Tron Guy was back on America's Got Talent

mikea said:
We discussed this with Jay here. He's not an idiot. He knows they're laughing - not behind his back, in his face. He's OK with it.

What I admire in him is how comfortable he is in his own skin.
Click to expand...
Very true. I would never have the courage to do what he is doing, which is to allow himself to be publicly mocked. As Mike says, Jay knows what he is doing and is having a great time doing it. What you do not see is Jay laughing at the people that laugh at him.
 
I've also known Jay a long time (indirectly via ham radio and computer stuff), unless he lost his Jay mojo, he's always been one of those folks who even if you disagree with him, he's comfortable with his opinions and doesn't let other's view of him change his view of himself.

Never really crossed paths with him in aviation though, he was more active during the eight years that I was out, than now that I'm back in.

Jay was involved in some awful stuff between hams in frequency coordination battles that led to lawsuits in Texas. No one "won" in those battles, ultimately. Videos of people screaming at others, etc. All of it posted on the Net for the world to see, since it was the early days of that kind of "personal video coverage".

Solidified my opinion that the sun and heat and humidity does something to Texan's brains. :) :) :) (Just kidding... Y'all.)

Felt sorry for both sides from afar... both sides had solid reasons for being mad.

Also solidified my opinion that being on volunteer Boards of Directors is a HUGE liability risk, after seeing the dollar amounts listed in those lawsuits.
 
Diana said:
:D Since Wayne Bower isn't around to give me grief anymore, I guess it's up to you now. :D
Click to expand...

You know, I just realized he's not been around for a while. Did he decide that he'd had enough of us blue people? I miss his banter.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You know, I just realized he's not been around for a while. Did he decide that he'd had enough of us blue people? I miss his banter.
Click to expand...
I think Jay got kinda fed up with the many posts lambasting the Zodiac and his decision to purchase one.
 
gismo said:
I think Jay got kinda fed up with the many posts lambasting the Zodiac and his decision to purchase one.
Click to expand...

My question was in reference to Wayne Bower - Jay and I have talked about why he's not been around, and doesn't expect to be.
 
gismo said:
I think Jay got kinda fed up with the many posts lambasting the Zodiac and his decision to purchase one.
Click to expand...
I think Ted was asking about Wayne.

I agree about Jay, though. He might not have been sensitive about his Tron suit but he was sensitive about his airplane. It's probably understandable since I think he paid quite a bit for it and watched its value plummet with all the problems they were having with that design. I think the airplane paint scheme matched the Tron suit. In fact I think he took delivery of it in his Tron suit.
 
Everskyward said:
I think Ted was asking about Wayne.
Click to expand...

I was! :)

I agree about Jay, though. He might not have been sensitive about his Tron suit but he was sensitive about his airplane. It's probably understandable since I think he paid quite a bit for it and watched its value plummet with all the problems they were having with that design.
Click to expand...

While that may have been part of it, but I believe there were some other factors.

I think the airplane paint scheme matched the Tron suit. In fact I think he took delivery of it in his Tron suit.
Click to expand...

It did, and the colors match it quite well. I don't know if he showed up to the factory in the Tron suit, but he did have at least a few delivery photos, see an article in Wired about his picking up the plane:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/tron-guy-takes/
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You know, I just realized he's not been around for a while. Did he decide that he'd had enough of us blue people? I miss his banter.
Click to expand...

Wayne is not posting much, if any, on the red or purple boards either. He was in the mountains for a month or so and had limited internet access. When he got back home, he didn't get back into the forums like he had been prior to his trip...not sure why. I miss having him around.
 
Diana said:
Wayne is not posting much, if any, on the red or purple boards either. He was in the mountains for a month or so and had limited internet access. When he got back home, he didn't get back into the forums like he had been prior to his trip...not sure why. I miss having him around.
Click to expand...

I miss having him around, too.
 
I never thought the suit was that big a deal, lots of folks dress funny for science fiction conventions and stuff, Jay is just far, far more successful at it. If I were going to do the spandex thing I would hit the gym hard, so he obviously has more of something or less of something else than me.

I never agreed with him about much, but he was always a gentleman, more so than me. I think we were critical of the Zodiak, but I think that's because he really jumped on the Sport Pilot bandwagon quite early. In retrospect, I think the negative reaction might have been more to the SP than anything else, as a group we tend to be fairly conservative about aviation.

I really hope things turn out well for him.
 
steingar said:
I never agreed with him about much, but he was always a gentleman, more so than me. I think we were critical of the Zodiak, but I think that's because he really jumped on the Sport Pilot bandwagon quite early. In retrospect, I think the negative reaction might have been more to the SP than anything else, as a group we tend to be fairly conservative about aviation.
Click to expand...

Despite the issues the Zodiac had, I always considered Jay to be an excellent example of the potential of the LSA. I know a lot of IFR pilots with certified aircraft who didn't fly their planes as much, as far, and as competently as Jay managed to. It had panel that in many ways was better than my Aztec's, definitely a much nicer autopilot. Aside from flying the long way home, he took it to 6Y9, Gaston's, and a host of other places - all VFR. And it had an O-200 in it, so it had a "real" aviation engine with a very nice engine monitoring package that most of us would be thrilled to have the capabilities of.

