Those of us who operate heavy equipment, farm equipment, machinery of any kind, including trucks and flying understand the possibility of death from associating with massive moving steel. Normal people take for granted the vehicle they use will operate in an acceptable manner. Growing up on a farm, I knew from a very early age when I climbed on that tractor (age 5) and daddy sent me out to the field with a plow, disk, or cultivator, that piece of machinery was lethal to everything it ran over. During my school years I personally knew friends and other farm kids who came up broken or missing an arm or other body parts because they got careless. They were lucky. I knew three who their tractors killed them. I started with our own kids warning them about farm equipment. Each piece of equipment is designed to pull crops and things through it to clean it, strip it, or chop it up. It treats crops and people the same way if it gets hold of you. THINK! When around machinery.

Jim was a machinist, pilot, aircraft mechanic, Mechanical Engineer, father, husband, and a good friend. I loved him with all my heart even if he was married. He thought I was insane for giving up airplanes for gyrocopters. We would banter about what was safe.

Saturday, yesterday, Jim was flying with a friend in a kit plane. That is a plane one orders from the factory and then assembles themselves. They both died when it went down. I don't understand? Jim understood planes and plane construction better than anyone as he WAS an experienced Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. If there was a defect in factory or kit planes Jim was the one who would find it.

Jim, it is getting pretty damn thin in friends on this end. Leave the co-pilot seat open for me. I'll be ready for my check ride soon enough.
always
Barbie Lee