Bryan Stearns

I've started this page to jot down a few flying memories... Please add your own! (Mark - Thanks for setting up this site! If this page wasn't how you intended to arrange things, feel free to rearrange!)

Geoff was my instrument flight instructor (as well as my friend).

I've got a lot of memories of spending time in close quarters without being able to see him: when learning to fly on instruments, the student wears a hood that restricts his view to the instrument panel. The instructor does the looking-out-the-window part, and Geoff wouldn't hesitate to gloat about the view (as I'd turn messy holding-pattern circles over the Berkeley Marina, he'd watch the sunset over the Golden Gate).

He was a very patient instructor - I know, because I was a slow learner :-). We did much of our training with me flying his airplane, and I remember rather firm landing (er, "arrival") at Stockton where I actually looked over to make sure that the landing gear legs weren't protruding from the wing tops - he never said a word.

I'll add more to this page once I have a chance to dig out my logbook, which will remind me of the details of several of our flights. I know the longest had to be my instrument cross-country flight; three instrument approaches were required, and we'd planned them heading down the coast to Santa Barbara, where we had dinner. Unfortunately, when we went to leave, we found that the fuel depot was closed due to a bomb threat at an adjacent facility, and the closest gas at that hour (almost midnight by the time we'd get there) was Van Nuys or LAX! We headed for Van Nuys, then flew home, arriving at about 4 AM... and because this was a required training flight, I had to remain "under the hood" the whole time.

I'm also trying to find a photo I took of Geoff's encampment at Oshkosh the first year I went (1994?). I'd arrived early and was thrilled to have a parking (& camping) spot at the runway-end of Row 20 (which means that the 7:30AM Air Wisconsin 737 wake-up call went by about 100 yards away); Geoff got there a little later, and was able to get a spot at the other end of Row 25 or so, right next to the shower building -- which he promptly ran an extension cord to, to power all the gadgets he'd brought. I'm pretty sure I have a photo that shows "TV glow" on the inside of his tent.

Tom Neale

I also flew extensively with Geoff as my instructor. I completed my Instrument and Commercial Ratings with Geoff. I started my Flight Instructor training with him, but it was cut short when each of got much busier at work.

Most of my training with Geoff was flown in my airplane. On one departure from Stockton after a missed approach, he patiently waited about 10 minutes for me to notice that the airplane was not performing as well as it should (we had a rather slow climb going). Eventually I noticed that I had failed to retract the anding gear. When I noticed and corrected my mistake, I could feel the grin from the right seat. Geoff figured that I learned something from that. Another time he was happily chattering away at me while I tried to fly an approach into Concord with a tricky cross wind. I finally asked him to stop talking and let me concentrate on flying - another lesson learned: it's OK to ask your passengers (and even your instructor) to be quiet!

One late night after a long cross country with me under the hood, we got back to Reid Hillview airport in San Jose. I put the landing gear down and felt it go down. But the green light never came on to indicate it was down and locked. We spent most of the next hour talking to San Jose International's tower (Reid's was closed) and performing flybys in the dark while they looked at it from the safety of the ground with a light. The green light just wouldn't come on. Eventually we decided to land anyway - we had to at some point and better for it to be on our terms. I declared an emergency ( a mere formality at that point), and told the tower we'd be shutting down the engine prior to landing to save the propellor in case the gear did not support us. Geoff decided that since he was the more experienced pilot, he should fly this landing, depsite the fact that it was my airplane. I didn't put up much of an argument. Remember, this is all occuring at about 11 PM in the dark and I was very tired after a long night of flying.

On the first try, we shut the engine down and set up the glide to the long runway at SJC. After about a minute and a half, we didn't like the apparent touch down point, restarted the engine and told the tower we'd be going around to try it again. By this time the fire trucks are all sitting out there next to the runway watching us. On the second try, it all worked. We got the prop stopped, the glide slope was good for touching down about a third of the way down the 8000 foot long runway. We landed gently and rolled to a stop. The fire trucks pulled up and we all got out to look. Everything was fine, the gear was in fact down and locked but there was not light. It later turned out to be a broken wire on a sensor switch. Geoff remained calm, collected and professional through the entire event, setting quite a good example for me to follow.

