I grew up in a rural area in central Mississippi. (Of course, almost all of Mississippi is rural.) There was a businessman in my town, Tommy Rose, who loved aviation with all his heart. If you looked at the FAA aircraft registration for my county, almost half of them were registered to Tommy. In fact, he owned a company called Top Fight Aviation.

He also raced aircraft, and was a big proponent of sport class aviation. Back in 2002, he was in a race at the Reno 2002 air races, and crashed. (The photo above is of Tommy and his plane "Ramblin' Rose.") Details of the crash and, more importantly, his aviation background can be found by reading this post in a discussion forum.

The only reason I bring this up is that Tommy Rose is an inspiration to me, as he was to many. His love for flying was infectious, and is one of the reasons I became a pilot. His memory and legacy as a sport class aviator will live on for years to come.