We lost a friend

[Smiggyy]

FF1, in the clouds and still climbing!

You see, behind every handle is a 'real' person.

The 200 channel could do well by reading this thread before the tirades start sometimes.

Thanks for the insight Murdr, much appreciated.

Smiggs.

[SLO]

boy did I ever have alot fights with FF1.....

Fair Skies my Honorable friend, you shall be missed

[RookieCAF]

Salute FF1. Never knew ya, Sorry I didn't.

Clear Skies.

[TBolt A-10]

My condolences to FF1's family, friends and squad mates.   FF1!

Murdr,
I wish everyone could get a write-up like the one you posted here for FF1.  Messages, like yours, remind us that we're not just a bunch of faceless (blah blah) dweebs.  We're a community made up of real men and women, for Cod's sake.

Well done, Murdr.  

[Nwbie]

FF1

Murdr for sharing a piece of your heart with us all

NwBie

[Murdr]

Thank you all for your wonderful posts.  I wasnt thinking of it at the time, but Joe's email addy is still on the old 38 Specials egroup, so it is possible a family member of his might find their way here from the link I sent to the group.

In airwarrior we lost a player named ftoes.  His brother was kind enough to provide us with his thought on ftoes (this is archived at the 479th site ).  It was a very profound perspective on someone we thought we knew.  Im glad I was able to pass a little bit along in this case for his squad and friends here.

I will follow up this post with a re-post of 'my friend joe' to head up page 2.

[Murdr]

Originally posted by Murdr
Oh my god.  I am in shock.  Im not a newspaper reader, and have been busy this week.

  You see I met Joe "FF1" Hardy in 2001 while we were working on the same project.  He was an electrical contractor.  Once he had mentioned online racing, we became friends rather quickly.  I enjoyed working with him, not only because he was a good guy and easy to work with, but we could pass the time discussing our online gaming exploits as we worked.

I talked about flying online (both in AW and AH at the time) enough that he finally decided to give it a try.  I got a laugh out of his comment next day.  He pointed at me and said to my helper"Hey Troy is famous, he got on aces high, and about 20 people started saying hi to him."  From then on I think we talked more about how to fly than about work.  Of course I recruited him into the 38 Specials, and tried to give him a crash course in the finer points of tactics and maneuvers.

He invited me and my kids to his christmas party that year.  I took him up on it thinking the kids would enjoy it, but also thinking I would feel a little out of place.  He was 13 years older than me and lived 4 towns away, so I was unlikely to see mutual aquaintances there.  He was a great host though, and I had a great time meeting his family and friends and in no way felt 'left out'.

I was able to visit him a few times after that, and we would wing up in AH while sitting side by side on 2 of his 3 system home network.  We went to the reading ww2 airshow and caught up with
 Tony "%tazz/TheTazz" (former Special and Raider) there in 2003.


Murdr, Tazz, FF1




FF1 in radio/nav position on the memphis belle knockoff

(now that I think of it FF1 took my mugshot thats posted on look-at-ewe)


Eventually I went out on my own as an independent contractor, and we didnt cross paths as much.  Still I used him as an electrical contractor most of the times I needed one.   Also around that time the core squad guys, who were relaxed realism AW fliers started losing intrest in the realism of aces high.   I had little time for flying anyways so I disolved the squad and Joe went to the 81st.

This spring I got to bring him in as a sub on a project.  As always he was great to work and do business with.  And in June we managed to hook up for the airshow again.  This time he brought his son and his father-in-law.

FF1 Jr, Murdr, Murdr Jr

One thing I can tell you about Joe is he thought the world of his 2 kids.  He always had stories to tell about them.  It was obvious he was especially proud of his boy Joey, and if we weren't talking business, Joey's latest exploits were shure to come up.  Some daytime players may recognize the name, but likely it was little boy Joey flying the mossie Joe had set up for him before going to work.

Another thing that comes to mind is that if he wasnt an electrician, he should have been a politician.  He could easily meet a person for the first time and carry on an hour long conversation.  In fact the only annoyance I had with him in the professional realm was that at times he would start chatting with guys working for me and then they weren't getting any work done .  
I remember once he came on the job complaining that he got a message that he was banned from AH.  I told him to give HTC a call, it was probably an anti-cheat filter that tagged him for something (thinking of the problems cable users had in AW).  The next day he came in
"I talked to Mr HiTech.  He's a pretty good guy.  He said it was a bug that flagged me for hacking.  He took care of it.  Talked to him for a good half hour or so."
"You talked about it (the game) for a half hour?" I asked.
"No.  We talked about fishin'"
Lol, that was easy to believe.


Joe also was an avid bass angler.  He and his partner went to tornements, and they had a guide business on the side.  He proudly showed visitors a lifestyles article out of the Baltimore paper.  The reporter that hired them just for leisure had such a good time during their outing he did a feature on them.  Joe told me they got calls for a year from that article.

I was trying to think of how Id describe his personality, and Steve Martin comes to mind.  He was a really smart, outgoing guy, that loved to be goofy.  Most of the times I called or ran into him he gave me the kind of greeting norm got walking into cheers "Murdr!" (man if felt weird being called that ouside the game)

Well I think Ive lost a good nights sleep recalling my friend Joe with a few grins, and a few tears for his family.

Joe


Joseph A. Hardy
1947-2004

[Murdr]

Oh, one more tid-bit I forgot about until after I had went to work yesterday.  The "FF1" had a duel meaning.  The guide service he was involved in was Fishin' Fools but he told me it could also stand for flyin' fool the day after he started playing AH.

I regret I couldnt make it to services for Joe, but I had already put a lot of effort into making sure my daughter could make it to a tournement she was to play in.  Being a single parent, I was low on options.

[FF1]

Dear 81st,

I would like to invite all of the 81st to join me (FF1, Jr.) in a fly over to honor my father (FF1) on Saturday November 6th, 2004 at 8:00pm ET.

I have read all of the wonderful comments regarding my father and wish to say thanks to all of you, especially Murdr who did such a good job putting a face to a name. He loved this game.

FF1 jr.

[Z0mBe]

I'm not able to fly here anymore, I'm earning my RL ratings right now, and saving every dime I can.  Not to mention the other stuff I need money for.  FF1 was a member of my squad, the 38 Specials when I flew with them.  Every member was nice to this newbie, and taught me everything I knew about navigating the virtual skies.

God Bless FF1 and his family.  May his new wingmen be the angels themselves.  Maybe, just maybe, they have gaming up there, and even real P38's to fly.  Heck, I hope he gets to wing with Tommy McGuire or Dick Bong.  

I'll close with the words from German Nightfighter Ace Schnauffer's headstone:

"Thee would I salute in the threshing of thy wings.
My heart fortells me triumph in thy name.
Onward, proud eagle, to thee the cloud must yield."

Z0mBe

[Murdr]

Hi, Id like to thank everyone who participated on the flyover.  FF1's son flew along under FF1's account.  FF1s family and friends were here watching the event.  They read the salutes and comments and appricated them.  FF1jr will hopefully contiune to fly and carry on for FF1.   and thanks again.

[nopoop]

It's strange that in a moment a sadness that the human spirit as shown here puts sunshine into where the clouds once were..

[EN4CER]

My deepest condolences for your loss.  MURDR that was a very nice tribute.  Thank you for sharing.

[Blixen]

S!

[Crumpp]

Crumpp