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On Fred Fenning

We lost Fred in August 1997 after he departed the Bowling Green AYA Convention, en route to visit family in California.He was flying VFR across the country but never arrived at his destination.

After frantic calls and starting to set up a search party, we learned that a fisherman reported witnessing an airplane "with no sounds" going down in Lake Sharpe in South Dakota.

Five days later Fred's body was recovered; his 1974 Traveler was never found.

Fred's MIT class obituary said he was "a hardware electrical engineering consultant, whose work involved assembly guidance systems, lasers for manufacturing, and laser graphics for the entertainment industry." To us, Fred was our friend, highly intelligent and always humorous. His posts on the Grumman Gang always ended with a topic-relevant catch-phrase sig line; Harold Mignola captured some below.

Miss you, Fred.


Fred Fenning N7148L “Yes, officer, we were 500 ft below the cloud bases”
Fred Fenning N7148L (Was that -40F or -40C ?)
Fred Fenning N7148L Comfy old ‘74 Traveler
Fred Fenning N7148L (If AA1 = BD1, then is AA5 = BD5?)
Fred Fenning N7148L (15-50 and 7 quarts, thank you)
Fred “One-axis-mind” Fenning N7148L
Fred Fenning N7148L (“Breaker-Breaker-121.5”)
Fred Fenning N7148L 160 Traveler “Knock is for doors and Grummans don’t have doors”
Fred Fenning N7148L (who would rather clear the trees than arrive 5 minutes sooner.)
Fred Fenning N7148L (AA5 Traveler with 1.5 x AA1A Wing and AA1C Tail)
Fred Fenning N7148L Cherokee-Nosed Traveler
FredFredFred Fennnnnning N7148LLL
Fred Fenning N7148L ‘74 Traveler (2 weeks before Blue Glue)
Fred Fenning N7148L (Still a Traveler)
Fred “breaker-breaker” Fenning N7148L Fred Fenning N7148L (wondering whether they make Plane-Dip)
Fred Fenning N7148L (Actually legal on this one)
Fred Fenning N7148L (Remembering the time when you could buy 100 octane at the gas station.)
Fred Fenning N7148L ‘74 Traveler (150 HP @ 2650 RPM, thank you very much)
Fred Fenning N7148L (160 Traveler-- 57” is definitely NOT a cruise pitch.)
Fred Fenning N7148L (Maybe a third time, if I can find someone who will let me borrow his Lear 24.)
Fred Fenning N7148L (Patiently waiting for EFIS prices to fall below $1K)
Fred Fenning N7148L 160 Traveler “90% of Tiger performance for 50% of the cost”
Fred Fenning N7148 (Adding an alternate static source to my Xmas list)
Fred-Air N7136L +12
Fred Fenning N7148L (160 -er- 150 HP Traveler)
Fred Fenning N7148L (160 -sigh- HP)
Fred Fenning (N7148L-0010-4560-0001 expires 6/97)
Fred Fenning N7148L (involuntary 160 hp overhaul)
Fred “Breaker 1-9” Fenning N7148L

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