Goodbye to a Friend

[Amir Neshati]

Wow, what a shocker!.....I bought my first pattern plane from Whip in the
early '90s.
Went to my first contest in Fresno, where we both flew in the same class. He
was more
than magnanimous before, during and after the contest with his calming
(believe it or
not ;-) guidance.....I flew a lot of practice flights along with Whip and
had many laughs.

He gave for just the joy of giving (even if it was a hard time;-) and did it
well...In our
earlier days of friendship,  every time I saw him at the field, he told me
that I  should get
into pattern. Well, I guess I was Whipped into pattern....

Finding judges is always hard. He always called me to see if I needed him to
judge
when the time came....and would always be at the field on contest weekend
willing
to do anything to help, along with his sweet wife Lorrie. Bob and Lorrie did
a lot for
pattern and IMAC in our area, quietly.

He was my favorite caller at contests....he once called the first maneuver
of the Masters
sequence "Square roll with 4 half loops." ...Another time he called the
triangular
rolling loop in three different variations, FAST, and none right, so he
abruptly said,
"Just do the right maneuver"......At another contest I did a figure M with
3/4 rolls
up and down. Well, I rolled the wrong way on the down line and continued to
roll
smoothly an extra 1/2 roll, pushed into the second vertical and finished the
maneuver.
After the flight, he came up to me and told me, "I think you need to speed
up your
aileron rates. You used too much of the down line to roll and got too close
to the ground."
When I told me I rolled the wrong way, he realized I'll never let him forget
giving me
an 8 on it....

Too many great memories to list, he will be missed. He was truly genuine!

One sad Amir.







> For those of you who have not heard. I have some very sad news. I received
> word that early yesterday morning Nov 5, Bob Whitacre passed away from a
> heart attack.
>
> This past Saturday Nov 1 Bob was the host and CD of a pattern contest at
the
> Hollister Flying field in Northern California.
>
> Bob was a very special guy. For some of you that don't know....I was
located
> in San Jose for 3 months this past spring. Bob was my flying buddy, coach,
> and friend for that time. I must say that I owe much of the success that I
> have had flying this year to Bob. I have never known anyone that would
come
> out with me at 9am and leave at 3pm  4 days a week. Bob would just sit in
> his chair and coach. In most cases he would not even take his plane out of
> the car. He was thrilled and enthused to just help me with my flying. He
was
> content to just spend time working with me. Top this off with the fact
that
> when I left the area I thanked him for the help..His comment was "Hell I
> learned more watching you do it than I could have ever learned flying
> myself"
>
> Bob was somewhat active here on the list and I know that there are at
least
> 6-7 pilots in the San Jose area that Bob was mentoring. Bob was truly a
> special guy that loved playing with our toy airplanes. He will surely be
> missed by all that knew him.
>
> To his wife Lorrie and all you guys in the group out there...Jenny and I
> send our thoughts and prayers.
>
> Thanks Bob. You have made a lasting impression on me.  I will never forget
> you.....Its all 10's now my friend.
>
>
> Troy Newman
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