Air racing crew chief, mechanic

Kerch was one of air racing’s most popular and successful “wrenches” for over three decades. In 31 years of Unlimited competition, planes he worked on scored 21 first-place finishes, seven seconds and seven thirds. He was a team member and crew chief for eight national championships in 13 years and two world speed records for single-engine prop-driven aircraft. The Vietnam veteran was the crew chief for 1997 inductee Darryl Greenamyer’s “Conquest I” F8F-2 Bearcat. Airplanes he worked on included P-51 Mustangs, Grumman F8F-2 Bearcats and a P63 Bell Aero Cobra. All registered wins and championships. Kerchenfaut was also involved with the development and first use of telemetry monitoring equipment systems in Unlimited racing. Shortly before he passed away, he said, “My feeling about air racing is, it’s the people that are the neat part of it. The airplanes are just an excuse for everybody to get together. There are some of the greatest people and talent involved.”