Stanley Segalla, 81, aka The Flying Farmer made a special trip in his Piper Cub from Connecticut to Rhinebeck, NY on May 30 to scatter David’s ashes. The forecast for May 30 was thunderstorms, and no pilot would commit to flying that day. At the last minute he rearranged his schedule to accommodate us, for which I’m very grateful.
I talked to Mr. Segalla yesterday, along with a bunch of other Rhinebeck pilots including Bill King, the man standing next to David in this photo.
This is my sixth trip to Rhinebeck this year. The first was at the end of May to scatter David’s ashes, the second was in early August after Hugh died, the third was mid-September after Vancouver (was supposed to scatter Hugh’s ashes but they weren’t ready), the fourth was two weeks ago after Philadelphia (was again supposed to scatter Hugh’s ashes but it didn’t happen), the fifth was last week for my anniversary (Hugh’s ashes were finally scattered but on Saturday because the weather on Sunday was abysmal), and yesterday was my sixth and final chance for this season. The museum closes the end of October, but the airshows and biplane rides finish on the 15th. I’m becoming a bit of a fixture at the Aerodrome.
“My family is here,” I told the pilots. “I’ll keep coming back.”
Related posts:
June 6, 2006: David with Stanley Segalla
June 15, 2006: Happy Birthday, Honeybun
May 25, 2006: Rhinebeck, 1996 and 2006
Sep 9, 2005: AviatorDave at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
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Oh Gail, this is so beautiful. Clear skies.
[...] Two and a half years ago Stanley Segalla, then 81, flew from his home in Connecticut to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in upstate New York on very short notice to help me scatter David’s ashes on his birthday when we couldn’t get the biplane that day. I’ve written more about Stanley Segalla here. [...]