Artist Bruce Crandall of Chino has gone west

[JohnH]

A friend just told me at dinner that Bruce just died of a heart attack. He was a good friend of mine when I used to hang at Chino every weekend for three years in the 90's. He had a great talent and some great stories. We had some great times and drinks. Always wanted to jump off the tram at the show and say hi as he was guarding aero trader but never got round to it. I have tons of pics around here in boxes of him. He was crazy as hell, but he was quite a guy and man could he paint! I'll miss him terribly. If any body knows of funeral arrangements I'd appreciate the info.

Edit: Bruce died wed December 5.

Last edited by JohnH on Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Richard W.]

I only knew him through his marvelous work.

My favorite was a print of Erich Hartmann's Bf109 I got as a kid and had hung over my bed.

RIP

[bdk]

Wow! Sorry to hear that. Seems like I saw him a few months back, but it could have been a year.

Only guy I ever knew to call the back of a Lockheed taildragger home.

I still have a leather jacket with a painting of my Stearman on the back that he did.

[muddyboots]

For a second I though this was Major Crandall, the MOH recipient from the I Drang Valley fight. I can't sem to find any iages of this gentleman's work. Anybody got a link?

[JohnH]

Here's a bit on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Liberty-A ... 7112057270

BDK, you maybe saw him airshow weekend, but I'm sure he was always around the airport at some point. I always saw him last couple of years guarding Aero Trader during the Air show. Like I said, never got a chance to get over there. Story of my life lately, I lose touch never get around to it, then they are gone.

I was also told at dinner last night that Rocky "Kent" Rockwell, former P-51 mechanic and restorer at Square One/Pioneer Aero at Chino died the week before on Nov 28.

John

Last edited by JohnH on Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[JohnH]

Found this too

http://www.brownwoodtx.com/obituaries/a ... l?mode=jqm

Searching for our Bruce is difficult . It's a common name, and then you have the Bruce Crandall famous soldier .

[bdk]

I was also told at dinner last night that Rocky "Kent" Rockwell, former P-51 mechanic and restorer at Square One/Pioneer Aero at Chino died the week before on Nov 28.

John

Yes, I had heard that Rocky was quite sick from cancer. Lots of sadness around the airport these days.

[hang the expense]

I knew Bruce back back in the early 90s and he was pretty wild but fun to be around.Really great artist.RIP

[ME108 Taifun]

Found out recently that Bruce had passed away. Very sad. Bruce was a unique individual and a great artist. He really loved warbirds.

[bdk]

He also was fond of Civil War history and did reenacting back east. In fact, he had blown away a large portion of flesh on his forearm in a black powder pistol accident. At least that is the story he told me.

[T J Johansen]

Bruce even did re-enactment at Chino. Back in the early 90s I went with him and another of the guys from Talichet's down to Prado Park on a Saturday where they had a historic "battle". I spent the day watching from the camp while they had a good fight on their hands.

He would also very often be found at the Chino VFW during the evenings. That place later changed name to Chino Airport Lounge, and Bruce did the artwork for the T-shirts they sold. I still got an old beat up example somewhere. One of the first times when I met him he was doing a drawing of Elmer's P-51 Man O' War. When he was finished he asked if I wanted to buy it. When I said I didn't have much money he just shrugged his shoulders, rolled up the drawing and gave it to me.

One of his other friends from those days was a guy by the name of John Travis and his dog (named Motley or something like that). Travis had a Monocoupe Meteor sitting outside his hangar for years, but I've never heard if that one ever made it into flyable again. They often met for a beer in John's hangar before walking over to the VFW.

Does anyone know if John is still around, or even Todd Merchant who was a part of the MARC gang?

T J

[bdk]

I saw Todd over at Yanks a few years ago doing some annual inspections.

John Travis sold his Continental radial powered Starduster and bought a Curtiss Robin from me. He restored it and sold it on to the owner of the Grand Canyon/Valle airport. It now is on display at the POF Valle museum. John later moved to Texas where he had family, haven't heard much about him since. He was a really nice guy to hang out with. I think he left Chino in the mid to late 1990s.

[JohnH]

Thanks for these great memories guys. Having spent almost every Sat at chino from 1990-1993 I was good friends with Todd, Bruce and John Travis. What fun we had at the VFW as well. It was great to see his Robin get flying . He was a cool guy and I often think of him and his dog Mötley. I just looked John up, he appears to be still alive at 79 and living in Johnson City, Texas.