Most of the other LSAs I've seen haven't left me thinking very highly of the potential and future of the LSA.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
It had panel that in many ways was better than my Aztec's, definitely a much nicer autopilot. Aside from flying the long way home, he took it to 6Y9, Gaston's, and a host of other places - all VFR. And it had an O-200 in it, so it had a "real" aviation engine with a very nice engine monitoring package that most of us would be thrilled to have the capabilities of.
Click to expand...

Actually, I thought the panel was way over the top for something that was supposed to be a daytime-only VFR aircraft. I'm thinking only in terms of how I would handle an ownership experience monetarily. I saw from the beginning that there was no way that Jay would ever recoup the investment from those avionics. And flying within the SP rules, there was no way he could use them. Sorry, for Jay I felt that the avionics were a poor investment, and I turned out correct.

That said, it is really cool all the places he took it and all the things he did. Again, I am very sorry things went so far south for him, and hope that they don't stay so.
 
the panel was quite useful even for VFR flying. he used the Zodiac as a travelling machine.

IIRC the plane was not a daytime only VFR aircraft. It was perfectly legal for night and IFR flying, as long as the pilot held a private and instrument rating, as appropriate.
 
tonycondon said:
the panel was quite useful even for VFR flying. he used the Zodiac as a travelling machine.

IIRC the plane was not a daytime only VFR aircraft. It was perfectly legal for night and IFR flying, as long as the pilot held a private and instrument rating, as appropriate.
Click to expand...
That is correct, it was IFR certified.
 
tonycondon said:
the panel was quite useful even for VFR flying. he used the Zodiac as a travelling machine.

IIRC the plane was not a daytime only VFR aircraft. It was perfectly legal for night and IFR flying, as long as the pilot held a private and instrument rating, as appropriate.
Click to expand...

Except that Jay wasn't rated for such and had no active plans to go that way. Again, I think it ill-advised to spend that kind of money on what-if. The purposes of VFR flight would have easily been served with a handheld GPS and little more.

And again, only my thoughts. Like I said, I truly hope things look up for Jay.
 
steingar said:
Except that Jay wasn't rated for such and had no active plans to go that way. Again, I think it ill-advised to spend that kind of money on what-if. The purposes of VFR flight would have easily been served with a handheld GPS and little more.
Click to expand...

In talking with Jay, his hope was that they'd eliminate the need for the third class medical for private pilots. At that point, he could go for his IR.

Jay spent a lot of time practicing instrument procedures, doing lots of instrument approaches of all sorts, both on autopilot and not. It was fun for him, expanded his knowledge (even as a VFR pilot), and he liked to go flying and bore holes in the sky anyway.

While you are correct that his basic needs could've been fulfilled with a handheld GPS, he did use both of them for different purposes in his situational awareness, and made extensive use of all the tools he had in his plane. The reality is most pilots need significantly less in the way of avionics and instruments than they have. So is it bad for anyone who buys something nicer than a KLN90B? Or should we just all fly /U, since that's all most of us need anyway?
 
dmccormack said:
Or even /X?

:D
Click to expand...

Hey, I'll fly with a compass and a stopwatch! But I'm much happier with a 530. :)

The nicest airplane I fly, the Navajo, actually has a pretty basic avionics stack for what it is. KLN90B, KX155, old HSI, and a nice ADF. The radar and stormscope are the nicest features on it, but the 310 I fly has a much nicer panel.

That said, the stormscope and radar in the Navajo were very nice flying in uncontrolled airspace in Canada with storms.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Hey, I'll fly with a compass and a stopwatch! But I'm much happier with a 530. :)

The nicest airplane I fly, the Navajo, actually has a pretty basic avionics stack for what it is. KLN90B, KX155, old HSI, and a nice ADF. The radar and stormscope are the nicest features on it, but the 310 I fly has a much nicer panel.

That said, the stormscope and radar in the Navajo were very nice flying in uncontrolled airspace in Canada with storms.
Click to expand...

Oh, I appreciate a 430 and a StormScope with XM WX on a handheld -- really makes IMC flying far less risky in a SEL.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
In talking with Jay, his hope was that they'd eliminate the need for the third class medical for private pilots. At that point, he could go for his IR.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and I'm hoping to buy a new Corvalis, but it's actually far more likely that I'll do that than the FAA will drop the class III. Sorry, I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a long shot hope like that. Sure he used all that, I argue he didn't need it at for the flying he did.

Like I said, I hope things look up for him and he can get back into the game. He certainly is a nice guy.
 
SkyHog said:
Seeing how opposed to motorcycles he was, this could be what it takes to turn him to the 2 wheeled darkside!
Click to expand...

i can't remember if he was really that opposed to motorcycles or just didn't take kindly to being called a Cager
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top