Mail Sack, 1/18/13, John Moyle and Cherry Grove trophy

Builders,

Here are some of the letters that have come in the email:

On the passing of John Moyle, builder Ned Lowerre writes:

“Hello William, I am sorry to hear of John passing away. I met him several years ago at the Copperstate Fly-in. I was new to aviation and considering building a Sonex. John was working the Contact booth and quick to point out they had printed an issue that consisted of mostly Sonex articles. He then left the booth and personally escorted me to the booths of engine venders that made engines appropriate for the Sonex. He spent at least two hours with me and had never met me before. Your description of John is right on the money. He will be sorely missed.
Ned”

On the passing of John Moyle, builder Matt Lockwood writes:

“Blue skies and Tailwinds, John. WW- Thanks for posting such great info on great people in this little endeavor.”

On the passing of John Moyle, builder Dan Branstrom writes:

“I’m sorry to hear about John. He really was as you describe him, a kind, interesting person. After we met at CC #5, we ended up meeting once where I live, and we talked via emails between different aviation events. It was always great to see him and talk aviation and other things. I miss him.”

On the Cherry grove trophy, Zenith Builder Brandon Gerard writes:

“When I first got into the idea of homebuilding, it was because I thought it was the most affordable way to get into the air. In the few years that have passed since, I’ve learned a valuable lesson. I can buy a used plane for about what I’d spend on building a kit, but it would never mean so much to me as the one I put together with my own hands, on my own time, and with my own particular touches added in.

My eldest daughter and I went to the Zenith rudder clinic a couple of years ago, and she wrote our names and the date on the inside of the rudder as we built it together. Knowing that will be part of my airplane means more to me than any airman’s rating or homebuilding award ever could.

I came into the Corvair movement to get into flying in some kind of affordable fashion. What I found here is so much more than flying on the cheap. There’s a philosophy that speaks to the low-and-slow part of the aviator’s soul within me that I didn’t even know was there, and I found at CC#16 a group of people with whom I felt a genuine kinship. I left there with a distinct feeling that I’d finally found my people. Thank you for that.

Life’s responsibilities have kept me from making much progress over the last couple of years, but the desire still burns. I will run an engine at a college, and I will fly into another in the plane I built with my own hands (and my kids’).

And some philanthropist somewhere needs to buy Bernie’s old shop and turn it into a shrine. The man designed and built what would become a timeless classic, and did so while working a regular job and raising a family. His message: Keep it simple. It’s time for me to simplify my life and get focused on the things most important to me, and a great, big one is sharing my love for aviation with my kids in a meaningful way, something more than getting a magazine every month and watching every aviation-related TV show I can find. I’ll be seeing you at a college soon.”