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Ron Blum RIP


John Mininger

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I just received the December issue of The Mooney Flyer and read the Ron Blum died. I was floored!

I first met Ron at Oshkosh. I don’t remember the year, but it was when the Mooney M10 project was still ongoing. He wasn’t there in any official capacity; he was there just sort of “hanging-out”. We spoke for a while about Mooneys, and I remembered being very impressed with his knowledge of aerodynamics, and of Mooneys in general.

After that, I attended pretty much all the forums that he presented at Oshkosh through the years. I remember one time he gave two forums back-to-back in different locations, and he left the mouse for his laptop on the podium of his last presentation. I had the privilege of retrieving it for him.

The last time that I saw him was at Sun n Fun this past April. He gave a presentation, and we talked in the hall afterwards for what must have been a half hour.

I was shocked when I heard of his passing.

Ron will be greatly missed in the general aviation world.

Anyone know the cause of death?

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His wife reported a series of strokes and he was under hospice care for a day or two before he passed. His funeral is tomorrow and I plan to attend, so long as my current head cold doesn't get any worse.

I will miss him! We got together regularly and were always tossing around various ideas to improve Mooneys or GA in general.

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

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1 hour ago, KSMooniac said:

His wife reported a series of strokes and he was under hospice care for a day or two before he passed. His funeral is tomorrow and I plan to attend, so long as my current head cold doesn't get any worse.

I will miss him! We got together regularly and were always tossing around various ideas to improve Mooneys or GA in general.

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
 

Thanks Scott.

I'm in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend his funeral.

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I have a small group of aeronautical engineer friends that are kind enough to answer my questions and beat around ideas from time to time. I try not to bug them too often. But Ron always seemed happy to hear from me and answer whatever  question I had and gently point out the flaws in my understanding. I will truly miss our interactions which were always so informative and pleasurable.

Skip

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The last time I remember talking to Ron, we were standing in the hallway outside of a room where he had just presented a forum. 

He was explaining to me the aerodynamics of a golf ball. Apparently, those little dimples are beneficial to its flight.

Way over my pay grade.

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I attended his memorial service on Saturday and it was a great tribute to him.  There were at least two other Mooney owners there that I know of.  Here is the obit in case anyone missed it, or wants to write a tribute:  Ronald Blum Obituary (1964 - 2022) - Wichita, KS - Wichita Eagle (legacy.com) 

Donations for his memorial can be sent to the EAA as well...that would make him very happy!  I'm going to miss him greatly!

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