I'm so glad that I was able to attend the meet this weekend.
Bob Gieseke was 15 years older than me. When I was 15, he was someone I would read about in the magazines. I was always mesmerized by his ever present pipe in hand. I finally got to meet and talk to Bob when I first went to Dallas to fly as a beginner, some 15 years ago. I got to see him fly with his pipe in person. I felt very humbled to be in his presence. To someone outside of our hobby, this would seem hard to understand. In 2007 when I was the District VIII Points Champion, my plane was sitting on the circle, Bob was standing over it giving it a real looking over. As I anxiously waited for his comments; he looks at me and said..."I just noticed that your AMA number and mine are only three numbers apart?" And as he walked away, he commented; "nice plane, cut back on the clear-coat." Wow! What an honor that was. Again, someone outside of the hobby wouldn't understand. It seems that your life's heroes will live forever, but in reality, this is not so, but memories do; as long as the memories are passed along to the "new comers." I now have one of Bob's control handles, that looks as if it was "very used." I'm planning on restoring it and displaying it. I'm very glad to of met, shook hands and got to talk to a "Hero." Yes, I'm glad that I attended the Dallas meet this weekend.
Topic: Dallas Contest (Read 1438 times)