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Liebe Kamaraden Soeben habe ich erfahren, dass Big Jim Greenway verstorben ist. Er war der Konstrukteur des legendären “Patternmaster” und gehörte Recht zu den legendären Figuren der amerikanischen Kunstflugszene. Ich hatte vor längerer Zeit Anteil an der Verbreitung des “Cardinal”, eine Weiterentwicklung des Patternmasters von Big Jim’s Freund Windy Urtnowski, in der deutschsprachigen Szene und denke ein passendes Wort zum Tod eines der Grossen unserer Gemeinschaft ist wohl angebracht. Ted Fancher hat heute auf dem Stuka Stunt Forum diesen Nachruf veröffentlicht: The sadness at Jim's passing isn't limited to his good friends in Jersey and New York. Although we only met face to face a couple of times, Big Jim had a significant impact on me and how I've conducted my relationship with the event ever since. One of my fondest memories in stunt occurred on a layover in New York way back in the mid to late '70s. I took the subway from Manhattan out to Shea Stadium/Flushing Meadows and wandered around looking for the famous Flushing Meadows Flying Field. I had flown in a few Nats by that time and met a number of the very best ... most of whom were regulars at Flushing Meadows. Guys like Bill Simons, Bob Hunt, Gene Schaffer, etc. I was looking to see these guys in "their" element. I frankly don't recall if any of these guys were there. I think at least one of them probably was because somehow the flyers there became aware that I was there and that I had had some modest success at the nats up to that time although I'm sure it was prior to my first win in 1982. The airplane that caught my attention was a yellow, fairly high aspect ratio ship flown by a "very" large black fellow. At that time I had no clue who he was but, in very short order, we were engaged in a discussion of stunt design and aerodynamics, what works and what doesn't work in stunt ships. I was fascinated and extremely impressed with this "giant" stunt flyer and the fact that he actually approached stunt design in a "scientific" manner, discussing aspect ratios, angles of attack, moment arms, etc. This was a guy who recognized and acted on the reality that stunt ships were "real" airplanes and would respond in predictable fashion to treating them as such. We spent several happy hours chatting; Big Jim sitting on his trademark 50 gallon oil drum and me happily more or less looking up at him and agreeing, disagreeing, arguing and generally having more fun talking about stunt ships than I had ever experienced prior to that time. We didn't agree on everything but what intrigued me about Jim was that he was sympatico with my belief that the stuff that applied to big airplanes applied equally to airplanes of any size. Big Jim was probably the biggest influence on my future approach to stunt ship design up to that time. A man who, despite the huge differences between us in so many ways society "felt" were important, was a kindred spirit. A man who felt that, whether Wall Street or Hollywood cared a whit, it was worthwhile for human beings to apply their intellect to something as esoteric and unimportant to 999 people out of 1000 as flying 15 maneuvers with toy airplanes on strings... and how it could be done better. That this big black man and this small white guy could, in a matter of a few minutes, find common ground in this esoteric human persuit was a classic "eureka" moment; one that has influenced not only my relationship to stunt ever since, but the manner in which I conduct my life in general. Big Jim was a great man in more ways than one. I'll not forget that, after riding the subway to Flushing Meadows, I rode back to my fancy Manhattan Hotel in the right seat of Big Jim's car. Some kind of pretty much worn out mid -60s land yacht (I still think I can remember it was some sort of bronzy color ... sort of like one of Bob Hunt's bronze dogs (inside story); the front bench seat back as far as possible to accomodate his impressive bulk. Never have I been less influenced by the appearance of a man and more influenced by his intellect and humanity. It was a special day and Jim was a special man. We're all the worse for his passing. I'd like to pass on my condolences and a virtual hug to those who love him and will mourn his passing even more than me. Ted Fancher Es gibt nichts hinzuzufügen. Peter Germann |