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Miscellaneous

Homebuilder Memorial

Here are Homebuilders that have left us one way or another. Whether departed in bed or in an accident, they lived the way we want to: In our garages building aircraft, or in the sky flying them. They will be missed.

If you'd like to have a Homebuilder added to this memorial please email to the address on the right.

HHMemorial
@
Homebuilt
.Org


Jerry & Paul Cody
Jerry Cody, 39, and his son Paul, twelve, of Reno, Nevada passed February 4, 2001 in an accident in his Wittman Tailwind W-8. They shared a love of flying and Homebuilts, and built many model airplanes and rockets together. Jerry loved flying his Tailwind, especially with his son. And Paul loved flying his model airplanes and launched his model rockets every chance he got. The Tailwind was originally built by Ron Sutton approximately thirty years ago.
Jerry is survived by his wife, Lisa, and his five year old daughter.

John Hatz
John Hatz of Gleason, Wisconsin passed November, 1989 in a pickup truck accident. He was a fervent Waco "nut". He designed and built the Hatz CB-1, which is basically a smaller Waco biplane. Over 150 CB-1's have been built, with plans still being sold today. The American Hatz Association, which bears his name, promotes and supports his award winning design.

Roger Mellema
Roger Mellema passed on August 30, 1999 in the crash of his gyrocopter. The builder of BD-4 N76VR, Roger was the publisher of the BD-4 Owners/Builders Newsletter which provided support and information for BD-4 builders around the world. He is survived by his wife Verla. He will be missed.

Barney Ridgway
Alvis Barney Ridgway of Gadsden, Alabama passed July 29, 1969 of a heart attack while visiting an EAA fly-in at Rockford, Illinois. Barney built a small one seat, open cockpit plane with a continental engine called a "Termite". In this plane God was his co-pilot.
His daughter, Bonnie Groover, would like to find the plane he worked so many hours on. The original paint scheme was yellow with the design of a black termite bug on the tail section and the registration number was N3101. If you have any information please contact her by email at t.groover@worldnet.att.net.

Chuck Veith
Chuck Veith passed on July 24, 2001, near Winona Minnesota. Chuck was on his way to meet friends at the Oshkosh airshow when his engine quit and the attempted emergency landing resulted in a fatal crash. He had built his Kolb Slingshot over the previous 2 years and had flown it with great pleasure around southern Minnesota. Chuck was a licensed pilot with years of flying experience. His sense of adventure and love of the sport were a joy to share. He will be sorely missed by the family who loved him and the friends who flew with him.


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