Good ol' Jack Greiner.

One of the things I want to do with this blog is to acknowledge some of the good people I have met in this world of old airplanes. I have a story to share about a man named Jack Greiner.

It occurred in 1978 at the Antique Airplane Association fly-in, Blakesburg Iowa. I was 14 yrs-old. I knew Jack from seeing his beautiful Stearman C-3. And even though I had hung around bugging him and others for a biplane ride in exchange for my helping wipe down his plane, I didn't really think Jack knew me. Why would he care about a nerdy kid anyway?

To my surprize one morning at the breakfast tent, Jack came and sat down across from me. I assumed he would have preferred engaging in the morning flying stories with my dad and the other pilots around. But, instead, Jack sat down and struck up a conversation with me. We talked about school and the other things I did back in Texas. He was asking if I fly with my dad and I talked about having learned with my dad in the Tcraft. He was interested in me and this was a change for me. Most adults don't give kids much attention. I'd say he was half-way thru his plate of scrambled eggs and sausage when he asked me the question. "So how many hours do you have logged by now?" I replied... "Well, none. I don't have a logbook." And suddenly Jack stopped everything. He said... "WHAT?" Then he said... "How are you going to be a pilot without a logbook?" He pushed his chair away from the table, his breakfast remained half-eaten, and declared... "C'mon we need to go find us an airplane!" The next thing I knew, we were headed to find a J-3 cub. He borrowed one from somebody. I'm not even sure who. I wish I knew.

Over the next two days, we flew for 1.8 hours. To this day, I remember S-turning in the traffic pattern to let the planes ahead get landed. Also I learned about turns-about-a-point first from Jack. At the end of our flying, Jack wrote down his address on a piece of paper, handed it to me, and told me that when I get home, I should go buy myself a logbook and mail it to him. I did and he made the very first two entries, signed it, and mailed it back.

Now THAT's a memory I will never forget. I will always respect Jack for being a good man. Not only for what he did for my pilot training, but for caring enough to give a kid the time of day. And for giving a kid some inspiration. It's an example that many of us adults should practice. Jack is a true gentleman and exhibits the true heart of a barnstormer.

Last summer, I saw Jack again at Blakesburg. The picture at the beginning of this post is from that visit. It had been 29 years since that day and 19 years since I last saw Jack. I told him the story and he was surprized that I remembered, because he hadn't. He just smiled and said "I am glad to have made an impression." Jack - Thanks for your selfless act.

Jack has been featured in a book called Vagabonds of the Sky, by Bruce McAllister. Click Here to preview the book.

http://www.wingsalcan.com/html/about_vagabonds.html


It's the people like Jack who embody the mystique of aviation for all it is... TLB

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UPDATE: 04/26/2010 - THE FOLLOWING LINK WAS POSTED TODAY ON ANN.

Aero-TV:Aero-TV: Profiles in Aviation – Jack Greiner, A Lifetime of Flight