I lived in Tarzana the same time Peter Garrison lived there. I didn't know him then and don't know him now, but I've certainly come to appreciate his writing in the ensuing years. Mr. Garrison was hanging around with the Rutans and John Thorpe and Ladislow Pazmany (life member of my EAA Chapter here in San Diego, Chapter 14) back then and building his first Melmoth. He kept Melmoth at Whiteman, same place where Sparky had his hangar next to John Thorpe. Garrison flew Melmoth around the world several times before a true Orange County clown landed a 172 on top of him in the run-up area at John Wayne. He built another one and currently keeps it at Whiteman, just as he did his first one. Both planes carried enough fuel to go 3000 miles. A lot of us on KRNET are old enough to remember the Melmoth days and probably, as I do, look forward to reading Garrison's columns in Flying every month. Some months, his writing is about all there is in that magazine that's worth reading . . . but usually not. I still like Flying Magazine. Garrison often writes both the "Aftermath" column and the "Technicalities" column. I learn something new every time I read him.
I can't remember if I've mentioned it earlier - probably have - but in August 2014 he wrote one the best pieces I've ever read by him. It was titled "The Importance of Being Lost". It's free to read, no subscription necessary. Here's the link below. As with all of the topics that come up on this forum, some netters will be interested in some things, especially things pertaining to building, and others will be interested in more general aviation topics. Garrison's articles touch upon both since he's not only a builder extraordinaire but also a historian and writer with a wide-ranging aviation-inclined mind. I'm posting the link to that article here in case somebody has a few minutes to read some really first rate aviation writing. http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/proficiency/importance-being-lost If Juno breaks the link please just take the space out - either that or Google the title of the article and it'll come right up. His subject in this excellent article is a pilot named Jack Knight. Jack Knight flew the mail many years before Lindbergh ever climbed into a cockpit and I am really inspired by the lives of people like Knight and the kind of flying they did back when airplanes were such crude and dangerous contraptions. Just about everything was out to get you back then. Death was around every corner in those days and the pilots who flew back then rarely let weather get in their way. How ironic that Jack Knight, after surviving every deadly trick the sky and primitive equipment could throw at him, died in bed of malaria he picked up while scouting a route in South America. Garrison doesn't tell us that part, but he does mention one of the best aviation books I've ever read. West With the Night by Beryl Markham. I came across that one in the mid 80's and have recommended it to people ever since, just as I have Robert Buck's autobiography North Star Over my Shoulder. Both of these books are supreme examples of aviation writing. For anyone who hasn't read this Garrison piece, you will enjoy it I think. And it's true - it really is important to experience being lost. It's such a rare event these days . . . almost impossible really. Beryl Markham's prescient quote in Garrison's article really accurately predicted what navigation has become. Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ Fast, Secure, NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband. Try it. http://www.netzero.net/?refcd=NZINTISP0512T4GOUT2
