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Builders,

Here is a look forward over the next few weeks: Right now I am in NJ, taking a watch, caring for my Father. I will be here through Oct. 3rd. Dad is doing a lot better since the summer. Thank you to all the people who sent thoughts on this. I wrote something about Dad below.

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If anyone has a pressing tech question, please send it by email, and If you can, include a phone number that I may call you on in the evening. Often the explanations are easier on the phone. I don’t have access to all records here, so don’t assume I have your number.

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We are now just 5 weeks out from Corvair College #31. I have spoken with Ken Pavlou about the date we are going to cut off the sign up and the upper limit of builders we can have. I suspect that we are going to hit the max number before the 30 day out mark. If you are planning on attending, but have not actually signed up, please do so now. Corvair College #31 will be in Barnwell South Carolina, November 7th -9th. Click on:  https://corvaircollege.wufoo.com/forms/corvair-college-31-registration/

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Grace is still in Florida and is mailing out orders. Upon my return, she is taking a brief break to be with family. If you have an order in mind, Grace can likely cover this before my return.

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We have nose bowls packaged and ready to go now, on the shelf, for the first time in a year, there is no wait on an order. We are also going to do a large batch of Pietenpol,  Zenith 601/650, and 750 mounts before CC#31. If you would like to pick one up at the event and save the shipping, please let us know soon. -ww.

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Through a titanic effort of logistics, my brother and his eldest son were able to take my Mother and Father to Dad’s 65th Naval Academy Reunion in Annapolis last week. This lifted my Fathers spirits beyond measure.  For the 60th reunion of the Class of 1949 there were more than 500 of the original class of 1,200 on hand. My brother reported that there were only 46 classmates this year. The number drew to mind MacArthur’s words on ‘old soldiers.’

The Class of ’49 started at Annapolis before WWII ended.  In a significant shift, the entrance exams were opened to Enlisted men from the fleet, and 92% of the starting class were prior Enlisted men, my Father among them.  They were often older than the 1st classmen, and many of them had seen the war first hand. When an upperclassman harassed one of these men, the man simply pointed out that on D-day the upperclassman had been at the academy, while he had landed on Omaha Beach. He concluded with the somber statement: “I have killed better men than you.”

For all these decades, my Father has been very proud to stand in the ranks of such men. When JFK spoke of ” A new generation of Americans–born in this century, tempered by war” These were the kind of people he was speaking of.  Yesterday, I sat beside my father as he watched a few minutes of the evening news. I thought of how difficult it must be for men of his generation and calling, who literally offered their lives to defend western civilization from genuine evil, to see how little we have done with this gift that was bequeathed to us at a staggering cost.

As I write this, my Father sits in the next room, carefully writing a letter about a man he knew well, another ’49er. With dulled eyesight and a slightly shaky hand, Dad writes to tell the man’s eldest son of the great fortune of having known his father, a man of great courage and character. There are a few dozen letters left to eventually be written to sons, but when the duty is done and the chapter is closed, I suspect that the custom will also fade away. We will not have men quite like these again.

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By far, the greatest joy of my Father’s life has been being married to my Mother for 64 years. The above photo was taken circa 1949 at Annapolis. They met at the New Jersey Shore just after World War II. Throughout my entire adult life, whenever I encounter anyone in difficult straights or a terrible position, my first thought is always “Without the luck of being born to my parents, that could be me.” It is not possible to overstate the positive role my parents have played in any qualities of character I may have.