sunday during the National Air Circus at the Riverside Grand Prix Racetrack.
Winters climbed out of the wreckage unhurt. He used the same type of plane in the “clobber” stunt Saturday. Both planes were wrecked, but Winters will salvage parts for future crash flights...
Winters, 33, died four months later after a crash during the National Air Show at Chino airport.
This post was originally published on Jan. 14, 2011.
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