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Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:12 pm
by Kyle Wolfe
I hadn't seen nor heard from Blueldr for quite some time. A search turned up this info from the Yellow Pine news that he passed away last February 2017.

He had many stories and knowledge. I'll miss his sense of humor.

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RIP:

Dick Lemmon


Dick (aka Blue Leader) Lemmon passed away Feb. 25th at his home in Rancho Cordova, CA. Following a long career as a pilot in the Air Force, Yellow Pine, the Johnson Creek Airstrip and all of the people he met there, became an important part of his life for the past twenty years. After giving up flying his own plane he became a summer resident and spent his time “giving advice even if you don’t want it”, driving his ATV to the airstrip and voicing his opinions about any activity he encountered. He’ll be remembered here for his ordering almost raw hamburgers, checking the dates on the beer bottles, and calling the cafe in the winter to order a round of coffees for the “locals”.

(And we will miss Dick sending oranges to the Yellow Pine “crew” in the winter so we didn’t get Scurvy.) – rrS
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Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:16 pm
by GAHorn
I once sent him a racy photo of a crew in the cockpit via email.

A week later an envelope arrived from Rancho Cordova. No note or anything other than a $1 bill inside. :lol:

His quips online here at the forums would make a great little book. And his practical and sensible viewpoints were refreshing.

It is people like Dick that makes life so good for the rest of us.

Safe Journey West, BluElder!

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:27 pm
by gfeher
Apparently Dick passed the way the wanted -- quietly, in his bed, while taking a nap. As most of you know, Dick's other passion was his Vespas. Here's a thread from the Modern Vespa forum contaning a post from Dick's daughter Nancy about his passing. http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic152703. (Scroll down to the bottom of the first page.) In the short time I've been on this forum, I think I've enjoyed Dick's posts the most. Blue skys Dick.

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 3:02 pm
by Metal Master
My favorite quip he had was on a discussion about 170 landing gear that is: " There are no Landing Gear Police". He called me several times just to talk about my TCM IO- 360 installation. I always stopped to talk with him when he called. He told me the same stories several times. My only regret is that I never met him in person.
Jim

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 4:22 pm
by GAHorn
Here is what his daughter Nancy posted:

Dick Lemmon, 1922-2017

It is with mixed feelings that I relay the news that D.O.D. (no, not the Dept. Of Defense; but Dear Old Dad) "flew west" on Saturday evening, Feb. 25th. I say "mixed feelings" because although he'll be sorely missed, he died as he wanted: in his own home, in his own bed, and he just slipped away while napping. As Walter Matthau said in "Grumpy Old Men", when informed of a friend's passing in the same way, "That lucky bastard." I also have mixed feelings because as you may not know, he'd been moved into an independent-assisted living facility in November, after falling at home and my sister had to come over at 3:00 a.m. to help me get him back in bed. Well, just as no good deed goes unpunished, he refused to see the necessity of such a move, and was even more cantankerous after that (especially towards my sister and me, the Demon Spawn who took him there). Armed with a cell-phone and a long roster of friends, he moved himself back home several weeks later. Predictably enough, he suffered several more falls, resulting in a hospital stay and a couple of weeks in a convalescent hospital. He was discharged home just three days before he died, so he got his last wish.

Per his wishes, there was no funeral; however, a Celebration Of Life was held yesterday at Rancho Murieta Airport in Sloughouse, CA (S.E. of Rancho Cordova), where he used to hangar his airplanes (two C-170B tail-draggers). Nothing stuffy; he'd've hated that! It was a nice catered BBQ, with photos (1923-onwards), memorabilia, and fond and funny memories shared by about 50 friends and family members.

Bye, Dad -- and thanks for NOT being my friend until after I was all grown up. You sure got a lot smarter when I was 21 than you were when I was 18.

Mit Luff,
Nancy
Y.D.D., T.S.O.
(Your Darling Daughter, The Smart One)

PS: You Vespa owners won't be surprised to hear that he flew his airplanes until he was nearly 90! .

