Dick Johnson is gone.

I just had to take the time to write about the loss of the greatest
glider pilot ever. I had the great pleasure of knowing Dick while he
soared at Caddo. I was the Office Administrator there. He made me feel
so welcome when I started, and was just the sweetest man I knew. I can
still see him setting there having his lunch that Alice packed for
him, before he went up. Some days he would say "I think I will have my
lunch at 1500". He made every new student feel confident in what they
were about to learn. This is a tragic loss for everyone that knew him.
I will never forget him and treasure the memories.

Burt Compton - Marfa wrote:
July 23, 2008

I just received a telephone call from a reliable source that Dick
Johnson has crashed at the combined World Class / 1-26 Nationals at
Midlothian, Texas (south of Dallas). He was flying as sniffer.

Apparently he dove-in after release from tow. My source reports that
Dick has perished in the crash.

I am stunned. Nothing to speculate about now -- he is just gone.
So God Bless Alice his wife, and his family. Alice lost their son
Nels many years ago in a hang-glider accident.

Mr. Johnson was a mentor to us all, world-wide soaring legend, and a
dear friend of my family.

Burt Compton
Marfa, Texas
USA

Dick was one of a kind- gracious and inspiring, a person who did so
much to advance the practical aspects of the sport. He was the
consummate engineer, always working to apply test procedures and
refinements to a whole range of gliding design. He was never too busy
or settled to scout new concepts, or mentor a new pilot.

His quite, friendly demeanor spoke volumes of the depth beneath.

He will be sorely missed.

-Gary Osoba

I have known Dick since I was 9. My brother crewed for Dick, and I
helped build trailers, buck rivets, etc. Soaring has lost it's truest
ambassador, and I an old friend. Delores and I will pray for Alice.
Godspeed, Dick Johnson.

Jack Womack

I had met Dick Johnson many times over the years at various contests. He
and Alice took in my crew and I when I made my Diamond Distance flight
from Sunflower to Caddo Mills in 1990. Most recently, I had gotten to
spend time with Dick and Alice at the Thermal and Wave Camps that they
organized at Marfa, Texas. His passing leaves a huge void in all of us.
Let's fill the voids with good memories and stories.

Just today, I got my NSM Newsletter. There, on the cover, is a picture of
the RJ-5 being hoisted to its display location in the NSM. It was not all
that long ago, so it seems, that I helped George Applebay with mating the
old RJ-5 wings to the newly fabricated replica fusleage. As we rolled the
fuselage from the workshop to the hangar at Moriarty, I could almost
picture Dick along side us, as he must have been when he had first mated
the wings to the fuselage many years before. I wish we had been able to
have the plane finished, and 50 years after his 535 mile flight from
Odessa to Salina, been able to launch him from Odessa in the RJ-5, just to
see how far he could go. The plane was not ready, but I am sure Dick would
have been up for it if it had been.

TSA, Alice, and all the rest of your family, please know that you are in
our thoughts and prayers. As Dick would sign his letters,

Yours Thermally,

Steve Leonard

The world of soaring has lost a giant, a gentleman, and one of the
greatest pilots ever. I feel so fortunate to have merely spoken with
him and shared the same ramp and sky for even 1 day. My heart is
breaking for his wife and for all the soaring pilots to come who will
only know him as a legend. Our universe is diminshed.

Matt Michael
Ames, Iowa

I just received a telephone call from a reliable source that Dick
Johnson has crashed at the combined World Class / 1-26 Nationals at
Midlothian, Texas (south of Dallas). *He was flying as sniffer.

Apparently he dove-in after release from tow. *My source reports that
Dick has perished in the crash.

Dick Johnson is gone.
Sad news.
The best-est gentleman.
We shall not see his like again.
All regards and empathy to Alice From Dallas - Dick's beloved for
sixty-plus years.
Bob Wander
Minneapolis MN USA
-end

What a tragic loss for the sport.

However his efforts during his long life will always make him a
soaring hero.

Condolences to his family and friends.

Al.

I am shocked and saddened by his loss--he was a remarkable man,
generous with his time to each of us. I was always surprised that he
even knew my name--legends usually don't notice mere mortals. But
that didn't seem to be his nature--he was just a guy in love with our
special brand of aviation, and willing to share his lifetime's wisdom
with any of us.

I have a request for this group. I am the editor of Spirals, the
newsletter of Texas Soaring Association, where Dick Johnson was a long-
time member. I want to do something very special as a tribute to him
in the newsletter. I can't think of anything better than the words of
all of you that knew him, flew with him, and were touched by him.
With the group's permission, I would like to collect your comments and
use them as the basis of an article in the next issue. Any pictures
would be most welcome, and any comments you would like to share
directly with me would also be appreciated. Thanks very much.

A very good TV report by WFAA News in Dallas can be found online:

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dw....864bf882.html

This segment will probably will not be online after today . . . so
watch it now.
Accurate (for TV news) and very respectful of Mr. Johnson.


Burt Compton
Marfa, west Texas
USA

I first met Dick in 1975 in Hobbs and our paths crossed too infrequently
after that. To put it in simple terms, to me Dick Johnson defined the
word "Gentleman".


Roy B.