What's Up - June 2014

A Very Heavy Heart!

By Larry Shapiro

This was the first column I was not going to write. Other than one sentence that would have read something like… goodbye, Eddie, I can’t image my life without you. After losing Eddie Andreini during an airshow last month, I thought a blank column would be appropriate as nothing else seemed to be more important than the fact that Eddie was a huge influence on my life, and the hole he has left in the fabric of my life can’t be fixed. I was thinking it would be a written moment of silence.

However, after attending his funeral and visiting with other airshow heroes like Eddie and then being with Eddie’s wife, I knew he would not be happy with my feelings. He lived and died “his” way, and he would not want me to sit around my office using up a box of tissues. So, I’ll keep it simple, business as usual, hangar flying as usual, and telling Eddie stories for the rest of my life. I owe Eddie almost everything good that happened to me in my airshow life and for all the great Italian food we shared.

By the way, I would guess I was surrounding by at least 1,500 other friends and fans that came from all over the world to share their love for Eddie. The frosting on the cake was the four P-51s doing a missing man fly over. Eddie would have liked that, but only if he was leading the flight.

I’m trying to imagine all of his regular shows being held without him. I’m trying to imagine the community of Half Moon Bay now having a lot less to talk about without any Eddie stories. Cheer up folks… I’ll come over the hill and do something dumb and you can talk about that.

If you didn’t see Eddie perform, words won’t help; if you didn’t experience his smile up close, I can’t duplicate that; and if you never had an intimate dinner with Eddie, don’t worry, no one did.  

Chemistry

So now I pose the question… what part of buying an airplane does chemistry actually play: maybe a little, maybe a lot, or maybe not at all?  More about this next month… and if you have some thoughts about this, I’m listening.

As recently as yesterday, I was showing a 182 to a couple and before I took too many s… it wasn’t open for discussion… so red was out and blue was in! And that’s what they bought, da blue one. It took two months for us to finally meet toe-to-toe and only two hours for them to buy an airplane. Yes, that was a record and now I’ll probably retire. It won’t happen that fast again and it won’t be someone as nice.

As to the chemistry, I’ve heard, “Aaaah, I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel right.”   Or, on the other hand, “This airplane speaks to me. I know it’s the right one, I can just feel it.”  Until I find otherwise, I’m going to keep “chemistry” on the table for a while longer.

Ten Years Ago I wrote: The View From Above

So often when giving a scenic airplane ride, I refer to the experience as seeing the beauty without the beast. The trees without the traffic, the colors without the smells, but it all comes down, or maybe I should say up, to the perspective of the viewer.

Four perspectives come to mind as I write these thoughts, four completely different views all out the same windows.

After a major and tragic earthquake some years back, I experienced a large volume of telephone calls from many of those of the cloth. Clergy from many different faiths all wanted to see the earthquake damage from above the rubble. When I asked why, which you might expect me to do, their answers were as different as their faiths. One wanted to feel closer to the Lord above; another told me he felt he could tend to his religious flock and comfort them better by seeing and feeling the actual damage first hand. The bottom line was that they all needed their own personal point of reference to try to explain why G-d, or whatever you might want to call the one mightier than the rest of us, would let something like a major earthquake happen. Either way, I was touched and grateful that I could help just by the fact that I was a pilot.

On a lighter side, local municipalities sometimes use the view from above as a way to direct and control traffic, and to do head counts at major events or attractions. We all know that local news agencies and law enforcement use the view from above for their own needs. Notice I didn’t mention speeding tickets?

From the health side of this picture, we present to you the environment. Yep, the good old place we all live in and in doing so, we either breathe it in or we mess it up. The view from above is a great tool for checking our rivers and streams, our mountains and valleys, and of course, our little villages.  Please don’t ask me what we’re looking for. I don’t really know.

And finally, the $$$ reason for the view from above: Real Estate. Yes, those wonderful folks that wear the expensive clothes, drive fancy leased cars, and have phones glued to their ears 24/7 have found that small airplanes are one of the best ways to show off the neighborhood.

Just think about it, they can see the schools, the parks, the malls, and all those elements one needs to know before taking on another mortgage.

Of course the commercial buyers want to see traffic flow, competition, and potential for growth and anything else they may have missed. Either way, we’ve had a chance to think about other views other than that of the pilot.

The View Across The Fence

Since we’ve looked at the view from above, how about a view from just across the fence? You know the fence I’m talking about, the one that separates us from the grass that is always greener. Most of us know that that’s really not the case. Once again, it’s that darn perspective. On a daily basis, I meet folks that want to trade jobs with me. They truly believe that there is some romantic aura working in aviation. These are not guys who are digging ditches everyday in the hot sun, these are educated professionals who have great paying air conditioned jobs and careers and yet, they want to walk away from their cubicles and join those of us who struggle daily to makes ends meet just to say they’re in the aviation business.

Phrases such as, “I hate my job!” are common during these exchanges. I wonder if they hear that word, “job?” I wish I had time and space to share my story on loving the grass on the other side of the fence that ends with, “Yes, but then you were a tourist.” Jobs are called jobs because that is what they are.  Jobs mean work and that’s why hobbies aren’t called jobs. So many of the non-flying community see aviation as a hobby and don’t get the fact that it’s a 24/7 commitment, well, ours is.

On Final

I’d like to end this month’s column on a cheery and happy note. Its going to be an uphill battle with the emotions I’m giving space to from the loss of a major piece of the fabric of my life and in our world of aviation. I can’t forget that its Father’s Day this month, something Eddie was. He was also an amazing Grandfather. I wish I had the magic words to help his family through this holiday.

There are so many other stories banging on our heads from all over the world. We’re still looking for a 777 that has been missing for so long I almost forgot about it, but now I’m thinking about the family and friends of the passengers aboard that airplane. I choose to go with the story that “aliens” took it… somehow that’s easier to pallet.

If you’re bored and need to get away, why not join me down in La Paz and we’ll fish and do a lot of hangar flying. If you put together some friends and a few airplanes, we’ll make it a party. The flight down to La Paz is one of the most beautiful flights you will ever experience. 

Until next time…

That’s Thirty! 

  “Over”

About the writer: Larry Shapiro is an aircraft broker, aviation humorist, and fulltime grandfather of three.

He’d love to have you share your thoughts and ideas for future articles. Palo Alto Airport Office: 650-424-1801 or Larry@LarryShapiro.com