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The Ramblings of a previously Lunatic Fringe (to quote Bill Liscomb’s detractors) Hang Glider Pilot- continuation from the early days in Southern California circa 1971 –
I dare say the story would be incomplete without a mention of Jack. Some of you know whom of I speak…”JACK” , I think at this point we need to declare he was the official “JACK” of Hang Gliding. I should simply toss out a list of interesting little known trivia concerning Jack Lambie.
His love of flight in general , was so strong he never ate eggs…chicken was OK , he loved chicken but he disliked the thought of eating an unborn bird!
With newlywed wife Karen, Jack was the first to partner a “tandem” bicycle trip around the entire Planet Earth. 1976 they left Orange County & circumnavigated the globe for 18 months on a customized chromed Peugeot Classic Tandem Bike, Karen used a bent spoke to shift the front two chain wheel gears after the derailleur broke. A kangaroo jumped out of the bush in Australia broadside kicking the bike over while they were at cruising speed on the Outback…Jacks knee swelled up like a melon, he got it surgically “fixed” when they pedaled into the Sydney Soccer stadium – The Sydney Football team doctor made the “free” repairs! When asked what the most common food was worldwide, They said Chicken, every country every race every language eats chicken.
Jack wore one tee shirt on the bike trip around the world, once while staying at the Lambie house I was asked to get a “rag” and polish the car…I went to a drawer and pulled out a thread bare white holey cotton fruit of the loom , as I was just about to soak it in Turtle Wax Karen Gave out a blood curdling Scream, “Neil STOP What Are You Doing ?”
That’s Jack’s Tour shirt it is priceless he wore that every day of the trip ! –
After she regained the color in her face –I apologized …
Jack’s Favorite saying … If it’s worth doing …it’s worth doing “shitty”, let the next guy build it perfectly, we just need to make it so it works at all… I think that concept helped Paul MacCready win the Kramer Prize.
Second favorite saying …All Play & no work make Jack …A Very Interesting Fellow. This Karen had silk screened on a sweatshirt she gave him for his birthday.
In the spring Jack would go out to Corona and find a Raven’s Nest, he would scuttle a hatchling out of the nest and for the next 2 months feed the Black Bird in the living room till it was , domesticated. He would take Ravens he tamed this way, up in his Sailplane on long cross country attempts. When the thermals would be too difficult to eyeball , Jack would open the canopy and release the Raven , to allow it to find the nearest thermals he would then follow the bird from one to the next while all the other sailplane pilots were dropping from the afternoon skyline.
…More next time …
, and Telluride were full of "dare devils" back then, but Jack was truly special. 