Jim was an early inspiration to me as a fellow upper midwest low performance XC pilot. He set a good example not only stretching out cross country in his 1-26 as often as possible but also instructing many many pilots in the intricacies of xc flying and helping encourage and motivate them to go for it. He earned his Gold Distance and Diamond Goal in a Schweizer 1-19! I recommend you go back into the Soaring magazine archive and look up July 1962 and read his article titled "You Can't Soar a 1-19". The 1-26 is a super ship in comparison. In 1990 he spoke at the SSA Convention about flying long distances in low performance gliders. He boiled it down to three rules: Rule 1: Learn to work weak lift. Rule 2: Fly for many hours. Rule 3: Fly Downwind. Needless to say as I ramped up my downwind dash efforts the last few years I often picked his brain on weather and technique. Jim earned the Henry Combs Trophy from the SSA three times, recognizing his Diamond Distance straight out flights. He also earned the 1-26 Associations Claybourn Award many times for having the longest 1-26 flight in the USA for the calendar year. He made 10 Diamond Distance flights in his 1-26 in his career, with one flight of over 400 miles.

Leah and I made a tradition of visiting Jim during our annual trips to Minnesota over the holidays. We'd usually enjoy a beer and a frozen pizza and share tales from the last years soaring season. Usually a few other Minnesota guys would join in. It was always a joy. We will miss that. Godspeed Jim.