Dick Johnson is gone.
Burt Compton - Marfa
I just received a telephone call from a reliable source that Dick
Johnson has crashed at the combined World Class / 1-26 Nationals at
Midlothian, Texas (south of Dallas). He was flying as sniffer.
Apparently he dove-in after release from tow. My source reports that
Dick has perished in the crash.
I am stunned. Nothing to speculate about now -- he is just gone.
So God Bless Alice his wife, and his family. Alice lost their son
Nels many years ago in a hang-glider accident.
Mr. Johnson was a mentor to us all, world-wide soaring legend, and a
dear friend of my family.
Burt Compton
Marfa, Texas
USA
jcarlyle
but he is indeed a legend and will be sorely missed. My heart goes out
to his family and friends. Rest in peace, Dick.
-John
Tim Hanke
On Jul 23, 3:39 pm, Burt Compton - Marfa <FBComp...@aol.com> wrote:
Fred Blair
blocks from him. My Dad worked with him at Texas Instruments and he helped
my Dad with his project of designing a homebuilt.
One of my first memories of Dick was at contests in Littlefield, TX. One of
Dick's habits was to make an effort to remember anyone that he met. When he
met you, he would put your name in his little notebook and something about
you to help him remember you. The next time he saw you, he would call you
by name; great trait.
Many years ago at a contest I was helping Dick put away his Ventus and
noticed that he saved his wing tape to be used again. He was our guest
speaker at our Christmas Banquet that year and we gave him a whole box of 3M
tape. When I helped him put the Ventus away this year at Marfa he said that
he was still using tape out of that box.
Certainly soaring has lost one of it's best ambassadors and one of the
finest gentlemen you could ever meet. My prayers go out to Alice and his
other family members.
Fred Blair
Houston, TX
"Tim Hanke" <in...@adirondacksoaring.com> wrote in message
news:11c7496a-1e54-4bf9...@m45g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
Tim Mara
tim
"Burt Compton - Marfa" <FBCo...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:c23418d9-1d63-4ef7...@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
Kloudy via AviationKB.com
>July 23, 2008
>
>I just received a telephone call from a reliable source that Dick
>Johnson has crashed at the combined World Class / 1-26 Nationals at
>Midlothian, Texas (south of Dallas). He was flying as sniffer.
>
>Marfa, Texas
>USA
Our hearts reach to Dick's family and to the world of soaring for this
tremendous loss.
Sad. Our deepest condolences.
--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/soaring/200807/1
ZAS...@aol.com
>
>
>
> > July 23, 2008
>
> > I just received a telephone call from a reliable source that Dick
> > Johnson has crashed at the combined World Class / 1-26 Nationals at
> > Midlothian, Texas (south of Dallas). �He was flying as sniffer.
>
> > Apparently he dove-in after release from tow. �My source reports that
> > Dick has perished in the crash.
>
> > I am stunned. �Nothing to speculate about now -- he is just gone.
> > So God Bless Alice his wife, and his family. �Alice lost their son
> > Nels many years ago in a hang-glider accident.
>
> > Mr. Johnson was a mentor to us all, world-wide soaring legend, and a
> > dear friend of my family.
>
> > Burt Compton
> > Marfa, Texas
>
> - Show quoted text -
The Soaring movement World Wide will mourn Dick Johnson's passing .
Although he hardly knew me he generously helped me on several
occasions both with advice and tools . I have always thought of him as
one of the truly great examples of a Leader in our chosen sport.God
Bless his wife Alice and family following this tragic loss.
Ron Clarke.
cherok...@gmail.com
Memphis about flying the Cherokee II. It was nice to talk with him
about low performance soaring while standing next to the Antares and
in my short exposure i cant really imagine a nicer guy.
The soaring community in Iowa is mourning.
Charles Yeates
--
"Fred Blair" <pass...@thetravelintexans.com> wrote in message
news:g685om$9b8$1...@aioe.org...
drbdanieli
> One of my first memories of Dick was at contests in Littlefield, TX. �One of
> Dick's habits was to make an effort to remember anyone that he met. �When he
> met you, he would put your name in his little notebook and something about
> you to help him remember you. �The next time he saw you, he would call you
> by name; great trait.
This would explain my first meeting with Dick. I was a 17yr old kid
in the mid 70's crewing for a California pilot at a Standard class
nationals in Hobbs NM. Dick was flying the brand new Pik 20. All I
ever accomplished at that point in my soaring career was I had the
longest flight from Region 11 that year. Dick was a legend in my eyes
and he came up to me, introduced himself, and congratulated me on my
flight. I was so impressed that a man of his stature, from Texas,
would even know about some kid in California making a nice flight,
then take the time to intoduce himself to me. He was truly one of the
greatest ambassador's we had in this sport.
My deepest condolences go out to Alice and his family.
Barry Danieli
El Verano, CA
paul...@yahoo.com
glider pilot ever. I had the great pleasure of knowing Dick while he
soared at Caddo. I was the Office Administrator there. He made me feel
so welcome when I started, and was just the sweetest man I knew. I can
still see him setting there having his lunch that Alice packed for
him, before he went up. Some days he would say "I think I will have my
lunch at 1500". He made every new student feel confident in what they
were about to learn. This is a tragic loss for everyone that knew him.
I will never forget him and treasure the memories.
Burt Compton - Marfa wrote:
mjo...@gmail.com
Dick was one of a kind- gracious and inspiring, a person who did so
much to advance the practical aspects of the sport. He was the
consummate engineer, always working to apply test procedures and
refinements to a whole range of gliding design. He was never too busy
or settled to scout new concepts, or mentor a new pilot.
