Stew's Tribute To The Amazing Tim
It's been ten years now since we had to say goodbye to
Tim. We miss him more as each day goes by. My best friend of twenty years
was taken from us by a
freak traffic accident 8 May 2007. I ride his
classic Honda Super Magna motorcycle every day I can and swear I hear
him yelling, "Faster! Faster!" He sold it to me when he was in Iraq, since it
was just wasting away in his... er, his wife Kathy's, garage. I say ride it
every day I can because:
(1) after replacing the transmission countershaft
bearing so I could ride her, the head gasket blew as Ann and I started a two
week trip, so it sat for awhile, but that's another story...
(2) I fixed the
head gasket just in time for the Super Magna Owners Group 2009 Annual Meet in
August, but was laid off 3 April 2009, so money's a bit tight until I get back
to work
(3) The countershaft bearing in the replacement engine started making
noises like the one in the original engine did, two days before I got
laid off again, and she sat in pieces waiting to be put back together.
(4) Got her back together and running better than ever. Now I'm working in
Melbourne but she sits in Orlando awaiting a new battery and for me to figure
out how to store her out of the elements where I'm staying in Palm Bay.
Ann and I got together with Kathy and Tim's son, Tony, and Tony's uncles, John and Mark, at one of Tim and Kathy's favorite hangouts, Coconuts On The Beach on Cocoa Beach back in May 2009. We sampled their menu of Rum drinks available since Tony thought he had blood in his rum stream, but that's a different story...
To say Tim was unique, one of a kind, <add your cliche here>, would be too much an understatement. What I can say is he was my kind of people. He was the type of person that made you feel at ease right off. I wish I knew what his secret was. How did he always manage to stay upbeat? How was he able to put up with all the things I always let get to me?
And what kind of music did he really like? Looking back, I can't think of a time he ever suggested a type of music he liked or even a favorite song. He never said, "Turn that back! I like that song" as I changed stations on the radio. Whenever I asked, he would just say whatever I had on was fine. He always was the only one who could 'draw me out of my shell'... talk me into going places and doing things... always upbeat, always full of life... no more.
Looking back, I wish I would have taken him up on more of the invitations to go and do... if ever there is anything that has convinced me to just go for it, it's looking back and regretting the times I didn't just go and do with Tim, because now I won't be able to ever again. Things like the 'Steely Eyed Rocket Scientists' parties and riding a motorcycle with him and going to England for the Millenium celebration and hundreds of other things that I was more worried about what might happen than just going and having a good time.
Maybe I should just be happy that I can look back and remember all of the things we did together... base passes for shuttle launches and bikini contests at Coconuts On The Beach and roller coasters and Mardi Gras at Universal Studios and lunch and margaritas at the Hard Rock Cafe and Birthday Drinks at Jonathan's Pub and Tico Warbird air shows and the experimental aircraft fly-ins and...
That reminds me of a funny story, at least funny now that I look back... Tim and I decided to go inspect some of the vintage warbirds on the flight line at the Lakeland air show. Before we crossed onto the tarmac Tim tells me NO SMOKING on the flight line, which I can understand. At least I thought I could...
I don't know what ever possesed me to do this, but as we're standing admiring a P-51 Mustang, I pull out a cigarette and light it up! DUH! Tim scolds me to put it out, so even worse, I throw it to the ground to snuff it out with my foot. Good thing there wasn't any fuel spilled or I would have bought an airplane! I looked at him and he looked at me and we both looked around to see if anyone noticed. We decided to go get something to eat and come back later.
Maybe it's funny, maybe it's not... I still chuckle about it. Another memorable moment at the air shows was finding the 'Amazing Tim' - an ornithopter, a rubber band 'powered' bird made of plastic and kevlar that you can wind up and it flies by actually flapping its wings! Tim had been looking and looking for this particular 'toy' every time we went to an air show.
Needless to say he talked me into buying one and I still have it! Now I'm the one looking for it at air shows when my son Nick and I go, but mainly for the replacement rubber bands! I let Nick play with it after cautioning him not to wind the rubber band too tight... so you can guess why I need new rubber bands.
Tim always was a dreamer... seeing that thing fly meant his cold jet powered ultra light design could fly too... or at least it would if he were here to finish it. Maybe the best tribute I could give him would be to finish what he started... In any case I think he earns the moniker, "The Amazing Tim"
I saw a story on the news the other day about a man with a set of jet powered wings who strapped them on and flew at over 200MPH... then landed with a parachute. He must be related to Tim, because he got me thinking about why he needed a parachute to land and the wings must be short for lower weight and higher stall speeds related to jets and... see what I mean? Tim always got me thinking about things like that.
While I'm at it, I might as well start relating some of those stories here too. After we moved to Orlando, I would take the high roads when I visited Tim in Satellite Beach. One of those roads was Barnes, which intersects Fiske where I'd hop off the interstate to make my way beachside. Well, Barnes passes by a small grass strip airport with hangars along the one side. Tim's passion was ultralights and he nearly convinced me to rent some hangar space there...
I can't help but keep thinking what might have been had we rented the space and put our heads together. He had even put together the start of a website, Build It Yourself KITS, but someone else owns the domain name now. I have some jpeg files he rendered from his CAD drawings, but the originals? I have no idea what became of them. Maybe one of his Steely Eyed Rocket Scientist buddies has some interest in keeping his dream alive.
Now I can't help but think he's looking down and pulling the right strings to twist fate that direction. If it's meant to happen, it will. Only time will tell. Lord knows we'll need that hangar space... With my garage full of motorcycles, and what's left of the Jeep engine parts on the benches, and the recently acquired '67 Ford Mustang, there is no room left anywhere, including the driveway.
Quote from Tim's leaving Iraq email (5/25/2006):
"We are the architects of our own existence."
Quote from the movie "Bad Boy Bubby"
Tim's Standard Sig:
"No good deed goes unpunished..."
Chicken1