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:34 pm
by Bruce Fenstermacher
Well nuts.

I guess Dick really won't be emailing or calling me asking for his password to be reset. Seems we communicated about every 3 months with his request for a new password. Dam computer forgot it he'd complain. Last I heard from Dick late in 2016 he was giving up his membership. Said it was getting to hard to get online. But I always held out he'd call and ask for a new password.

Might have to burn some MOGAS with ethanol in my airplane this weekend just for Dick. I'll think about it anyway.

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:11 pm
by johneeb
What a shame, we are all better for knowing Dick. Like Bruce I will go fly in Dick's honor and use my Tractor Store battery to start the engine.

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:34 pm
by daedaluscan
I enjoyed his posts. Sometimes I can't help feeling that the planet's total available volume of common sense is dying off one old guy at a time. I guess what happens is that the world slowly changes around you until you just cannot deal with it anymore.

He owned aeroplanes and Vespas. Lucky man.

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:28 am
by Ryan Smith
I had been curious of his absence, fearful that maybe he'd passed. His posts here were always a joy to read.

Blue skies, Dick. We're all better off for having been graced by you.

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:22 am
by DaveF
I assume you have closely checked your wind up clock in the instrument panel. They do a lot of ticking.

Bootlegger that I am, if I wanted that exhaust, I'd get one, install it, and forget it. If anyone asked id just say it had always been there.

Show me an inspector who knows just exactly what an original panel is supposed to looked like.

Maybe some of those bugs were slow flyers with some lead in their butt.

If that engine was mine, I wouldn't be concerned about the legality of that engine on that airplane or spending any money for a STC. I'll bet there isn't one piece of FUZZ living that is ever going to check on it. It has probably been on one or another C-170 for sixty years or more.

I can'i imagine a real aviator that would stop flying just to get married, have a child, and buy a bouse. What kind of a aviator would even think of buying a house before he even had a airplane?

MOGAS !!! The only way to go !!! Local Price of 87 oct. today $1.78/gal. at Costco. That's the stuff that makes them hummers really hum !

I think he's the guy running the weed eater on the IAA airport work parties in Idaho.

In my considered opinion (I don't have any humble opinions left) the only way to really determine the useable fuel amount is to fly the airplane on one tamk, with the skid ball centered, until the engine quits, then note the amount required to top it up again.

What the hell? I thought the pilot lounge is where we go to shoot the you know what!

I found slop between the tail spring and spacer in my airplane the first time I worked on the tail wheel. I cut out a piece of a tin food can and fitted it between the two and it was the perfect thickness to provide a tight fit.

Bruce says that helicopters don't have gascolators! I knew there must be something wrong with them.

For gods sake tell George quickly and very briefly what Goat heads are or he will look it up and will write one helluva long page about them!

My impeccable source informs me there is also an internal memo floating among the FUZZ advising them to also get down on their backs under all C-170s and check that no one has illegally installed a spring loaded sump drain valve in their fuel selector drain plug hole. I expect to see heads roll and baskets of tickets lifted.

... more ...

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:46 am
by mit
Well I think I just had a bit of a tear roll down my face :(

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:00 am
by Bruce Fenstermacher
Thanks for collecting those Dave. Dick is unfortunately only one of several witty friends I've lost this year.

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:19 pm
by n3833v
Blue skies Dick, as we will miss you. I always enjoy advice and quips from people that have had much more experience than I.

John

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 3:30 am
by nippaero
Nice job collecting those Dave. I didn’t know Dick but by reading those quips, he sounds like someone I would have liked. Condolences to his family.

Re: Dick Lemmon - gone West

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 2:42 pm
by GAHorn
He often gave me the thrashing that many of you thought I deserved. I loved the guy.
blueldr wrote:Hey Del, tell George that it's only when you see a mosquito landing on your testicles that you realize that there is always a way to solve problems without using violence.