Two years after his death I still hear many references to Bill, often what pilots learned from him. Everybody seems to have something. I learned a few jokes from him, some glider tuning tricks and the landing strategy I still use. MC
Christy
Huddle
Looking back over the pictures of my early mountain flights, I see that I really benefited from Bill's desire to
fly different sites. Flying one site all the time would have bored him silly. He had to go to a couple different
sites every weekend. As a result, after less than 2 months of mountain flying, I had already enjoyed 10
different sites: Zirks, Bill's Hill, Hyner View, Fisher Road, North Mt., Daniels, Welton's Orchard, Fairgrounds,
Jack's, Rauchtown (PA). Many pilots don't see that many sites in a year!
I must have got the bug from him, because since my first high flight on June 29, 1989, I've flown 55 sites
in 13 different states of the USA, in 4 different Latin American countries, and in Canada and France. When
you get to fly a lot of different sites, you see many similarities between them and it's easier to make an
assessment of conditions. I'll give you some examples of what I mean.
The launch at Slide Mt. in Nevada is kinda like Jack's in PA - you have to climb over a guard rail to get
there and it's really steep. Once in the air, however, Slide is more like Elsinore. The prevailing wind is over
the back, you're usually flying in thermal conditions, and you can see a lake while in the air. Steamboat
Springs is kinda like Welton's Orchard - the launch is really shallow. Steamboat, being at 9K, is more of a
challenge, but it's worth it for the views at 17K msl. Point of the Mountain is like Torrey Pines, but without
the ocean. Mt. Yamaska (Canada) is is kinda like Big Southern Butte, but they don't speak French in Idaho.
Just write it (e.g., Coeur d'Alene). Fetzer's Gap is kinda like the brussel sprouts field launch in Guatemala -
a long way to the LZ and half the pilots probably won't make it. See what I mean?
My first 2 logbooks are peppered with constant references to my flights with Bill: My second
soaring flight "...waited 7 hrs for conditions to die down; last to launch, Bill got me off"; The many weekends
truck towing at Hancock; My first injury - a blown launch at Spring Run; The trips home to W. Va., Seneca
Rocks, Spruce Knob, Allegheny Front; And aerotowing at Ickes, Bermudian Valley, Ben Knights (pre-Towfarm), and the last time I flew with Bill at the Lazy B Ranch in Dover where he had planned to set up an
aerotow club. Seems like all too brief a record of the three years I spent shadowing a man who gave so
generously of his time and experience.
What I couldn't log was Bill's remarkable sense of humor and that high falsetto he'd break into when he was
laughing out of control. That's what I enjoyed most about Bill, he never took himself too seriously. We
teased him about that blue "Power Ranger" helmet; the ever-present glaze of "Final Net" harispray on the
drivers-side window of his truckleftover from a little pre-flight primping; his perennial tardiness at Hancock
leading to a new standard of "Billy-Bob" time. And crude though it was, the loudest laughs we shared were
over a certain adolescent bathroom humor we both enjoyed; the pyramids of toilet paper that came to grace
our respective commodes; the second flush often required wherever he lived; pulling his finger on cue and
the predictable, but always funny, result.
I think Bill would like the row of "Baby Ruths" I've added to the base of my pyramid. I wouldn't have to explain and it would no doubt trigger that laugh we all wish we could hear again.
-Geoff
