Thanks for that, Jim.Â* I thought he was a really nice guy and you've
confirmed it.

On 4/17/2020 9:16 AM, Airport Bum wrote:
In the late ‘80’s I was lIving in Southern California doing stability and control design/test on the Lockheed YF-22, prototype for the F-22. And in my spare time soaring the Sierras out of the usual places. I had to take a months-long hiatus from soaring during flight testing, so I wasn’t at the glider port for this one, but one Monday night late 1990 I got a phone call from a Libelle-flying friend, “I met someone you might know this past weekend at Tehachapi...�. My friend told me this nice friendly guy showed up, hung around all morning helping people rig, pushing gliders, running wings etc. When this guy helped my friend rig his Libelle, he said “I have one of these, haven’t flown it for years, too busy. I am looking forward to retirement in a few years, then I should have time to get back into it.� Normal situation, normal guy. My friend said that that this guy mentioned he worked at Lockheed. Maybe I might know him? “His name was Dan, last name begins with a T, maybe Tulip? Heard of him?� Haha, Dan Tellep, then CEO of Lockheed. Nobody at the glider port there had a clue, apparently.

Lockheed California Company and the Skunk Works has had a number of really good soaring pilots among its ranks, most famous of course being Henry Combs, whose soaring achievements were well known and highly respected among many of my fellow Lockheed engineers, pilots and non-pilots alike. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Combs

Cheers,
Jim J6



On Thursday, 16 April 2020 19:06:35 UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
I was new to Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, hired in as Chief
Systems Engineer on a classified program.Â* Within a couple of weeks of
starting with the company I was informed that the Chairman and CEO of
Lockheed (all of Lockheed), Dr. Dan Tellep, was coming to Denver to
visit our lab and that I was to give him a tour of our facilities.

During the briefing, I noticed that he was staring intently at me,
though lower than my eyes.Â* When the meeting broke up and I was to begin
the tour, he said to me, "Nice Lennie".Â* I was taken aback.Â* I had
attached my Gold Badge with a single Diamond to a tie clip and that was
what he was looking at.Â* But that broke the ice.

We talked soaring for a while and he told me that he had a Libelle back
in California.Â* I allowed that I had an ASW-19 and he was welcome to
take it up.Â* He told me in a soft voice that "the suits" wouldn't let
him do that.Â* Too bad.Â* When I got home that evening I looked in my copy
of the SSA member handbook and was surprised to see his name, address,
and home phone number.

Who'da thunk it?


--
Dan, 5J