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It is a sad day in Lufkin as Stinger Wallace was shot and killed on Monday. I don't have any details as of yet. Just thought I would let everyone know that knew him. He will be missed.

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

wow, i cant believe it. i just saw him at bomber this weekend. he used my tx charger. came and shook my hand and said good bye sunday afternoon. i think he is a police officer. was he on duty? just heart braeking news. barry

Meschmidt

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I too, am very shocked and sad to here this news. I was able to get by Bomber Field late Saturday afternoon and visited Stinger and many other fellow pilots that regularly attend this and other events. We all become family after time and he was a legend that will be missed in many ways other than his "unnerved" flying skills! I think I can speak for all that knew him, "I loved hanging out with that guy!" Paul

jpflyer

My Feedback: (13)

More info here.....sad news
http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp...&nav=menu118_3
jpflyer

Torqueroll-Joe

My Feedback: (5)

May he rest in peace.....he will be missed.

Joseph

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

i just read the news story and am even more stunned. he showed no signs at bomber about battling depression. we even talked about a model that he had just restored. he was there flying the model. it was a 1930's era airplane whose name escapes me. it was red and teal. he flew kieth coovers d7 for him all weekend. wish one of us could have reached out. i just didnt know. so sad, barry

daleflysrc

My Feedback: (26)

This is Very hard to swallow less alone understand !! Stinger will truly be missed !! I to had just visited with him at Bomber feild, Gave him a shorter spinner bolt to get him in the air !! He also flew one of Larry Wells B-17's on Saturday. We raced at Galveston years back, when the GSRA was in its early days !!! God Bless Him and his family !!
May his fuel tank always be full and his batteries always charged !!! Happy Landings on those golden runways in Heaven !! Dale Womack Meister P-47 "BONNIE"

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

This really comes as a shock. I talked several times with Stinger this past week at Bomber Field. I've known him over 20 years.

After he left the police department he got into restoring old cars. Saturday I asked him if he was working on any thing special. He said that he was restoring a 67 Camero convertible that was only one of eight known to exist.

Barry that was a Fairchild that you mentioned and I believe it belonged to the older gentleman in the wheel chair.

I will sure miss him. He was one of the best. I sure feel sorry for his family.

Gremlin Castle

My Feedback: (14)

Stinger was one of those larger than life people that could and did "walk the walk." His flying and his personality made him someone to watch whenever he was around.

I said "goodbye and see you next year" just after he had finished folding the canopy on one of the two huge shelters that his group put up every year.

His life has ended suddenly and tragically but his flying style and personality will be remembered in every low pass and last second save that those who knew him see or experience.

May he find the peace that he was seeking.

Countryboy

My Feedback: (25)

This is very sad news indeed! Stinger Wallace probably made everlasting impressions on more people than you could imagine. I had the opportunity to meet Stinger Wallace at the IMAA Rally of Giants meet in Kansas City about 15 years ago. He was flying an absolutely stunning all glassed & painted Ziroli Bearcat with a large Husky or Stihl chainsaw engine that had been modified for racing. When he would fly the Bearcat in a race fashion right down on the deck with hard G-pulls at the imaginary pylons, everyones eyes were focused....including mine.

That was a sight & sound I will never forget. I think Stinger sold the Bearcat to some gentleman that just had to have it at a cost of like 6K or 7K before that day was over.

May you rest in peace Stinger Wallace.

Cyclic Hardover

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Depression is a scary area. Can happen to anyone of us and for reasons completely opposite of what one might think.

Zero

My Feedback: (42)

I too was at Bomber Field and visited with Stinger on Saturday. He was always my first call for a test flight of a new plane. If you ever needed someone to test fly a new airplane Stinger was your man. He was an excellent pilot. He could overcome just about any issue with a first flight. Always the life of a party at the fly-ins. He will be missed by many. I hope and pray that what ever the issue was that he can now rest in peace for he is now flying with God.

Rest in peace Stinger. We all hope to see you in our future lives at that great big flying field in Heaven.

Fred

timothy thompson

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my wife came home from work one day happy as can be . Later that night i caught her cutting her wrists, Came to discover she fell down the basement stairs and was in terrible pain. She hid it until it got the best of her. That was 10 years ago she had surgury and is ok now. She had no outward symptoms at all.

boothg-3

I am still in disbelief after seeing and speaking with stinger at bomber field , he will be missed

JEFFHINES73

I didnt Know the man but i do Know about Depression as I have battled it most of my adult life and it is a scary thing . Some people handle it better than others Im sorry for his family and his friend . But I can see him in that big air field in the sky where planes never crash and the skies are allways blue

My smpathy goes out to his family and friends

Jeff hines and family

paco ritter

My Feedback: (51)

Like all of you guys, I knew Stinger thru the world of model airplanes. I first met him I think in the late 80's. Not sure where, as we both traveled the same circles making all the fly-ins in our end of the world. I do remember going to a fly-in at Crockett, Texas that he was part of the hosting bunch, or at least had a big hand in putting it on. That was some years ago. Recently I flew with him at Mt. Pleasant and ran into him at Tyler at their auction/swap meet earlier this year. To my estimation, he was always a good guy, one helluva pilot, and a pretty fun guy to be around. The world of RC has surely lost one of the best all around guys ever that supported the hobby full force. I feel for his family, words can not express my feelings for the people he left behind. A tradgedy for all concerned. Paco Ritter, Texarkana, Arkansas....