Geoff was a pilot (and one of the best I've ever known), not an airplane mechanic. While I always enjoy getting my hands dirty and working on the plane, Geoff was quite content to hand his plane over to the A&P and write the check. After years of joking about it, I finally made him a special placard for the cowling on his plane: "No user servicable parts inside."

Below, Andy Stadler reminds me of the west coast Usenet fly-in at Vancouver, Washington. Andy, your memory is excellent. That was the only time that I have ever left my Cardinal in the hands of someone else - and those hands were indeed Geoff's. The skydive out of my own airplane was fun and uneventful. Geoff's descent in my airplane was not. It turned out that a limit switch in the flap system chose that flight to fail. Geoff could not retratct the small amount of flaps we had extended for my exit. He was convinced something was badly broken and called me on the radio for advice on what I wanted him to do. Geoff asking me what to do? The tables were turned indeed! It turned out to be simple and easily repaired before we left Vancouver.

I learned a lot from Geoff. I still use those skills and decision making processes every time I fly. Thank you Geoff, for all you taught me.

Mark Stein

So many memories, many of which are a jumble right now. But I wanted to get at least a few words written here...

Geoff conducted at least two of my biennial flight reviews, and it was always a pleasure to fly with him. I always learned something new, and had fun doing it! He had the incredible combination of patience and encouragement while sitting in the right seat. He had suggested to me that I might consider going for the next rating -- commercial -- and so he introduced some manuevers for me to try from the commercial flight test. Next thing I knew, I was flying Pylons on Eights using electric towers in the bay near Moffett. With a very noticeable wind. Quite a sense of accomplishment. I know Geoff had as much fun as I did. He had a real knack for seeing things through the eyes of his students.

Other fond memories of flying with Geoff: going with him to Oshkosh a few years ago, with a stop in Truckee on the way back. rec.aviation flyins -- Harris Ranch was one of his favorite destinations. Scoring a ride in the Budweiser blimp at Sun 'n Fun a few years ago.

Steve MacKenzie^?

I was shocked to learn of the loss of Geoff Peck. Although I have not seen him in many years, often when I fly I remember things he taught me.

I met Geoff in 1989, when we were both working at Apple. There was a very active pilots group there, and Geoff supplied a lot of the "glue" to keep it together. He organized many lunch time and dinner fly-outs; at times 5 or 6 planes were involved, and the only empty seats were the ones which. if occupied, would have put the aircraft over max weight. The first one I went on, I was hooked, and decided to actually get the pilots license I had flirted with years before. I remember a flight or two in Arrow 6506C.

The icing on the cake was a ground school course that Geoff taught, on the Apple campus. It was so much more than a ground school, as the discussions ranged far beyond that basic knowledge needed for the written - there was so much guidance about decision process, judgement, and special circumstances. Geoff was eager to share what he knew.

Scheduling constraints prevented me from taking my primary training with Geoff. At the time, Geoff instructed mostly at night. He would joke that sooner or later, some stubborn examiner is going to write on one of his student's tickets "Day VFR Prohibited" due to the student's lack of daytime flight experience

In all, Geoff's ground school, his contributions to rec.aviation, and his professionalism, had tremendous impact on me. Our flying community will miss him greatly. My heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends.

Vikas Kapur

I would echo a lot of what Steve wrote above - except in my case it was 1992 and the venue was Geoff's ground school for pilots at Silicon Graphics. I was working at Cadence Design and had some flying experience already -- I had heard of Geoff through friends and through the grapevine and figured I could go ahead and sign up anyway.

Geoff was a lot of fun and a wonderful person to be around. Erudite, funny -- that ground school was a great bunch of folks and I still keep in touch with a few. I'd e-mail Geoff now and then and much enjoyed his writings on rec.aviation. At one point several of us had visited him at home and got to meet Fortran and cohorts. And yes, the fly-outs were a lot of fun with the "Geoff squadron" in formation.

Geoff did a tremendous amount for the aviation community and hopefully his legacy will carry on. He was always available with a friendly word and always had time for anyone with queries. He was "old" Silicon valley -- just a great personality and someone we all found uplifting and a genuine pleasure to be around. He will be much missed.

