He has many talents but the one I like best is his painting. In my opinion he is an artist, worthy of rank and recognition.
He dearly wanted to paint my A-36A and I tried to describe the rather dismal picture it was itself.
This did not discourage him.
He had seen other photos I sent him, none of them pretty, but one had a faint Vesuvius in the background.
This did not discourage him. He, of course, had no opportunity to see the original scene.
So he conjured, out of his head, a picture of me taking off with Vesuvius looming (too close of course for reality) a great background for the takeoff picture.
Note the retracting gear, and as was always the case, one gear would come up faster than the other.
And, of course, our field was flat and treeless but he was not painting history. he was conjuring a vision which I find magnificent.
