I saw the other day on FB that Dave Hemstrought has passed away. Dave was most known for his PT-19 Stunt model that was presented in an early 60's American Modeller magazine and was a noted classic era designer, builder and contest pilot. Another one of out greats and gione west. God Speed Dave. Condolences to his family and closest friends.
  Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

This is sad news indeed. Dave was a good friend, and my first mentor. I have many fond memories, I still have his phone number written on the wall of my shop.

Curt

At my second contest, flying in Intermediate, I was having engine run issues. This guy came over and asked if the tank was removable. He brought me over to Larry Barrickman's van and with Larry holding the tank, he used a little torch to resolver the fuel tube.

In the middle of it all, he reached to shake my hand and introduce himself. "Nice to meet you, I am Dave Hemstrought." I knew the name, I was a loss for words. Our long friendship began that morning.

As a side story, as he reached to shake my hand, he burned Larry with the torch.

Miss you Dave, Larry too.

Curt

Another legend gone. 

https://www.dial-murrayfuneralhome.com/obituary/l-hemstrought


Dave's obituary

Sadly we have lost one of the hobby/sports greatest legends. Dave was a gifted designer, flier, competitor, and he was one of the finest human beings it has been my pleasure to know. I have a Dave Hemstrought story from the 1961 Nats in Willow Grove, PA, and I'm posting it here in his memory. This is an excerpt from an autobiography that I'm writing...

God Speed my friend - Bob

As mentioned before, I flew CL Combat with my Quicker at that Nats, but I also had a lot of time to just roam and see the many sights that a Navy Nats had to offer. Those Nats were a lot like a three ring circus, except that there were many more than three rings. Everywhere you turned there was something happening. Combat was being flown on the grass adjacent to the runway where the Stunt event was being flown, and Speed was just a few hundred feet away, along with Navy Carrier. Radio Control and Free Flight events were also being contested. It was an amazing contest.

For me, however, the most fascinating aspect of that Nats was the hangar that was filled with workbenches. The Navy actually built what seemed like hundreds of wooden workbenches, and modelers would work on their airplanes there. It was a place where spare models could be stored while a modeler was out competing, without the fear that something would be stolen or damaged. Many contestants actually slept under their assigned benches!

I vividly remember walking through this workbench area one day and coming upon a man working on his Stunt model. I knew instantly who it was, because the airplane he was holding had been featured on the cover of the American Modeler Annual just the year before as an S. Calhoun Smith painting.
 
It was, of course, Dave Hemstrought, and the model was his absolutely gorgeous semi-scale Fairchild PT-19. Dave was performing some sort of maintenance on the model. I remember just standing and staring at this scene. Here was a genuine celebrity and I was just a few feet from him. After a few moments he looked over at me and asked if I would help him with some chore on the model. I was stunned! This Stunt Hero was asking me for help!
 
I don't really remember just what it was that he had me do, but I do remember asking him a lot of questions. I also remember that he was extremely friendly and patient. He treated me like a real person. He actually listened to what I was saying and held a real conversation with me. I was amazed! In retrospect I'm quite sure that he really didn't need my help with anything and just wanted to ease my obvious nervousness.

David quit flying stunt soon after that and didn't come back until around 1974. By that time I was an established Stunt flier. I remember seeing Dave and Les McDonald walking toward me at a Nats and wanted to re-introduce myself to him and relate the above story. I was sure he wouldn't remember the episode at the 1961 Nats, but I wanted him to know how much it meant to me at that time.
I started to tell Dave the story and about half way through he stopped me and finished it in perfect detail. He did remember! I was amazed, impressed and elated to know that our first meeting had been so memorable – for both of us.

Dave was one of the finest men I have ever known. Not only did he coach me we teamed up with Stan Powell to use those little K&Bs that Stan was building. More importantly Dave taught me how to be a man, how to honor and respect other people and be grateful for the entitled life I had been gifted.
Not long ago Will Davis had sent me a message that he had spoken with Dave on the phone. He let me know that Dave sounded great and suggested that I call him. Recently I did just that and enjoyed our little chat. Now I can feel good about doing the sort of thing that Dave would call "the right thing to do".
Mankind is gonna miss Dave Hemstrought.