[ Post a Response | FLSC Message Board ]
Posted by Jim Martin
on 5/2/2011, 10:37 am, in reply to "Edgar Duff Seymour, FLSC founder, passes"
70.100.140.104
--Previous Message--
: A small but persistent light extinguished
: yesterday at about 9 PM, when Ed Seymour
: died. Many, perhaps thousands, of pilots
: throughout the US and Canada received
: instruction and encouragement in the sport
: of Soaring (as well as an example in
: instruction) from Ed, who almost made it to
: his 99th birthday on June 23. His
: instructional montra was "I'll teach
: you to fly, but not for free. you have to
: teach someone else to fly for free
: too."
: He was born in 1912 and flew primary
: gliders back in the days when your exam as
: an instructor was survival without injury
: from your first solo flight.
: Back in 1950, Ed joined the fledgling
: Rochester Soaring Club that started with 10
: members at the Genesee Regional airport, at
: Jefferson and East Henrietta Roads in
: Henrietta NY. The group purchased a 2-22
: and moved to Batavia Airport, then a grass
: strip at the site of the current airport
: (and flying off the current runway when it
: was grass and less than 2,000' long). Some
: of our current members were present when
: pressed into service to cut brush to
: lengthen the runway on Gil Chapel's farm to
: 2,000' in 1958. The next year we celebrated
: its 10th anniversary with a photo portrait
: of members and machines that now hangs in
: our clubhouse.
: Ed was inducted into the Soaring Hall
: of Fame when Jill Alcorn, president in the
: 90s, obtained a list of pilots across the US
: whom Ed had instructed, and whom Jill
: enlisted in her campaign. While pilots who
: now stress safety in the sky still put their
: own survival second to others on the ground,
: Ed joined Soaring when the excitement was
: more important than risks back in the day
: when a spin meant certain death.
: Lucky are we who had Ed as an
: instructor, model and mentor.
:
:
Message Thread
« Back to index