On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 10:14:54 AM UTC-6, wrote:
On Monday, January 19, 2015 at 4:05:45 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Who was Rudy Mozer?

I am currently the owner of a ASW 17 which he was the first owner and flew in several Nationals in the late 70's with the likes of Ben Green, Wally Scott, Moffet, Dick Johnson and others. It is a pleasure to fly a aircraft with this kind of history. I can only wish I had the time to become as good as these greats from the golden age of soaring. It sat for many years in a trailer and needed much TLC to bring up to flying condition. I have been tweeking on it since I got it and it flew about 50 hrs last year, 10 more than the previous 10 years. I hope to do my best to keep this piece of soaring history flying and improving its condition as the seasons pass.

Good on you, John! Rudy was the Schleicher Dealer in the US for many years.. He took the first AS-W12 in the US to the Nationals at Marfa in 1967, and had, shall we say, a rather rough time with it. Wally Scott flew that same plane at the Nationals at Marfa in 1969 and placed second. You will find an interesting article about a free distance flight by Rudy in one of his Ka-6s, titles "Horace Greeley was Wrong!" in the March 1962 issue of SOARING. What could be written in even a complete issue of Soaring could not even begin to cover what all Rudy did for Soaring in the US.

You have quite a piece of soaring history there, my friend. Fly it, take care of it, and most of all, have fun with it! That is what Rudy would want you to do! Thanks for bringing another out of its trailer.

Steve Leonard