With a sad heart...

I truly appreciate the guidance, knowledge, and wisdom that he offered unselfishly to the community. I will miss what he offered this community dearly.
 
Respects and condolences to his family. I always enjoyed reading his contributions to the forums and am saddened by his passing.
 
Been thinking more about this. It is shocking how quickly things can change, isn't it? One day he is posting on here and sharing knowledge or debating current issues in the Lav, and then in the blink of an eye he's dead. I've had experience with bad things too and I can tell you that bad things happen quickly - you often never see them coming and then you're toast.

So, with that in mind, let's think of the Professionalism threads a little. OA would never question that issue - he is one of the ones that were obviously comfortable in their own skin. Read his obit's and soak in the breadth of his experience...and then filter that into what you know about the man from reading here. I never saw him act superior to anyone no matter the relative differences in experience. The phrase that comes to mind is Noblesse Oblige which is defined thus:
The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thus:

  1. Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly.
  2. (Figuratively) One must act in a fashion that conforms to one's position, and with the reputation that one has earned.
Click to expand...

In short, it wasn't his career classification as a pilot or his ability to operate the controls of an airplane that made him a pro - it was the way he carried himself and interacted (most tellingly with those he disagreed vehemently with, there was always courtesy).

Another lesson learned can be applied to threads in which "decisions" have to be made. Keep in mind how quickly things can change - literally you can drop dead in an instant. Let this inform your choices somewhat. Prioritize what's important and lose the rest for there is no time to deal with trivialities. John's obvious career achievement is impressive but not as impressive as his family. Prioritize.
 
WacoFan said:
Been thinking more about this. It is shocking how quickly things can change, isn't it? One day he is posting on here and sharing knowledge or debating current issues in the Lav, and then in the blink of an eye he's dead. I've had experience with bad things too and I can tell you that bad things happen quickly - you often never see them coming and then you're toast.

So, with that in mind, let's think of the Professionalism threads a little. OA would never question that issue - he is one of the ones that were obviously comfortable in their own skin. Read his obit's and soak in the breadth of his experience...and then filter that into what you know about the man from reading here. I never saw him act superior to anyone no matter the relative differences in experience. The phrase that comes to mind is Noblesse Oblige which is defined thus:


In short, it wasn't his career classification as a pilot or his ability to operate the controls of an airplane that made him a pro - it was the way he carried himself and interacted (most tellingly with those he disagreed vehemently with, there was always courtesy).

Another lesson learned can be applied to threads in which "decisions" have to be made. Keep in mind how quickly things can change - literally you can drop dead in an instant. Let this inform your choices somewhat. Prioritize what's important and lose the rest for there is no time to deal with trivialities. John's obvious career achievement is impressive but not as impressive as his family. Prioritize.
Click to expand...

Nicely said Waco, OA left a hole in JC that's going to be hard to replace. :(
 
I attended NBAA last year in Atlanta, and I had to leave a day earlier than planned to do a pre-buy on a 172SP for my school's flying club, when I got up that morning I noticed I had a PM. It was from OA inviting me to come meet him as he was covering the show... and it was two days old. I kicked myself big time for not noticing that sooner and wrote him back apologizing profusely for not taking him up on that offer. I was sure he thought I blew him off but if he did he didn't show it.

"Maybe next time. Fly smart," he said.

It's my loss, to be sure. We didn't end up buying the 172, it was a dog.
 
RIP. Wow, sorry to hear this. He was a great guy, and a great resource for avaition in general. My condolences to his family.
 
WacoFan said:
Been thinking more about this. It is shocking how quickly things can change, isn't it? One day he is posting on here and sharing knowledge or debating current issues in the Lav, and then in the blink of an eye he's dead. I've had experience with bad things too and I can tell you that bad things happen quickly - you often never see them coming and then you're toast.

So, with that in mind, let's think of the Professionalism threads a little. OA would never question that issue - he is one of the ones that were obviously comfortable in their own skin. Read his obit's and soak in the breadth of his experience...and then filter that into what you know about the man from reading here. I never saw him act superior to anyone no matter the relative differences in experience. The phrase that comes to mind is Noblesse Oblige which is defined thus:


In short, it wasn't his career classification as a pilot or his ability to operate the controls of an airplane that made him a pro - it was the way he carried himself and interacted (most tellingly with those he disagreed vehemently with, there was always courtesy).

Another lesson learned can be applied to threads in which "decisions" have to be made. Keep in mind how quickly things can change - literally you can drop dead in an instant. Let this inform your choices somewhat. Prioritize what's important and lose the rest for there is no time to deal with trivialities. John's obvious career achievement is impressive but not as impressive as his family. Prioritize.
Click to expand...
:beer:
 
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