I guess if you fly enough hours, eventually things happen. I'll never forget him telling the crowd at Out of the Blue about crashing his P-51 Mustang. I mean that's not something too many people can claim to have done. At least not walking away from the crash site.
One of my fondest memories was when Richard came to talk to aviator fans in my hangar (which we cleared of virtually every item to make room for the 200 chairs) a couple of years ago. People came from as far away as Georgia to hear him. As fans called in to reserve a spot, they would tell me how Richard had influenced their lives:
"His book meant so much to me I named my son after him."
"I carried his book, 'Biplane' all the way through Vietnam."
"My daughter turned her life around after reading his books."
This is a man who has touched many lives, including mine.
I wish him a speedy recovery so that he can continue doing what he loves best: Flying
