Sad News

[AndrewS]

Here is Tom's obituary in today's Chronicle Herald.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/obituaries ... mas-robert

There is supposed to be a longer version on the Funeral Home's website but it is not up as of Tuesday at 1:20pm.
I will keep checking for it, and post a link when it appears.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Take a look at this flight of Tom's. http://nature1st.net/soarns/stories/jun20fly.htm
This might even be the flight that Andrew C( ghostflyer) talks about seeing the pictures of in his post farther down the page.

Remember that this is in a Sailplane with no motor/engine...relies completely on thermal/wave lift to stay in the air.
This is why I always listened to Tom when he discussed soaring...he knew what he was talking about.Y

[RocketManRC]

Oh my, this is really sad news and a great loss.

I met Tom 10 years ago when I was learning how to fly up at the field near Leons in Burnside. At that time there were a few of us including Tom who used to meet there very early on the weekends and then go to Shannon Park after the baseball players arrived. We often stopped for coffee on the way and that was when Tom would tell us about some of his exploits as a glider pilot. I was fascinated by his stories and I know his reputation as a skilled pilot was world renowned especially in New Zealand where he had many friends.

But as we know Tom was also a passionate R/C pilot and he was an expert builder. He loved flying on the slope where it just won't be the same without him.

Rick

[AndrewS]

Here is the complete version for Tom's obituary from the Funeral Home site.

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignit ... cale=en_CA
.

[Ghost Flyer]

I had known Tom for a year or two when I told him about my desire to try real gliding someday, (if I could lose enough weight), all the while, not knowing that he was a glider pilot and had his private pilot's license. He was very interested in what I had to say. There I was, telling him, of all people, all about it, explaining how soaring worked, how you could fly from one thermal to the next, but not really knowing that much about it. I told about the Blue Nose Soaring club that I had heard of and how I almost went for glider flight there one day, but had to miss it. He said, "Just a minute, hang on...". He got up from his chair, went to his car and was back in a flash. In his hands were a small pile of photos. He handed them to me and said to have a look. It was photos of Halifax from the air and along the coast. That was when he told me that he had taken them from his glider during a flight from Stanley Airport, down past Mahone Bay and all over! I was totally surprised and humbled! Tom had this amused looked with a great big grin on his face when he saw that I had realized that I was talking to not just any glider pilot, but a very skilled glider pilot! It was hilarious! He and I had become very good friends after that and I spent some time watching soaring movies with him, which he had. And he was an accomplished violinist, too... I had no idea about that! Tom was amazing!

Back in the days when I had first met Tom, before HEFA and Shannon Park, my friend and I were at Leon's field, flying these Airhogs Storm Launchers that we bought from Walmart. My friend flew right into the baseball field, on to the pitcher’s mound, during a game! He wasn't getting the hang of it. One of the baseball players retrieved the model and threw it back over the fence in a somewhat annoyed manner. After the game and when most flyers left, Tom called the two of us over. I could tell we were in trouble. As we approached, you had this feeling, as if you were walking towards Clint Eastwood in a western film. I could see that he had this kind of stern Clint Eastwood look on his face and when he spoke, his tone seemed to match the actor's. Perhaps it was just the way my mind saw it. To me, it didn't matter that I was only guilty by association; I knew I had to accept what was coming. He pointed out that we needed to stay away from the baseball field by a great distance when there is a game on and spoke about how lucky we all were to be able to fly there. When we got back to our cars, Tom showed us his RC gliders and everything was great with the world. A few years later, he caught wind of my nick name for him, Clint Eastwood, and he got a big kick out of it. He liked it so much, that when he created his HEFA site account, he created his login name as "Clint"…lol

I feel very blessed to have gotten to know Tom and will miss him.

Andrew C.

[Ghost Flyer]

A few more pictures of Tom:

AC

[RocketManRC]

Great story AC. I remember you guys causing trouble with those Airhogs! LOL.

[AndrewS]

I remember it too AC and Rick. Looked forward to the Saturday morning "coffee" and muffin after Leon's. Your buddy just never clicked to flying did he AC.
After HEFA started at SP, Tom was usually the first on the scene,he would fly for a bit til the crowd started to show up and then leave and go have a coffee and come back. He usually didn't fly after his return but he would get out his chair and spend the rest of the morning sitting around, talking and watching the rest of us fly.

Clint's...I mean Tom's one post on the website was a couple of years ago when he was selling two of his gliders. Rick bought one...the unpowered Spirit, which I now have. It still has Tom's address label in it.
I will have to remember to bring it to this summer's Slope Fest and fly it in remembrance of Tom.

Andrew

[retiredVTT]

I have edited post #1 to indicate that several HEFA members plan to attend the Saturday 2pm service for Tom at 70 King Street, Dartmouth.
I hope many more will join us.

Bill

[RocketManRC]

I plan to go on Saturday and also drop in to the visitation tomorrow afternoon (Friday), probably around 2:15.