jrevens wrote:
Dan and Rich... thank you for the great compliments. I see so many beautiful Thorps, and you guys have 2 of the nicest. Good workmanship & the love of a great design continues, and has been there for us for almost 50 years. I think of John Thorp, Dean Cochran, Walt Giffin, Bill Warwick, Lu Sunderland, Russ Basye, Bill Cordoza, George Leider, Ken Knowles, B.C. Roemer, Chuck Borden, Gary Green, John Shinn, John & Lee Walton, Lyle Trusty, the entire Ginn family, Bob Dial, John Kerr... I can't do justice to this list - I shouldn't have even started it - there are just too many! I feel completely out of my league when I see how Bob Highley has continued to improve his beautiful bird after all these years, and the workmanship he and Bill Williams display with so many things - scratch-built metal cowls, etc. YOUR engine installation should be in a museum, Rich! I could go on & on - there are so many wonderful Thorps out there, but the bottom line is that I am honored to be a small mark among such a group of builders, owners and re-builders, without exception.
When I started the above post, I was thinking of those friends who were no longer with us, & then other people important to me started popping into my head. It probably should have been under another category/thread... please move it if you want to, Lee.
This time of year I think more often of my family & friends, and the list above was very incomplete. There are so many in our group that have meant a lot to me, whether builders or not. Some of them are no longer with us. The people listed above, and the ones below, have also been important to me because they are some of the builders of this great airplane, and therefore we share something special. ... Dave Eby, Gale Abels, Ron Hayes, Ed Ludtke, Jim Paine, Mike Archer, Carl Daughters, Richard Eklund, Pete Gonzalez, Steve Hawley, Rich Snelson, Phil Key, David Read, Jim Peran, Bill Beswick, Richard Brandiger, Stretch Batchelor, Don Doubleday, Dick Cavin, Les Conwell, Nate Eastman, Leroy Holt, Joe Gauthier, Tom Kerns, Rich Brazell, Paul Kirik, Dick Penman, Harlo McKinty, Lee Skillman, Gene Sloan, Ken Morgan, Bob Clayton, Dan Eggleston, Mac Booth, and many others. These people and their families have enriched my life more than they could know, and I am so thankful for that.