Sept 2007 - Just a small note -- it has been a year since Geoff's rememberance -- just happened to be (re-)reading Ernest Gann recently -- he talks of friends and comrades who have closed their logbooks the last time. If anyone is reading this and would like to get together and talk of flying and such ( true stories only ) -- drop me a note anytime. I'm in Sunnyvale here in South Bay -- vkapur at eskimo dot com

with regards , Vikas

Glenn Inn

I'd have to say that the aviation industry has lost a pioneer. I can remember back into the 1980's when rec.aviation was an active and close group sharing so many flying stories. People looked up to Geoff's comments on that newsgroup. So many of us were either directly instructed by, or e-structed by Geoff. In that sense, Geoff's legacy on aviation will last beyond his corporeal self!

I had probably one of the most memorable flight training experiences with Geoff -- the initial issuance of a CFI. The training was thorough - imagine having to un-learn being left-handed and then learn being right handed ... that's a good analogy for the transition to and mastery of flying from the right seat.

But the real kicker for this rating was the phone call I got from Geoff on the week of my checkride with the FAA... It's 10am on Monday morning, and Geoff calls me and kind of humorously asks me: "How soon can you get to FSDO?" - here I thought that we were in trouble... I said "probably 10 minutes, my office is right under the departure path from SJC, where the FSDO's offices are, why?"

"Well, they called me and asked where my CFI candidate was... it seems that when we scheduled your test, they wrote down Monday but told us Wednesday. Right now the examiner's there waiting for you. If you can get there now, you can take the test, otherwise we'll have to rescshedule" NOW anyone who remembers back then knows that a reschedule of a CFI checkride entails at least a 30 day delay. So I hopped into my car, and bopped off to FSDO. I meet Geoff in the lobby, and give him all my flight logs - he's going to start filling out the 8710 paperwork, while I go and start my 3 hour oral.

And... the test had to be done in Geoff's Arrow because the plane that I had been using for my training, a Socata Trinidad, was unavailable.

The good news, though, was that I passed this ride - even with its surprise date change. As a comment after the test, the FAA Examiner mentioned to me that about 2 hours into the oral he knew that this was a "pass" - that I credit to Geoff's work.

I will miss Geoff, but will carry forward his memories and contributions to aviation.

Bill Hale

Like the others, I came to know Geoff through the internet. I learned a lot by reading Geoff's stuff and had fun sparring with him on occasion. It was a great diversion on the few crummy days at HP.

It's been mentioned before- that the other person on the internet might be a dog! So I had no idea what Geoff looked like... this was in the days when lines were 80 characters period.

So I took my seat on a 757 one day in Denver; one of the pair right up by the door. It took me about twenty seconds to discover that I was sitting beside Geoff! What a treat. It was the fastest trip to the west coast ever. We had a great time.

That Geoff got creamed in a plane is just the worst. Confirms my fear that the damn things are dangerous. I'll give him a thought every time I start the engine from now on.

I never flew with him in a real airplane.

Very sad indeed. Bill Hale, Loveland CO

Jeff Glover

I have a few stories. I was in Alaska, having lunch and watching seaplanes in Anchorage when I got the email about Geoff, the day after it happened.

Flight Training

I started my flight training while I was living in Oregon back in 1989. I had received a modest amount of money after a car had rear-ended me, and the settlement got put in the bank, earmarked for flight training.

Before this, I was an avid reader of rec.aviation, the newsgroups Geoff had managed into a valuable resource prior to the widespread use of the Internet.

I found a good instructor at a field near my workplace (Aurora, 3S2) and began my training in earnest, flying 3-4 times per week. In mid- training, I received a job offer from SGI, and up- and-moved to Sunnyvale. In the 2 weeks I had between jobs, I emailed Geoff asking for a recommendation for a flight instructor in the Bay Area. To my surprise, he took me on himself, despite a busy schedule, with the caveat that most of the training be in the evenings and on weekends. I happily accepted this, and once I arrived I began my training again.

Alas, like many, I hadn't set aside enough money to continue, and the move had drained my resources more than expected, so I put the flight training on hiatus for about a year. Geoff was patient, emailing or calling about once a month. We met for dinner a few times, just to talk about things aviation, or just chat in general about computers or to go visit his cats and relax.

In mid-1991, I resumed my training and in January 1992, I received the coveted ticket! It took 5 tries. 3 cancellations due to weather, 1 due to mechanical, and the winning ride was due to Geoff's idea to suggest an alternate destination that wasn't socked in with the notorious Tule fog. Geoff and I celebrated with a trip to Harris Ranch (3O8) and I found out just how much fun landing on a "sidewalk" in a 10 knot crosswind could be... I was grinning from ear-to-ear as dinner was served.

