Don't take this personally but it has the sound of a narrative that
could have ended in multiple fatalities.

I suppose -- but you can say that about every flight.

It was a rough flight, to be sure, and we broke a part in the landing gear
on touchdown, true enough. But if we had been in a fixed-gear aircraft
like Atlas, nothing would have broken -- and, quite frankly, that bolt is
designed (like a "shear pin" in a snow blower) to be the first thing to
break. By breaking first it prevents other, more expensive, parts from
breaking.

Of course, we didn't know that at the time -- thus, the narrative.

The air sickness was unnerving, and awful for those afflicted, but Jim was
an iron man throughout. The only other time I've seen anyone tough out
motion sickness like that was on a Lake Michigan charter fishing trip. It
was very rough, everyone was sick (except, again, for me), and this guy --
an old Huey door gunner from Viet Nam -- was no different. He upchucked
over the side, reached for a beer, cracked it and smiled, saying
"Ahhh...it's Miller time!" He then proceeded to chug that beer.

I almost lost it right then and there, just watching him.

Jim truly won the "Iron Man" award for this flight. Through it all he
never skipped a beat, never missed a radio call -- and got us down safely in
a friggin' "inland hurricane". His professionalism and skill in the face
of truly awful conditions got us through a bad situation safely, and Mary
and I would fly that trip -- with our kids -- with him again tomorrow.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"