 Rick
Duckworth
July
9, 1942 - February 16, 2004
Rick was
best known for his activities as an EAA Judge and was an invaluable
source of information for builders and restorers aspiring for
that illusive Oshkosh Grand Champion award. Rick flew a Piper
PA-12 Super Cub.
Condolences
to the family may be sent to:
Rick
Duckworth Family
3361 N. Bagley Road
Alma, MI 48801
Donations
in lieu of flowers may be sent to:
Air
Power Museum
Library of Flight
In Memory of Rick Duckworth
22001 Bluegrass Road
Ottumwa, IA 52501-8569
Rick
with Paul Tibbets, the pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb
on Hiroshima.
Memories
On
February 16th, a bright sunny day in Michigan, our friend Rick
Duckworth spread his wings and went west. A native of Alma, Rick
was a pilot, and early in life earned his living as an aircraft
mechanic. He worked for Hughes Flying Service in Lansing and later
for Total Petroleum in Alma. While he enjoyed and was very good
at working on modern airplanes, his passion was easily anything
that was built from "tube and rag". He owned a number
of interesting airplanes. This included a Cessna 140 that sat
for years without flying on the edge of the west ramp at Capital
City Airport. When the weather was bad, we often watched it rock
back and forth while the flaps rapidly banged up and down. But
Rick saw it differently, and step by step he found the owner,
bought it, got it to run, and then to fly. He also owned an old
Luscombe, N28707 that today enjoys life in the United Kingdom.
Rick worked as a pilot and mechanic for Total Petroleum, and later
went to work as equipment manager of the Total refinery in Alma.
He and his wife, Rosie raised two young men. Son Rob has a Phd
in nuclear physics and works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Son Ryan
is a teacher in the Springport school system. Rick was events
chairman for the Luscombe Association, and he and Rosie traveled
extensively each year to several fly-in events. They were always
at the antique meets in Blakesburg, IA and Brodhead, WI. Perhaps
his greatest contribution to sport aviation was his long-standing
volunteer work as a classic aircraft judge at Oshkosh. Few details
were missed by his experienced eyes, and he photographed the best
and the unusual each year. Rick had many friends across the aviation
world, and he will be missed by all of us.
Terry
Lutz
Rick at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center of the Smithsonian Institution
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