George Applebay

I first got to meet George in December of 1981 when I convinced my Dad that we needed to "take a tour of the Zuni Factory" when we were on a family trip. George came out, and gave us the factory tour. Little did I know that the Zuni we saw in final assembly would be mine 5 years later. After George, once again, gave self-lessly of his time talking with me about the Zunis that were out there and possibly available for sale. I ended up buying serial 28. The last one that George and Applebay Sailplanes completed.

Years later, George told me he always loved it when I brought one of my sailplanes down to him for an inspection. He really liked going through the log book and reading the entries from each day's flight telling where I had gone, and a bit about how the day had gone. Let that be a lesson to the rest of us. Document each flight in the log. Someone down the road will appreciate it!

George had a way with people. You could go down there to learn from or about him, and next thing you know, he was asking questions about you and learning about you. Not that he was trying to hide or keep anything from you, but he was genuinely interested in all people involved in aviation in general and soaring in particular. I guess he had heard his own stories enough, and wanted to hear someone else's stories!

Will miss George immensely, but feel I am a better person for having gotten to know him.

Steve Leonard
Zuni 6, N6ZF
Zuni II 28, N1353Z