I was privileged to call him a friend and will miss him <S>
Earl up in his P39 Eloise, named for his sister who is still living. This bird is in AH so if you get a chance, give her a spin in memory of Earl.
Earl did all the stuff we only play at. He only played AH briefly, but those of us who flew Airwarrior were lucky enough to fly with him. He never took it seriously and thought all the arguments back then about RR vs FR were silly as none of it was real. He told me one time if he had to choose, that RR was actually closer as it compensated for the 'seat of the pants' "feel" that was lacking not being in the plane for real.
We built a scenario around his 345th FS "Devilhawk" P47s and guys were falling over themselves to fly Earl's wing. He discoed more often then not but really enjoyed himself. He liked nothing more than to wander out in a TBM and try to sink carriers.
As he lived in Minnesota, I was lucky enough to drive down and visit him a few times and get to know him and his wife Gerry. Lots of folks in Airwarrior claimed to be WW2 pilots, but Earl was the real deal.
Earl by his P51D postwar. He also flew combat in Vietnam in A-1 Skyraiders.
