Passing of Al Leffler

I’m very sorry to report the passing of Al Leffler on Tuesday of this week, He will surely be missed.

On Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 10:57:32 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I’m very sorry to report the passing of Al Leffler on Tuesday of this week, He will surely be missed.

A fine pilot and a very modest one. He was a Hall of Fame member but you would never know it. I enjoyed the times when I was lucky enough to be in his company.
UH

I believe I have dealt with him, regardless.....sorry to see yet another pass away.
Condolences to family and friends.

Dang, sucks to get older.....:-(

"Little Boy" Al Leffler was very successful as a pilot and very nice to one of the "new kids" in the nationals back in the 1970s. Another one gone. Condolences to all who knew him.

Chip Bearden
JB

A favorite memory of Little Boy was a regionals at Bishop, Ca. Gary Kemp was CD’ing and we phoneyed up an open task of Bishop to Susansville to Eurika and back..........something like 1200 miles. I passed out the tasks and slipped Al the phony task. He just sat there staring at the sheet for the longest time, then said “this is BS�..........we all had a good laugh!
Go easy, good friend, I’ll join you under a developing Cu, one day.
JJ

I met Al at one of my first Contests out of cal city he called all of us 15m guys "kiddie gliders" One day I followed him over into but not out of saline valley. As he later put it he "rubbed me off on the hill" I spent 3 hours trying to get high enough to get back out of the valley. The passing of another legend! May your thermals be strong "Little Boy"!

CH

Dan Gudgel wrote this... posted by Pat Patrick Panzera on the El Mirage Soaring Center Facebook page:

_________

Folks,

Soaring and the CCSC/AGC just lost a good friend. Mrs. Gary Leffler (Angie) just notified me that Al Leffler passed yesterday over in Santa Margarita from complications associated with his fight over the last few years with Leukemia. Services are pending given the weather forecasts and I will notify when I find out the arrangements.

In the meantime for those who don't know, Al Leffler was a National Soaring Champion in the late 1970s and early 80s and a continued strong competitor in both the 15-meter and Open Classes to the turn of the century in local, regional, and national championships. He was a strong supporter of the CCSC and particularly a hard-working liaison toward helping get members to buy into the Avenal Gliderport.

He was a dear friend of mine along with his family who had a lot to do with me staying involved with soaring through the years and provided me a lot of aviation insight. I still brief towpilots in regard to towing operations from Al's wealth of experience and instructional information. Al was ALWAYS at the forefront of technology application into soaring going way back to the days when he was involved with aerial surveying in the pre-GPS days (a B-17 over the North Pole?!). He will be missed. Pray for his family in this time of grief...

Dan Gudgel

https://www.soaringmuseum.org/hof_more.php?id=63

Al truly was a gentleman and ambassador for soaring and will be missed by us all. The quiet dignity of this man is legendary. Cerca 1964… while my dad was driving me to Crystal near Pearblossom, CA... for my first glider ride, a Boomerang trailer and car passed us by at 80mph. That was Al Leffler dashing off to fly at El Mirage. Later memories of Al were at the 2012 World Gliding Championship Uvalde where he did the “scrutineering� and installed tracker devices which I helped with. I’ll never forget orbiting around with the Nimbus 4 “LB� and fellow “kiddie� gliders at CCSC contests in the San Joaquin Valley. One year ago we sat together alone in the lobby and reminisced while at the Reno SSA convention.

Walt WX

On Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 5:48:01 PM UTC-8, WaltWX wrote:
Al truly was a gentleman and ambassador for soaring and will be missed by us all. The quiet dignity of this man is legendary.

"Little Boy" -- with the longest of wings for 18 years on my contest ramp at Region 12. No 'kiddie gliders' here. Only once, when another competitor committed a grossly unsportsmanlike act, can I think of him losing composure and allowing temper to disturb his gentlemanly demeanor. He always had time for the kids or grandkids, and spent lots of thermalling circles on the ramp on bicycles with them after tiedowns were done. He was unfailingly kind to me through the decades. Even after Region 12 CalCity contests faded, he would drop by while motor-soaring through in the Taifun, on the way to visiting an event or a friend. Little Boy's quiet voice echoes in rancher's style, as he left some pretty big bootprints on the sport of soaring. Solace to Gary, Ang and the extended family.

Great guy, one of my early contests at El Mirage he and I were low, I was lower, near Barstow and his voice came over the radio and said, "Is it hot down there?" There was no doubt who it was, a great guy "Little Boy"