I bought a plane from this guy once.

[tawood]

Back in the early '90s, when I was still just in my 20's, I bought a beautifully-built experimental aircraft from a little, quiet, unassuming old guy that had lost his medical. The plane was a tri-q2 built by the guy I bought it from, and it really was beautiful: the guy sold it with the builder's log, and it took him over 10 years to build it during his retirement, working nearly every day. He actually used a laser to help him smooth the fiberglass, and every surface on this plane was smooth as glass. He said he thought his plane was the fastest, most fuel efficient tri-q2 ever built, and he may have been right. I routinely flight planned for an easy 140 knots with the VW conversion motor, burning only like 5gph. Cracked wide open I would see almost 170.
Funny thing was, when I bought the plane, I had no knowledge of the guy other than he was the builder of the plane. A few months after the purchase, I happened to look at the cover of one of my latest aviation magazines to come in the mail, and there pictured was the guy who sold me the plane! His name was Walt Halloran, and he was a semi-well-known WWII photographer and Korea/Vietnam pilot.
Well like I said, this was back in the early '90s, and I remember Walt seemed very old then...I just found this article that he had just passed away. Below that is another article on Walt from 2014, with footage of one of his famous WWII movie shots.

http://www.startribune.com/walter-h...ii-scenes-for-posterity-dies-at-95/499871841/

http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/June-2014/Ripple-Effect-Photographing-Normandy-Beach-at-D-day/

 

[Bill]

Outstanding tribute, another of the greatest generation passes on.

 

[Stan Cooper]

What a great story about a remarkable hero. Thank you for sharing the part about buying his Q2.

 

[Fallsrider]

It sounds like you ended up with a really good airplane from a really good man. I'm sorry to hear that he is gone.

 

[texasclouds]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[ETres]

Yes, thanks much for sharing! Stories like yours make the time I waste on the Internet worthwhile.

 

[tawood]

Me with the plane, probably about 1994 or so.



The plane is still flying (out of South Carolina), and I'm Facebook friends with the guy that owns it now. It was actually crashed by the guy I sold it to, who then sold it for parts to the current owner, and was then rebuilt.