DaddySam

My Feedback: (9)

I did not know Stinger, but I share the same occupation and hobby. I too feel for his family and friends, but would also like to include the officers who were invovled in this tragic incident, and their families. Statistically, many officers quit and/or get divorced and develop other problems after an incident like this. I know that there are a number of fellow LEO's in the hobby, and I felt that this needed to be said. I wish that he'd given some sign of the pain he was feeling, and been able to find help before this happened.
Sam

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Sam, well said.

betrayedhope

Just thought I would let everyone know, that stinger's funeral service was this morning. We all will miss him very much.

gushudson

I also went to the Memorial Services yesterday. The place was packed with standing room only. Stinger called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to come to Bomber Field to hang out with him for the weekend. He seemed determined that I come, however I had obligations and told him I couldn't go. I wish I had gone. I met Stinger in the early 80's in Lufkin and sold him his first "big" airplane and we had always remained friends. I can't imagane how hard this must be on his wife and family. I know it's been hard on me. I also know that the Lufkin Club and all of his friends will miss him more that words can describe. Rest in peace Stinger and may God bless you.

Gus Hudson
Sulphur Springs, TX

cap10b

Gus,
Well said, I knew Stinger from the Rally of the Giants in Odessa, Texas. Stinger was doing 3D stuff before any body knew to call it 3D. I also knew him from the Rally we had at Irving RC at Northlake. While I was a not close friend with Stinger, he was larger than life and always full of laughs and good times. I remember that big P-38 he had with two 5.8's, while I never got to see it fly it had one heck of a smoke system on it. When Stinger moved over to Racing I kind of felt like we lost a big bird pilot at the old IMAA Flynn’s that Ken and people like you used to fly at. I remember you and the Christian Eagle show team. Those IMAA days now seem long ago and far away. Jack Haines mentioned at one of the Seagoville fly-ins that we don’t have get tog ethers like that anymore that the old IMAA guys never seem to meet at the fly-ins like we used to.

Farewell Stinger I know we don't have to worry about a place to fly when the time comes to go to the big rally of giants in the sky.


Johnny Snead
Irving RC Flyer past member
Chapter 21 Buzzard past member
IMAA 07001 past member
North Dallas RC
AMA

Gus - I told Bill little and Murray Carver (actually Murray told me but Murray is not very net savvy so I printed out the Lufkin news article for him) and both send their condolences to Stingers Family.

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Johnny, I've flown for the last five years at Bomber Field and it comes pretty close to some of the IMAA Rally of Giants that I've attended. I do remember Stinger doing his usual masterful flying at the ROG in Kansas City and the ROG at North Lake.

I also got to see him put on a good show at Crockett with that huge P-38. As was his usual style, low fast and inverted, it was really something to see. The P-38 was carved from foam and I think he got it from Bob Campbell.

Years back at the Rally of Giants in Lake Charles we were flying our B-25s together. His black B-25 and my multi-tone gray B-25. We were making passes in a "how low can you go show". I am proud to say that I got lower than him on one of the passes. As I recall, I had grass stains on the prop tips. He beat me on the rest of the passes. He liked to find a tree and fly the B-25 around the tree and go briefly out of sight.

Last year at Bomber Field I was watching a P-47 being flown very low, fast, and inverted. I said to myself "he's going to ball this thing up" as I grabbed my video camera. As I continued to to tape, it splattered across the grass with the engine still running. I thought to myself "was Stinger flying that?". When the guys were walking out to the plane I saw Stinger, in his pink cap, in the group and made the assumption that he had been flying. I later found out that he wasn't guilty. Last year at BF he had Dan Parson's famous Hornet. He had spent some time restoring it. On a flight it folded up due to an unknown structural problem. He really was sick about it.

The good Lord broke the mold after making Stinger. He was one of a kind.

cap10b

Ken,
Yes those were the good ole days, I remeber he had a big Silver P 47 at one time. Back then we thought that thing was HUGE. He also used to hover a big Bubba Spivey Jumbo Stinger. I was in awe at someone that could fly that good. Yes I agree that they broke the mold when they made Stinger. I wish someone could have helped him.


JDS

jcflysrc

My Feedback: (50)

I am from Lufkin and have been in Katy for the last ten years. I did not know him but from what all here have said...he will be missed sorely. It is a reminder to us all to live each day to it's fullest, and take every chance you have to let those you care about KNOW IT! You never know when you won't be around to do that. God bless his family, and all those who knew him.

gushudson

Johnny,

Thanks for the kind words for Stinger. When I was working in Lufkin in the early 80s I asked one of the employees at the motel that I was staying if they knew anyone in Lufkin who flew R/C. And that's how I met Stinger. Although he was flying sport planes at the time he was still as excited about that as he was later about big birds. He loved to fly r/c. I really have a lot of funny tales to tell about the two of us but everybody that got to know Stinger up close and personal could do the same thing. Man he was fun to be around.

Take care.

Gus