His quite, friendly demeanor spoke volumes of the depth beneath.
He will be sorely missed.
-Gary Osoba
Jack
helped build trailers, buck rivets, etc. Soaring has lost it's truest
ambassador, and I an old friend. Delores and I will pray for Alice.
Godspeed, Dick Johnson.
Jack Womack
Steve Leonard
and Alice took in my crew and I when I made my Diamond Distance flight
from Sunflower to Caddo Mills in 1990. Most recently, I had gotten to
spend time with Dick and Alice at the Thermal and Wave Camps that they
organized at Marfa, Texas. His passing leaves a huge void in all of us.
Let's fill the voids with good memories and stories.
Just today, I got my NSM Newsletter. There, on the cover, is a picture of
the RJ-5 being hoisted to its display location in the NSM. It was not all
that long ago, so it seems, that I helped George Applebay with mating the
old RJ-5 wings to the newly fabricated replica fusleage. As we rolled the
fuselage from the workshop to the hangar at Moriarty, I could almost
picture Dick along side us, as he must have been when he had first mated
the wings to the fuselage many years before. I wish we had been able to
have the plane finished, and 50 years after his 535 mile flight from
Odessa to Salina, been able to launch him from Odessa in the RJ-5, just to
see how far he could go. The plane was not ready, but I am sure Dick would
have been up for it if it had been.
TSA, Alice, and all the rest of your family, please know that you are in
our thoughts and prayers. As Dick would sign his letters,
Yours Thermally,
Steve Leonard
wby0...@aol.com
greatest pilots ever. I feel so fortunate to have merely spoken with
him and shared the same ramp and sky for even 1 day. My heart is
breaking for his wife and for all the soaring pilots to come who will
only know him as a legend. Our universe is diminshed.
Matt Michael
Ames, Iowa
soar...@aol.com
> I just received a telephone call from a reliable source that Dick
> Johnson has crashed at the combined World Class / 1-26 Nationals at
> Midlothian, Texas (south of Dallas). He was flying as sniffer.
>
> Apparently he dove-in after release from tow. My source reports that
> Dick has perished in the crash.
>
Sad news.
The best-est gentleman.
We shall not see his like again.
All regards and empathy to Alice From Dallas - Dick's beloved for
sixty-plus years.
Bob Wander
Minneapolis MN USA
-end
asw22...@gmail.com
However his efforts during his long life will always make him a
soaring hero.
Condolences to his family and friends.
Al.
davewh...@gmail.com
generous with his time to each of us. I was always surprised that he
even knew my name--legends usually don't notice mere mortals. But
that didn't seem to be his nature--he was just a guy in love with our
special brand of aviation, and willing to share his lifetime's wisdom
with any of us.
I have a request for this group. I am the editor of Spirals, the
newsletter of Texas Soaring Association, where Dick Johnson was a long-
time member. I want to do something very special as a tribute to him
in the newsletter. I can't think of anything better than the words of
all of you that knew him, flew with him, and were touched by him.
With the group's permission, I would like to collect your comments and
use them as the basis of an article in the next issue. Any pictures
would be most welcome, and any comments you would like to share
directly with me would also be appreciated. Thanks very much.
Burt Compton - Marfa
A very good TV report by WFAA News in Dallas can be found online:
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa080723_mo_pilotdeath.864bf882.html
This segment will probably will not be online after today . . . so
watch it now.
Accurate (for TV news) and very respectful of Mr. Johnson.
Burt Compton
Marfa, west Texas
USA
Roy Bourgeois
after that. To put it in simple terms, to me Dick Johnson defined the
word "Gentleman".
Roy B.
Michael I Green
to the SSC every other week. This icon of soaring made me feel at home.
What a nice guy and a gentleman besides. This is a tremendous loss to
soaring. My condolences to Alice and the rest of his family.
I am so sorry,
Mike Green
ContestID67
I just received the following email with some news about a memorial
for Dick. Hell of an interesting and gifted person. He will truly be
missed from our soaring community. There is also another RAS thread
for a blog for people to add rememberances at http://ssa.org/myhome.asp?mbr=8022257685.
===========
On Fri, 7/25/08, jds...@wans.net <jds...@wans.net> wrote:
This email is being sent to everyone in Dick Johnson's address book in
hopes of reaching as many of his friends as quickly as possible. As
you know Dick Johnson loved few thing better than flying his
sailplane. He went flying this Wednesday and he was killed when his
sailplane went down shortly after takeoff. We think the reason for the
crash was probably not an aircraft failure but rather a medical event
of some sort.
A memorial service will be held 3:30pm Tuesday July 29, at Restland
Funeral Home in Richardson. The address is 9220 Restland Rd at
Greenville Ave. 75080. Phone number is 972-238-7111.
http://www.restlandfuneralhome.com/directions.php
In lieu of flowers, a donation may be sent to:
MSU Foundation, Raspet Lab
In Memory of Dick Johnson
P.O. Box 6149
Mississippi State, MS 39762
If the above address seems unusual to you, we checked it and that's
the way they address things for that institution.
Regards,
The Johnson Family
kb...@aol.com
biography of Dick.
Having grown up with David and Dick as my soaring mentors since a teen
40 years ago. I wish I had written down more of those interactions and
lessons of life.
We did interview and record Dick's contemporaries like John Robinson
and Vic Saudec. Maybe I am like many of you, who thought Mr. Soaring
Technology would just be there forever. In our thoughts and hearts,
perhaps he can be.
So thankful to have known this family.
Michael Henderson