"Thanks for the Memories"
With Gratitude,
from Gordon Gillen
PRECIOUS MEMORIES
by Gordon Gillen
Our son Gordy was the pilot and would devour anything I could bring home in the
way of flying magazines. He took flying lessons at Palwaukee Airport and was
ready to solo, but needed his medical. A congenital heart condition prevented
him from passing his medical and he used up all his dual hours as we tried
unsuccessfully to secure a waver. Gordy's instructor became his friend as well
as a corporate pilot and they would fly all the time.
We went to Oshkosh
in 1982 and enjoyed a tremendous Ultralight display. We went home and looked up
the local Eipper Quicksilver dealer Al Desmond. We called him and arranged to
come out to Wheatland Airport for a demonstration flight. We were hooked! We
came back two weeks later and bought an MX and built it that fall.
Gordy had seen an MX at Oshkosh with the tubes painted red. We painted the
anodized aluminum tubes on our plane using a self-etching primer and a 1980
Dodge graphic blue. The paint has held up very well.
Gordy would solo our MX in May of 1983 and logged many hours until his death
September 9,1985 due to the effect of salmonella poisoning on his heart.
In January 1983 I began my six hours of training in a G.A. aircraft, the
requirement at that time, which for me was a Cessna 152. After that, I attended
a ground school that Al taught and copped a demo ride as often as I could. I
later became Al Desmond's first student when I flew with him in the twin seater
and put a check in the milk can at a rate of $30.00 an hour. The financial
arrangement was never discussed, Al just thanked me for the checks and continued
my instruction. I took five hours with his son Dino the week before soloing in
August 1983. What a great day that was and what a feeling!
In 1993, I flew to Oshkosh for the first time. It certainly was a flight to
remember and one that Gordy was to have made, with me as his ground crew. I flew
for both of us. In 1994 and for the next two years, I would completely rebuild
our plane. Larry Johnson from Erie had flown his "Quick Fix" into Wheatland in
1993 for a Fly-In the Club was hosting. I really liked the changes he had made
on his plane. Innovation Engineering out of Davenport, Iowa marketed the "Quick
Fix" kit. It utilized strut braced Challenger wings and a stitts tail. The
engine, brakes, tubes, wheel pants, faring, etc. were all purchased from Mark
Smith in Indiana.
The process of building
the wings was made enjoyable. Leon Stratton, Bruce Riemenschneider and I had an
assembly line going in the club house at Wheatland. Measuring, drilling and
riveting the ribs in place, that is until we ran out of ribs. The plans called
for eight ribs above and four ribs below on each wing. We had eight ribs above
and eight ribs below. We ordered more ribs. Bruce worked many hours with me in
building and covering the plane. He had to summon all his patience in working
with me, but more than an airplane, a great friendship was built.
My wife Elaine accepted our son's flying because he loved it so much and we
didn't know how long we would have him. She has always been very encouraging but
apprehensive about my flying. With the tragic death of Leon Stratton and now
most recently Rich Moroniak, she was more scared than ever for my safety. A few
days before the flight to Geneseo, I made the decision to ground myself. I love
to fly, especially early evening, but I love my wife far more!
Lord willing, we will
celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in March of 2009. We haven't traveled
this far together by disregarding each others feelings. Elaine was always
willing to build a hangar at home for my plane, which of course couldn't be
flown from there! The privilege of being at our three grandson's games and
practices has greatly reduced the opportunity to fly as well.
I was privileged to experience flight for the past 24 years in an atmosphere
that promoted SAFE, great flights. I will to continue to enjoy the friendly
caring FVFC family and for this I will be forever grateful.
I will continue to work on my plane getting it certified and sold. I love my
plane and the latter will be hard to do.
Thank you for the opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you for helping
make my experience of flight so memorable.
Where To Now?