Re: Dago Red RC model - what a find!
I agree 100% Neal... Kerch was that not-so-secret winning ingredient for Team Dago Red. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a lot of time with Kerch while we were both living down in the bay area and a nicer man you could never find. He always said it's the people that make air racing great, the airplanes were just an excuse for us to get together.
You mentioned adding to the air racing experience... and being on the team certainly does that, and it also lets you see things a bit differently than the casual observer. For example, most of us know that Kerch used to be crew chief for Strega back in the 90's but left Team Strega for Dago in '98. Kerch & I talked about that situation a lot (the Hewlett-Packard hangar he worked at was only about 15 minutes away from my house), and it was a very, very tuff decision for him. Honestly - there was a falling out between him & Tiger that pretty much forced his hand. Knowing all of this, the four photos below show you the first meeting between the two back at Reno 2K after Kerch had left Tiger's team a couple of years ago. I caught it happening out of the corner of my eye... and as you can see from the first photo, I wasn't the only one who took an interest in what was happening (that's LD Hughes on the left - Strega's new crew chief. He knew just like I did... this could go one of two ways). The subsequent photos tell the tale - what most people saw was Kerch & Tiger on the ramp like they have 100 times before.
What I saw was two friends whose bond was stronger than their differences, starting to mend that tall fence between them. I knew things were never going to be the same, but at the same time I knew that for Kerch it was something he needed. It was quite a special moment that would have totally gotten by me if I wasn't with the crew.
That was an interesting day for sure... Sept. 10, 2002. The damage to the airplane was considerable - it was one hell of a bang!
Well, I was meaning to get to everyone else but I've got to get... time to check up on Miss A. I'll have to post up later.
Originally posted by wingman
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You mentioned adding to the air racing experience... and being on the team certainly does that, and it also lets you see things a bit differently than the casual observer. For example, most of us know that Kerch used to be crew chief for Strega back in the 90's but left Team Strega for Dago in '98. Kerch & I talked about that situation a lot (the Hewlett-Packard hangar he worked at was only about 15 minutes away from my house), and it was a very, very tuff decision for him. Honestly - there was a falling out between him & Tiger that pretty much forced his hand. Knowing all of this, the four photos below show you the first meeting between the two back at Reno 2K after Kerch had left Tiger's team a couple of years ago. I caught it happening out of the corner of my eye... and as you can see from the first photo, I wasn't the only one who took an interest in what was happening (that's LD Hughes on the left - Strega's new crew chief. He knew just like I did... this could go one of two ways). The subsequent photos tell the tale - what most people saw was Kerch & Tiger on the ramp like they have 100 times before.
What I saw was two friends whose bond was stronger than their differences, starting to mend that tall fence between them. I knew things were never going to be the same, but at the same time I knew that for Kerch it was something he needed. It was quite a special moment that would have totally gotten by me if I wasn't with the crew.
Originally posted by wingman
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Well, I was meaning to get to everyone else but I've got to get... time to check up on Miss A. I'll have to post up later.
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