GrummanDude
Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 926
Location: Auburn, CA
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 Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:07 pm Post subject: Garner Fest |
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One of my customers asked me if I'd heard of the Garner Fest going on on GG. She kindly forwarded some of the accolades. I got to thinking: "What's the big deal? Next year is the Silver Anniversary. This is ONLY 24 years."
My turn:
I started buying parts from Neil Rice in 1984. We talked a lot about engineering. I was sad to hear Neil was leaving. It was a lot more fun chatting with him about what-ifs than reading research papers on combustion instabilities in solid propellant rocket motors.
When he left, Chase Masters was the parts guy I talked to. Chase liked Corvettes so, at least we had something to talk about. That's about it.
I was ordering aileron bearings the first time I talked to Garner. He asked if I wanted all 20; ten for each wing. In 1986 I didn't know much, but, I was certain there were only two outboard, two inboard, and two under the seat (which rarely get replaced). All I wanted was the two outboard bearings. Garner insisted that I need all 20 bearings. I only ordered the two.
The next time I called, for something entirely different, Garner told me that Fletchair was going out of business and I needed to order replacement parts for everything on the plane if I wanted to keep flying. I think by that time, he knew he had a fish-on-the-line. It wasn't long before I figured him out. Actually, I think it was finding out that Garner and my dad had the same Birthday; they were both big jokesters. My dad convinced one of his contractors that my mom was a 200 lb, 5'10" ex-roller derby girl and could kick his as any time. My dad, at the time, was 5'8" 185 lbs, 53 inch chest, 18 3/4 inch arms, and could bench press 360 lbs. The contractor was scared of my mom. When he finally met her, about a year later, he didn't believe this 5'4" 115 lb girl was my dad's wife. He never believed another word my dad said. Over the years, I learned the same thing about Garner.
In 1990, I first met Garner face-to-face in Visalia, CA at the AYA Convention. He was very busy selling parts. We didn't talk much.
At the 1995 AYA Convention in Sunriver Oregon, I was looking forward to finally meeting Minnie after hearing some of Garner's stories about her. When I saw Garner, I asked about Minnie. He said, and I quote, "She's here somewhere. Just look for a short, fat, ugly, Mexican girl." At the dinner, I saw Garner and Minnie sitting together. I should have guessed.
In 1996, I flew an AG5B Tiger to Sarasota, Florida. The first leg was to Houston. I stayed with Garner and Minnie. He 'let' me feed the cows and pigs. I still have pics of a pig standing in water up to it's chest, drinking the water, while at the same time peeing into the same water.
In 1997, I flew commercial into . . . . I forget. Anyway, Garner, Minnie and the kids picked me up on their way to the Bowling Green AYA Convention. I rode with them, worked in their booth selling parts, and then rode back with them to fly home.
In 1998, I drove to Katy Texas and stayed with Garner, Minnie, and the kids for a week. I took planes apart at Fletchair. It was on that trip that I got a scrap AG5B cowling from which I made my cowling. On the first morning, Minnie fixed breakfast. While we're eating, Minnie asked if I remember the pig from two years earlier. I said, "Yea, I guess." She told me I was eating him for breakfast. Gotta love it. I also got to meet Thanksgiving; a turkey whose days were numbered.
The last time I was in Texas was in 2006 for the AYA Convention. For whatever reason, I missed going to Comfort for the BBQ. Sorry about that.
I'm sure we all have good stories to tell about Garner. And, we all thank him for knowing part numbers off the top of his head because we are too lazy to look them up ourselves.
Gary
PS, I sent Garner a stripper for his 40th Birthday. I'll have to top that for his 50th.
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Gary
AuCountry Aviation
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