Charlie Spratt

[Karl Striedieck[_2_]]

John Good wrote a beautiful obit for Charlie Spratt in the June 2009 issue of Soaring. Charlie left us April 10th that year. Good start Good finish!

[[email protected]]

On Friday, April 10, 2020 at 10:04:01 AM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
> John Good wrote a beautiful obit for Charlie Spratt in the June 2009 issue of Soaring. Charlie left us April 10th that year. Good start Good finish!

I still miss Charlie a lot.
UH

[[email protected]]

KS, what is your favorite Charlie Spratt story?

On Friday, April 10, 2020 at 10:04:01 AM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
> John Good wrote a beautiful obit for Charlie Spratt in the June 2009 issue of Soaring. Charlie left us April 10th that year. Good start Good finish!

[Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot)]

Yes, I miss Charlie....among many stories...I remember at a contest in "upstate NY" where he was CD....I got stuck for an hour low....finally got up, radioed the site, got a crew member flying a contestant glider....he relayed back to Charlie...."UH doing a finish!...".....Charlie was already into keg (with many others) and gave a "good finish!" Even though he likely didn't see it....back when I upset others since landout scoring was based on slowest finisher.....Charlie was cool....yes, I miss him....
Makes you want to say things to peeps while they are still around.....not eulogies....better, face to face....:-)

[John Seaborn (A8)]

A little known secret. Charlie was more competitive than most of the competitors. We needed the last day of a Regional to make it a contest. The day forecast was for strong winds, low thermal tops, weak lift and blue. Charlie set an out and return task with the turnpoint straight down wind just further than the minimum distance required for a valid contest day. When I asked Charlie how he expected the competitors to get home, "not my problem". While everyone ultimately landed out, the minimum distance was achieved by just enough competitors and we had a contest. I landed near the town of Earth and got to tell my crew that I had landed NW of Earth. Loved that guy.

[Duster[_2_]]

On Friday, April 10, 2020 at 9:04:01 AM UTC-5, Karl Striedieck wrote:
> John Good wrote a beautiful obit for Charlie Spratt in the June 2009 issue of Soaring. Charlie left us April 10th that year. Good start Good finish!

He wrote a book entitled, "See ya' a the Airport". I've forgotten all the details, but he reveals that there was some controversy with the racing community about his suitability as a national contest director or manager. The book includes some compelling letters of support from some of our soaring royalty (e.g., Ed Byars, George Moffat). Also, positive reviews from others such as KS and Pete Smith.
If you promise to pass it to others, I'll send you my copy. Just provide your address by PM. I'm guessing that our friendly soaring businesses might be hurting during this economic shutdown, so I will buy a book from one of them of at least equal value.

[Karl Striedieck[_2_]]

Too many Charlie stories to pick one - but.

One night there was window rattling crash from upstairs, and when asked about it Charlie said he fell out of bed.

Or one of the numerous glider delivery sagas when he was passing Flagstaff mid- winter and felt sorry for a freezing hitchhiker. Turned out the guy was drunk so Charlie put him in the front of the trailer.

Speaking of his gift with humans, a favorite kid-on-the-road story was the year he took a lad who had a learning disability. At some point the boy found himself in a game of Scrabble with other young kids, and was the brunt of ridicule for a word choice. When they left for the motel Charlie took the Scrabble game and said to the lad "We'll play some more Scrabble and you can spell the words anyway you want."

[Papa3[_2_]]

Hey Karl,

I love that last one. Aside from the great story telling, he was one of those guys who truly cared about people.

I think it was my second season of racing when I owned a Baby Grob and we were flying out of Dansville. Probably 1990. The weather was actually pretty good - just good enough so I could get pretty far away before getting in trouble and landing out.

I proceeded to land out I think 5 days in a row; on at least 2 of them I was the only landout. After the 5th day Charlie took me aside and asked how I was doing, was I discouraged, etc. He ended the session with "I'll buy you a beer if you get back tonight." I did, and he did.

P3

On Friday, April 10, 2020 at 6:24:45 PM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
> Too many Charlie stories to pick one - but.
>
> One night there was window rattling crash from upstairs, and when asked about it Charlie said he fell out of bed.
>
> Or one of the numerous glider delivery sagas when he was passing Flagstaff mid- winter and felt sorry for a freezing hitchhiker. Turned out the guy was drunk so Charlie put him in the front of the trailer.
>
> Speaking of his gift with humans, a favorite kid-on-the-road story was the year he took a lad who had a learning disability. At some point the boy found himself in a game of Scrabble with other young kids, and was the brunt of ridicule for a word choice. When they left for the motel Charlie took the Scrabble game and said to the lad "We'll play some more Scrabble and you can spell the words anyway you want."

[gkemp]

On Friday, April 10, 2020 at 7:04:01 AM UTC-7, Karl Striedieck wrote:
> John Good wrote a beautiful obit for Charlie Spratt in the June 2009 issue of Soaring. Charlie left us April 10th that year. Good start Good finish!

