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The Galloping Ghost was built to win. Jimmy Leeward modified the P-51 Mustang airplane to go fast and look good doing it.
He shortened the wings and ramped up the horsepower, said Dean Maheras, 58, a friend and fellow pilot from Ocala.
Leeward's plane could exceed 500 mph.
Last year, Leeward, 74, of Ocala, qualified in all three heats of the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in Reno before the finals were called off due to high winds.
Maheras said Friday's deadly crash in Reno should not be a reflection on Leeward's skills.
"Right now it seems as if he had some sort of control failure," Maheras said in a phone interview from Reno. "Jimmy is a very competent pilot."
Leeward worked as a stunt pilot in several films, including Cloud Dancer, Dragonfly and Amelia. He has spent many years as a developer, including of the Leeward Air Ranch fly-in community near Ocala.
"He was a very big part of the aviation community around here, and he'll be missed," said Ocala Mayor Randall Ewers, who has know the Leewards for years.
Leeward told the Ocala Star Banner last year that he had stored the Ghost in his hangar for 20 years before modifying it for racing. He said he did 75 percent of his flying in war planes and was especially fond of Mustangs.
"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed," he told the Star Banner.
Leeward grew up in Tarentum, Pa., to flight enthusiast parents who eloped on a plane and lived on a grass strip, according to a 2004 story in Plane & Pilot.
He inherited the love of piloting from his father, Al Leeward, who taught him to fly.
During his life in the real estate industry, he passed his love of flight on to his sons and eventually moved to Ocala. The family's Leeward Air Ranch is built around a pristine grass landing strip and populated by pilots and plane owners.
"This was a guy who was heavily involved in all aspects of aviation. He understood that this was as much about family as it was a business," said Jim Campbell, 54, editor in chief of Aero-News Network, based in Green Cove Springs, south of Jacksonville.
Campbell interviewed members of the Leeward family and was taken with Jimmy Leeward's demeanor.
"This was a man with a tremendous amount of skill and not a lot of ego," he said.
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