There are many fun memories from the training. One trip involved a CFI student, I believe it was Glenn Inn, in the right front seat, Geoff sitting the back. We'd gone on a tour of the bay, landed in Half Moon Bay, then were doing some unusual attitude recovery training near the coast there. Geoff quietly let Glenn put me through a series of gut-wrenching maneuvers with my eyes closed, and I finally called "uncle" and let Glenn (and Geoff) know I had had enough. I had never gotten sick in an airplane (we'll forget about the Convair 580 experience with 6 missed approaches in Benton Harbor back in the early 70s...) and I wasn't about to mess up Squadron 2's C172. I remember being disappointed, then pleased as Geoff explained how it was all okay, that it was a lesson for both of us.

I, too, got the tongue-in-cheek admonition about the "Day VFR Prohibited" endorsement, and thought it apropos - I think I had 80 hours going into the flight exam, 50 of which were night.

[I will be adding more memories soon]

Andy Stadler

The thing about knowing or flying with Geoff is that it's hard to pick out any one memory to share. There are just too many jumbled together. So here are a few brief thoughts.

I was happy to see a mention (by Steve MacKenzie^?) of the Apple ground school. Geoff was the lead instructor but I was a TA in almost every class we taught (both primary and instrument). That led me into all sorts of adventures like organizing SJC Tower & Bay Approach tours, crazy photo missions ("hi, I'd like the keys to every airplane that's not flying today, please?"), and of course numerous fly-ins.

The level of instruction in the ground schools was so high that, by virtue of TA'ing them, I was able to take and pass the ground instructor ratings. (Granted, these may be two of the most useless certificates in aviation. But if anyone needs a signoff to take their written, drop me a line!) (Wait, do these things have a currency requirement?) What was interesting is that I passed them without studying or buying yet another set of those big red books (Gleim?) - just the sheer osmosis of hanging out with Geoff a few hours a week and talking about aviation.

To this day, I repeat Geoff's crazy story about walking out to his tie-down, a few days after New Years, and discovering a mysterious hole in the top of his wing (and, IIRC, a matching dent in the bottom). Geoff is the only person I know, other than my WWII-vet grandfather, who has taken a bullet in his airplane! Of course Geoff used the story not just to entertain but to reinforce the importance of careful preflight inspections. Always the instructor.

I also have fond memories of a west coast fly-in at Vancouver, Washington. I haven't talked to Tom Neale in ages.... Tom, wasn't that the time that you let Geoff take the left seat and you jumped out of your very own airplane? That must have been a lot of fun for both of you.

Although Geoff wasn't my CFII, we had made a plan (with approval of my CFII) that I would fly home from the fly-in, in Geoff's Arrow, and it would be my very long, one-way, instrument XC. Of course, this fly-in was just so much fun that nobody wanted to leave, and we got a pretty late start. We had also made a plan to stop at my mom's, who lives in the middle of nowhere. After a very wobbly night NDB into Montague airport, we called and said, "we're here!" She drove out, picked us up, drove us back to her house, fed us strawberry pie, drove us back to the airport, and generally couldn't believe we were getting back in the plane (by this time it was nearly midnight). After more approaches, simulated emergencies, etc, we finally got back to RHV at around 4am. What a trip.

Andy Stadler, San Francisco, CA

Wiley Sanders

Sadly, we don't keep up with old friends as much as we should. Only now did I find out about Geoff's death.

Memories of Geoff for me are inextricably linked to the "good old days" of Silicon Valley. We all had time for things like Apple Ground School, random flyins to random places, and getting together on a moment's notice. Geoff was my CFI, and the "Pope" of rec.aviation back then.

The story I like to tell is of one particularly disorganized (on my part, not Geoff's) simulated engine-out emergency down near Morgan Hill. As I prepared my final approach into what turned out to be a field full of ripe pumpkins (no doubt perpendicular to the furrows), Geoff admonished "Pumpkins are Death!! Pumpkins are Death!!" before shoving the throttle forward for our go-around. "Pumpkins are Death!!" will always remain part of my aviation vocabulary.

From time to time I've wondered when the old rec.aviation crew would get together. It's very sad that Geoff won't be able to make it in person, but none of us will forget him.

Wiley Sanders, Lafayette, CA