Ran the gate for us at a remote (from the airport) spot and complained to the local farmer, land owner about how hot and out in the open it was, farmer stacked hay bales around him. Charlie called it "hay henge". My granddaughters worked with him on the gate, they loved him.

gary kemp

[[email protected]]

In my first contest at Cordele in 2000, when it became apparent that I was no threat, he let me launch early and complete my 5 hour to finish my silver in the club 1-26. Tami worked the gate with him and Annie Byrd. After that we were hooked.

Kevin
92
formerly 192

[John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net]

I recall that Charlie made ends meet by towing gliders cross country for their owners.

Wasn't there a story about him being convinced, against his better judgement, to chaperone the owner's teenage son who actually was doing the towing by Charlie following in a separate vehicle? The funny part was the mayhem that ensued.

Anyone remember the details?

[Karl Striedieck[_2_]]

The teenager's dad had thought Charlie's towing rates too high so arranged for the kid to haul the trailer along with Charlie towing another. The kid left Charlie in the dust on I-10 going west, and a while later Charlie noted an object in the road ahead - a glider wing! He stopped and got it off the road. A few miles further another wing. Eventually, he found the kid at a rest stop unaware that the back door of the trailer was open.

You get what you pay for!

[Steve Leonard[_2_]]

1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.

Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS

[[email protected]]

On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 10:21:00 AM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
> 1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.
>
> Steve Leonard
> Wichita, KS

We started going to contests in 1978 when our kids were 7 and 10 years old. They thought Charlie was the greatest. He had model airplanes, fireworks, and a Holiday Inn bath towel and room key so he could stop at any Holiday Inn and jump into the pool to cool off and clean up. Our kids were looking forward to the next contest to hang out with Charlie at the gate. At the end of the first contest day I had barely rolled to a stop when the kids came running up and excitedly said" Dad, you aren't going to believe it! CHARLIE IS AS OLD AS YOU ARE!"

[John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net]

On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 10:21:00 AM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
> 1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.
>
> Steve Leonard
> Wichita, KS

"...have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed ..."

Sounds strange. I can imagine ways that the flap handle could be locked in position or sealed (maybe "warranty void if seal broken" labels). But how does a flap "timer" work?

[[email protected]]

On Sunday, April 12, 2020 at 3:55:34 PM UTC-4, John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote:
> On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 10:21:00 AM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
> > 1979, Sunflower Gliderport, Standard Class Nationals. Flapped gliders were permitted to race in Standard Class, but they must either have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed to indicate if the flaps were not at zero. They were permitted to use the flaps up to three minutes per flight. This was to permit use during the critical takeoff and landing phase, and kind of important to those flying PIK-20Bs. Charlie was assigned to be "The Flap Fuzz". His job was to check the seals and timers on all flapped sailplanes when they landed. Since people were landing all around the airport, Charlie needed a way to get around. He was given a small, 100 CC dirt bike. That would only drive in first gear. So, there was Charlie the Circus Bear on this tiny little motorcycle, screaming like mad, doing 10 MPH across the ramp, scurrying from glider to glider when the gaggles came home. And he did it all with a big smile.
> >
> > Steve Leonard
> > Wichita, KS
>
> "...have their flaps locked in position, or have a timer installed ..."
>
> Sounds strange. I can imagine ways that the flap handle could be locked in position or sealed (maybe "warranty void if seal broken" labels). But how does a flap "timer" work?

My flap timer was a sealed box with a magnetic switch that closed if the flap push rod moved more than about 1/4 inch. It had to satisfy the CD. Rules allowed 2 minutes of flap time to land. This was on a PIK-20 that had landing flaps only.
UH

[[email protected]]

On Friday, April 10, 2020 at 6:24:45 PM UTC-4, Karl Striedieck wrote:
> Too many Charlie stories to pick one - but.
>
> One night there was window rattling crash from upstairs, and when asked about it Charlie said he fell out of bed.
>
> Or one of the numerous glider delivery sagas when he was passing Flagstaff mid- winter and felt sorry for a freezing hitchhiker. Turned out the guy was drunk so Charlie put him in the front of the trailer.
>
> Speaking of his gift with humans, a favorite kid-on-the-road story was the year he took a lad who had a learning disability. At some point the boy found himself in a game of Scrabble with other young kids, and was the brunt of ridicule for a word choice. When they left for the motel Charlie took the Scrabble game and said to the lad "We'll play some more Scrabble and you can spell the words anyway you want."

My favorite kid on the road story was a lesson on how to spend money. Kids with Charlie had their own food money from parents. The expectation was this could be a learning experience.
Early on a trip Charlie and his young sidekick stopped and convenience store for food and other needs. This was the first real experience for this young kid with having money. He could not resist and spent all his ration of money on fire works.
Later that night the young man came to Charlie and said "I'm hungry".
Charlie's response was "why don't you eat some of those fire works"
Big lesson learned.
He was a classic.
UH