"You Saved Me!"

Written by Keith Wednesday, 28 July 2010 19:58

Yesterday (July 27) Wayne and I joined up for a speedy tour of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. There were probably about 50,000 other aviation lovers there, too.

We were standing in a line waiting for a tram to take us to another location. (At our age and condition, trams are good and walking is bad.) Wayne glanced down at the name tag of a fellow waitee, reached out his hand and said, "Bill, didn't you fly gliders in Phoenix? I'm Wayne Roberts."

The fellow looked up, reached out his hand, and said, "You saved me!"

They related the story: Bill had been on an "out and back" glider flight. On the way back to Phoenix, he noticed that a valley through which he needed to fly, or possibly even land, was covered with clouds or fog. Fortunately he was able to find a place where the rising air currents allowed him to stay at a safe altitude for a long time.

He called on his radio and Wayne answered, from his car. Wayne suggested that he just loiter for a while and it would clear.

He loitered for an hour and a half, the problem disappeared, and he landed safely back at his home base.

But he remembered Wayne Roberts after 15 or 20 years!

This could also have been titled "It's a Small World." This sort of chance meeting is not unusual at Oshkosh.