Zephyr

Click on St. Anthony for more information

John and his Zephyr in 2005

West Nyack - This is the story of long-time club member John Miller who in November 2006 lost a dear friend - his Ripmax Zephyr. It seems since the runway was moved at the Clarkstown Aerodrome, it’s been taking a little getting used to. You see, John wasn’t ready for flying North to South - he had become deeply rooted in the old East - West flight pattern. On this partly cloudy morning John took the Zephyr up, unbeknownst to him what would be it’s last flight. The Zephyr isn’t a big plane, and with the O.S. 15 that powered it, even at low altitudes it was hard to hear as it went by. John was up with another member just floating around, when he took his eye off of the aircraft for a split second and suddenly it was gone! Keep in mind there were about 10 people at the field that day, and none of them even noticed John took off. When he shouted “Where’s my plane!” everyone looked up. Nothing. Just an empty sky with a few gulls and the other flyers plane.

A frantic search ensued with everybody looking in different directions on the field. This went on for about an hour, and John began to realize his favorite plane was probably history. Over the next few days, John would talk a few people into going into the woods at the South end of the field to look for it, but nothing turned up. There was talk of a Clarkstown Bermuda Triangle that could possibly be over the new runway but those rumors never panned out. Even though the Zephyr was long gone it didn’t stop John from flying. He has several planes to fall back on, but everyone could see that things were not quite right with him. In desperation one Tuesday morning John said a prayer to Saint Anthony of Padua, the Patron Saint of all things lost for his Zephyr to return home somehow.

Now let’s fast-forward to Al Betancourt. Later that day he receives a call from the management at the landfill saying that one of the workers found a plane at the far west end of the field, which happens to be the one place that nobody looked. Al and his wife Sandy took a ride to the office, wondering if this could be John’s Zephyr. Low and behold when they arrived, there it was! Though the fuselage was badly damaged, the wing, tail, engine and radio gear for the plane survived. Remember while it was laying out there in the field for about 10 days we experienced torrential rains and 50 mph winds. Al and Sandy collected the pieces and brought it back to John’s house in a bag. They called John’s wife Peggy to give her a heads-up on the surprise they were stopping by with. John was thrilled when he saw his long-lost plane.

With the repairs almost completed, we see on the side of the fuselage “St. Tony”, which is John’s way of paying homage and saying 'thanks' to Saint Anthony. So what we learned is; never underestimate the power of prayer and keep your eyes on your plane because things happen fast up there. Everyone at RCRCC wishes John and his Zephyr clear skies, happy landings and a little Divine intervention now and then...