On Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 6:31:39 PM UTC-6, Eric Bick (DY) wrote:
On Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 9:35:56 AM UTC-6, Dee wrote:
Please be respectful of your posts on this thread. Matt Herron, Jr. is a frequent contributor here on RAS. What a great influence his father (and mother) made on so many people's lives during a turbulent time in the US. To get to know him a bit better, you may want to read his book "The Voyage of Aquarius", which recounts the family's experiences while sailing along West Africa. A more recent book, "Our Big Blue Schoolhouse", is a recollection of the same trip from the perspective of Matt Jr (a 13 yo at the time).


Thanks, Steve. We published two articles by Matt on his mini Lak FES adventures (it is not hard to find info about it - BlanikAmerica imports them and has a web page devoted to the mini including owner inputs). The first on his trip to the factory to fly both the mini Lak and the Lak 17 m self-launchers. He followed that up with an article on getting the mini from the delivery port to the SSA convention in Little Rock. Matt intended a third article on getting the mini FAA certified and flying. That article will be in the October issue of Soaring magazine, describing the lessons he learned in this process. Matt also contributed other articles to Soaring mag, including one on the effects of aging on pilots. His articles are well worth reading. I will miss his correspondence and his ideas.

The October issue of Soaring magazine (at the printer now, digital version to be posted in a week or two, and mailed about the same time) has an article based on an email Matt sent to me a week before his fatal crash. This is being published with the encouragement of his family, since it describes the experiences Matt had getting his Mini Lak (Lak-17 Mini FES, 13.5 m wingspan) certified, and bugs worked out. It is a logical follow-on to his two previous articles on obtaining the Mini. Matt had planned to write a full article on this. The email, while not what he intended as that full article, provides insight into the process he was going through after getting the Mini to his home from the SSA convention. Matt decided to do the purchase, import, and certification himself, rather than through BlanikAmerica, as a learning experience, since that was the type of person he was - hands-on. His experiences, as documented, will be of value to those wanting to pursue a similar path. I will be interested in comments on the article, once published, which can be sent to me at .