Gone West
Nobody ever got a better sendoff than Don Langford.
It’s hard to describe Don, because he was so many things. He was a writer (check out his aviation book, Are We There Yet?), a FedEx pilot experienced in everything from Cubs to 747s (including cropdusters, helicopters, LSA, ultralights, and gliders), an ATP mechanic, a homebuilder, engineer, and LSA distributor. He had flown thousands of hours all over the world and wasn’t finished yet.
Don had just sold an LSA amphib, and he and the new owner (also a very experienced pilot) were flying in the aircraft. We really don’t know how it happened, but somehow they ended up upside down in the Tennessee River. None of us could believe it.
A crowd of Don’s relatives, general aviation friends, and airline pilot friends showed up for the funeral. (I’ve not seen that many airline uniforms in one place since they gave away free copies of USA Today at the Atlanta Airport.)
Later there was another crowd at a covered dish dinner in Don’s honor at Moontown Airport outside of Huntsville, AL, where Don hangared his Wag-A-Bond.
Four of us spoke briefly at the funeral service, and it quickly became evident that most everybody there had been helped by Don Langford. He had helped so many with mechanical problems, instructed others, and befriended others in a thousand ways.
Don had helped me in a way I will never forget. My son Kevin discovered computers at the age of ten. At 12 he bought one (half his money and half ours). His mother and I couldn’t keep up. We didn’t know what he was talking about half the time, and we had a not-so-secret fear that he might end up breaking into NASA’s computer (we lived in Huntsville, AL).
When Kevin was 14, Don Langford got Kevin a job with a small computer engineering company. Kevin worked there after school and weekends until he went off to college. Today Kevin is an engineer himself, and vice president of a Silicon Valley computer hardware/software company. I credit those years of his youth spent working with adult engineers.
I credit Don Langford.
Don left a huge hole in aviation and in the lives of many aviators.
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Rex–
So sorry I let your comment slip by ’til now. It is I who thank you and all of the fine folks at Moontown Airport for welcoming me back at the time of Don’s death.
I have thought of dozens of things to ask Don about since then, but there’s no Don to call.
Ralph Hood
Mr. Hood,
Thanks, Thanks, Thanks…
Rex
Well, Hello Bob Orcutt–
Lord, those names do bring back memories–some from more’n thirty years ago!
Thanks also for the kind words.
I ‘preciate you.
Ralph Hood
Thanks Ralph for your leadership all these years. Bob Orcutt, retired Cessna Finance Regional rep at Large. Orlando, Fl. Remember Mel Nichols and Dean Noble and our great leader from Huntsville Aviation. One of my favorite in USA.
Cap’n Randy–
Thanks for writing. Unfortunately, Don Langford was not 90, but only 61. I can remember when that seemed old, but not anymore.
Wish I’d known your friend. Sounds like a great fellow.
Ralph Hood
Sir Ralfus - Just a few weeks ago we had the funeral services up here for our departed friend, Charles P. Doyle. 90 plus and about all of them engaged in some form of aviation = barnstorming, parachute jumping, motorcycle riding, crashing airplanes into buildings at the state fair, NW airline pilot, warbirds, QBs, etc and etc. I wish now that I’d had the presence of mind to have asked each person who showed up there for Chuck’s services to write down his flying hours and we’d total them at the end of services. As with Don, I’ve never seen so large a crowd of aviation people - all kinds, ages, uniforms, backgrounds, etc.
Vaya con dios, Don and Chuck!
best, randy