Blue Skies Dave

Said goodbye to an aviation friend today on a beautiful sunny day. A man who was larger than life and taken too young. A bossy air traffic controller with the kindest of hearts, dodgy dancing and slobbery kisses.

He came to my rescue on more than one occasion. He will be much missed at the Aerodrome. These words seem more fitting than mine...

"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

High Flight by RCAF Flight-Lieutenant John Gillespie Magee Jr. (1922-1941)