{"id":3464,"date":"2015-07-17T20:19:26","date_gmt":"2015-07-18T03:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=3464"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","slug":"134-steve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/134-steve\/","title":{"rendered":"#134 Steve"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lately, I\u2019ve been working on a small number of articles that deal with individuals I know.\u00a0 Now, everyone I know, whether curmudgeon or generous gregarian, has redeeming qualities.\u00a0 But some are just overflowing with those qualities.\u00a0 From time to time, I\u2019ll post these little vignettes and I\u2019m going to start off with this one for obvious reasons. \u00a0I should point out that one potential subject for such an article\u00a0was given a chance to proof his, in order to make sure I got the facts right. \u00a0But his humility was too much for him and he told me that he’d rather I not post it. \u00a0I’ve learned my lesson, so ol’ Steve hasn’t been consulted. \u00a0 B.L.<\/em><\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many years ago I was working off an airport that was midsized.\u00a0 It had a control tower and about three or four \u201cFixed Base Operators\u201d or companies that offered aircraft maintenance, fuel and flight instruction.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0I\u2019d heard of a guy named Steve, who didn\u2019t have a shop.\u00a0 Steve was a licensed mechanic, but worked out of his pickup truck.\u00a0 He\u2019d go where your airplane was and do repairs or required inspections. \u00a0Some of the outfits on the airport didn\u2019t like him.\u00a0 To them, he was a \u201cscab\u201d or a \u201cGyppo\u201d and some of them had\u00a0done a pretty good job of besmirching his reputation.<\/h3>\n

My Cub was tied down outside on the ramp in front of a couple of those companies.\u00a0 One morning, I went out to my airplane to find a shocking site:\u00a0 Someone had evidently backed a vehicle up and smacked my Cub.\u00a0 The lift struts on one side were bent in where they\u2019d been struck.\u00a0 I was bummed.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like I could afford to run right out and buy new struts!<\/h3>\n

No one at those maintenance operations had called me to let me know it happened.\u00a0 No one at those outfits came out to see if they could be of any help while I was analyzing the damage.\u00a0 But as I was examining one of my bent struts I heard a vehicle drive up.\u00a0 I turned to see an old truck pulling up next to me.\u00a0 The driver got out.\u00a0 He was a slender, fit guy with a no-nonsense air about him.\u00a0 Craggy features made him seem perhaps a little more stern than he turned out to be.\u00a0 He introduced himself.\u00a0 It was Steve.\u00a0 Steve never once said that he could fix it.\u00a0 Instead, he suggested all the ways in which I could render the aircraft airworthy again.\u00a0 Although he offered advice, he never once solicited my business.\u00a0 His advice was valuable and his timing couldn\u2019t have been better.<\/h3>\n
\"Shady<\/a>
It’s now a family affair. Son Brian has joined Steve and wife Joan pitches in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Years have passed since that day.\u00a0 In those years, I\u2019ve watched Steve grow slowly from a pile of tools in the back of a pickup to a nice shop with an endless line of customers.\u00a0 During those years he helped me rebuild that Cub.\u00a0 His son, Brian, \u00a0helped us build a trailer in which to haul it to airshows. Brian has now graduated from trailer manufacturing and is a fine mechanic in his own right.<\/h3>\n
\"Shady<\/a>
A natural teacher, Steve helps a customer try a different prop on her plane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Steve\u2019s no-nonsense approach to aircraft maintenance and customer service have endeared him to untold numbers of airplane owners.\u00a0 But one lesson from Steve has been taken to heart by this old flying squirrel:\u00a0 To paraphrase Forest Gump, \u201cgood people is as good people does\u201d.\u00a0 Steve\u2019s deeds have far outdone any besmirching of his reputation by folks who are not even in business anymore.\u00a0 Just ask those people who are lined up outside his door.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Happy Swooping!<\/h3>\n

Brian<\/h3>\n

(Steve\u2019s Aircraft has a website where you can find out all about their STCs and services. \u00a0It’s \u00a0www.stevesaircraft.com<\/a><\/span>. Tailwheel Productions and the Tailwheeler\u2019s Journal recommend them without reservation).<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“To paraphrase Forest Gump, ‘Good people is as good people does’. Just ask those people who are lined up outside his door.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35,67,148,163,164,178],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}