Originally posted by Harley909
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There may have been a few Margarita's involved in this story so my memory is a bit sketchy...Stu bought Merlins Magic from a guy in Wisconsin. He hadn't flown one before and as he said "I read the book". The strip he launched out of was a small grass strip...and Stu being Stu, he said he was on his way to California.
Stu spent a lot of time on tour with us, a lot. Marilyn was so excited he got to fly a Mustang on someone else's dime that she got to buy new curtains
. 2009 or so we were at Yolo with the tour and Jimmy Rollison put together a fly in during our stop. Stu and Marilyn were there with Merlins Magic. Stu loved flying Betty Jane but he had a disdain for the canopy, you can't open it on the ground with the engine running...it gets hot in there, and you definitely can't open it in the air. In Stu's voice I can still hear him saying "you know Jim, the D model doesn't have a speed limit on opening the canopy". That Saturday evening Mac and I had just launched in 909 on an evening ride, Stu and Marilyn had taxied out behind us. The gear was barely in the well and Stu came over the radio "forming up on your right side"...there was Stu, canopy all the way back, a huge grin, and flipping us the bird. With that he peeled off and headed for LVK. So many great memories.
Stu did my checkout in the Mustang, he spent quite a few hours in the backseat of Betty Jane putting me through my paces. On a slow evening in Bessemer Alabama he said "you want to go flying?"...he climbed in the back and we went out did a bunch of acro and few simulated engine outs over the field. When I climbed out he said with a big grin "there's nothing more we can do, a$$hole"...you're still going to let me fly it, right?"... In that moment I didn't have words, Stu had passed a torch and paid me one of the best compliments I have ever received. Stu was one of a kind, and one of the best souls I have ever been around, not just in an airplane. Life has been all the better for knowing him, and his family. For that I am thankful.
Stu spent a lot of time on tour with us, a lot. Marilyn was so excited he got to fly a Mustang on someone else's dime that she got to buy new curtains
. 2009 or so we were at Yolo with the tour and Jimmy Rollison put together a fly in during our stop. Stu and Marilyn were there with Merlins Magic. Stu loved flying Betty Jane but he had a disdain for the canopy, you can't open it on the ground with the engine running...it gets hot in there, and you definitely can't open it in the air. In Stu's voice I can still hear him saying "you know Jim, the D model doesn't have a speed limit on opening the canopy". That Saturday evening Mac and I had just launched in 909 on an evening ride, Stu and Marilyn had taxied out behind us. The gear was barely in the well and Stu came over the radio "forming up on your right side"...there was Stu, canopy all the way back, a huge grin, and flipping us the bird. With that he peeled off and headed for LVK. So many great memories. Stu did my checkout in the Mustang, he spent quite a few hours in the backseat of Betty Jane putting me through my paces. On a slow evening in Bessemer Alabama he said "you want to go flying?"...he climbed in the back and we went out did a bunch of acro and few simulated engine outs over the field. When I climbed out he said with a big grin "there's nothing more we can do, a$$hole"...you're still going to let me fly it, right?"... In that moment I didn't have words, Stu had passed a torch and paid me one of the best compliments I have ever received. Stu was one of a kind, and one of the best souls I have ever been around, not just in an airplane. Life has been all the better for knowing him, and his family. For that I am thankful.
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