LDJones Gone West

RyanB

RyanB

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Ryan
RyanB said:
It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of @LDJones. He was involved in a gyrocopter accident on Sunday and lost his life. Blue skies and tailwinds Loren, we’ll miss you!

www.keyc.com

UPDATE: Pilot dies following gyrocopter crash in Minnesota River near St. Peter

Authorities arrived at the Minnesota River after reports of an aircraft crashing into the water.
www.keyc.com www.keyc.com
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Damn!
I never met him but I always enjoyed his posts. I was wondering a while back why he hasn't posted much recently.
RIP Loren! :(
 
Man that sucks. Was he the fellow who was a lawyer, retired, and then flew for the airlines?
 
One of my favorite POA threads of all time:

www.pilotsofamerica.com

When dreams come true... (long)

As a little kid (age 3 to be exact) a Northwest Airlines captain gave a presentation about flying to my Sunday School class. I was fascinated. He handed out postcards with a C-150 that I had pinned on my bedroom wall all my growing up years. My dreams were dashed when I needed glasses in...
www.pilotsofamerica.com www.pilotsofamerica.com
 
Oh man I hate to hear that. I remember when he jumped careers to the regionals. A pay cut from being a lawyer but he loved it. RIP and blue skies.
 
JOhnH said:
One of my favorite POA threads of all time:

www.pilotsofamerica.com

When dreams come true... (long)

As a little kid (age 3 to be exact) a Northwest Airlines captain gave a presentation about flying to my Sunday School class. I was fascinated. He handed out postcards with a C-150 that I had pinned on my bedroom wall all my growing up years. My dreams were dashed when I needed glasses in...
www.pilotsofamerica.com www.pilotsofamerica.com
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Oh no! Now I remember who he was. :(

We were the same age, and he was just starting his career while I was ending mine. Glad he was able to live his dream.
 
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This is almost unbearably sad. I just found out that our friend, Loren, whom we've known for many years, was killed Sunday flying his beloved gyrocopter near his home in Minnesota.

Loren was one of a kind. An attorney by trade, he went back and became an airline pilot in his 50s! He flew the line for several years, and most recently was training to fly 737s.

He loved teaching folks to fly, but most recently got into gyrocopters in a big way, working closely with the company that made the kit he built last winter. I've never seen a guy so happy as Loren was flying demo flights at Oshkosh this year. He was like a kid in a candy store!

Always there with a witty remark, and/or sage advice, Loren was one of those guys you could see once every 3 years and pick up right where you had left off, without skipping a beat. He was truly one of the good guys in the world.

This pic is from when he and his wife came to visit us in Port Aransas, Texas back in 2016, and we had a grand time. I feel terrible for his family.

Please join me in facing West as we raise a glass to our friend, Loren. Gone too soon.
--
Jay & Mary
4d9b95a0f060e12fefe7808ef10db267.jpg


Sent from my SM-X200 using Tapatalk
 
JOhnH said:
One of my favorite POA threads of all time:

www.pilotsofamerica.com

When dreams come true... (long)

As a little kid (age 3 to be exact) a Northwest Airlines captain gave a presentation about flying to my Sunday School class. I was fascinated. He handed out postcards with a C-150 that I had pinned on my bedroom wall all my growing up years. My dreams were dashed when I needed glasses in...
www.pilotsofamerica.com www.pilotsofamerica.com
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Agree.
:frown:
 
JOhnH said:
One of my favorite POA threads of all time:

www.pilotsofamerica.com

When dreams come true... (long)

As a little kid (age 3 to be exact) a Northwest Airlines captain gave a presentation about flying to my Sunday School class. I was fascinated. He handed out postcards with a C-150 that I had pinned on my bedroom wall all my growing up years. My dreams were dashed when I needed glasses in...
www.pilotsofamerica.com www.pilotsofamerica.com
Click to expand...
Mine, too! I went back and reread some of his posts. I never knew the guy personally, but his enthusiasm for aviation is/was motivating.

Really sad spate of accidents lately. :sad:
 
denverpilot said:
…(Yeah I’m still alive.)
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That’s a good thing; haven’t heard anything in a while and was just thinking about you when midlifeflyer mentioned he was going to be back in your neck of the woods shortly.
 
This is so sad to hear. We both had similar paths, making the transition from lawyer to airline pilot. It was fun swapping emails comparing our training and path to bigger metal. Rest easy Loren.
 
Just goes to show that the siren call of low and slow can bite anyone. Hate that they're saying it was a wire strike. I scared myself 12-15 or so years ago on a "fun" flight in a Cub, and I've often been grateful that particular flight wasn't the last, and it makes me very wary of that environment.
 
Dayum. Never met him im person, always enjoyed his contributions. Particularly his jump into the airline industry at irrc 57 was fascinating to follow.
 
Yeah, this is sad. I'm glad he shared his story here, and glad he followed his dream.
 
Showed us how to follow our dreams. I’m honored to have raised a beer with him outside of Ohare with a few other PoAers as he was starting off at the airlines.

Tailwinds, Loren.
 
Wow:(. I met him and his wife for dinner several years ago in MSP when I was at endeavor. Great guy. Definitely will be missed.
 
Oh wow - just saw this. Absolutely terrible to hear. :(
 
Loren was my CFI back when I got my PPL at Humming Bird Aviation on KFCM field. I didn't find out about his passing till this last Sunday night when I watched the Probable Cause: Dan Gryder new video on YouTube that just came out a few hours before I clicked play. At 9:47 of the video it had a list of crashes for the last week or so. That clip only lasted a few seconds but I caught Lorens name right before it moved on. I quickly moved back the video and posed it. I looked on in disbelief as I read his Name, Age, N-Number and Cause of accident. I just couldn't believe it but then I ran a google search and confirmed it was Loren. We just talked a few day before his accident and were getting ready to start my IFR training once I get my 182 back from some small avionics upgrades. Loren was an incredible human and even better Aviator. Flights with him, training or just for fun were always a blast and I always learned something from him every time we went up. Even had the pleaser this last year of flying with him and his wife up to Fargo to drop something off to his son. He had an amazing family too. He was everything you could ask for in a flight instructor. Wish I could have got one more flight with him. He will be deeply missed by many.

Until our Lord calls me home too, Thanks for everything & Blue Skies & Tail Winds Loren
 
Loren was before my time here, so this thread is the first I heard of him. Flying Midwest Podcast posted an interview with him this week that they did at Oshkosh. He was the primary instructor to one of the hosts and they interviewed him about his path, passion for instruction, and latest obsession with gyros. I could definitely hear how his enthusiasm would be infectious. It was also hard to listen to him talk about the fun he was having flying down low, knowing what happened. The rest of the podcast is a great listen and a good introduction to an aviator who left us too soon.
 
Darn lots of good people die in this hobby/profession. Sometimes you just lose. He was an inspiration….i adore the post referenced above to retire into aviation….. my dream in the next few years as i am 46. This makes me sad and i feel for his family and friends……
 
So sad to hear/read this.
RIP, Loren. I really enjoyed following his posts and progress.
(Like DenverPilot above, I'm still around occasionally, as well).
Greg
 
mark.staggs said:
Mine, too! I went back and reread some of his posts. I never knew the guy personally, but his enthusiasm for aviation is/was motivating.

Really sad spate of accidents lately. :sad:
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I loved that post. Like you, I never had the pleasure of meeting Loren, but I would have liked to. RIP.
 
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