Airplane Repo Star, Kevin Lacey, Gone West

[RyanB]

Airplane Repo Star, Kevin Lacey has Gone West.

 

[RussR]

I met him at Sun N Fun several years ago, got to talk with him for a while. Seemed like a genuinely nice guy, big supporter of the future of aviation. Sad to see him gone.

 

[Lowflynjack]

So sad. He was a friend. So many people only knew him from Airplane Repo, but he was so much more. He truly cared for the kids he worked with. Here is my post about Tango Thirty One Aero Club and the great work Kevin was doing. Click here.

The last time I saw him was at Oshkosh and he was running, in his trademark worn out boots, to an interview. I yelled out, "Kevin" and he waived and said "howdy" and kept running. I yelled, "Kevin" again and this time he saw it was me and ran over to say hello. While we were catching up, a young man came over and said he hated interrupt, but he wondered if he could get an selfie. Kevin was happy to oblige.

Blue skies. Walking in clouds in those boots with holes in the toes should be fun! We'll miss you down here.

 

[mandm]

That’s sad. RIP

 

[frfly172]

Blue sky’s may he RIP

 

[ytodd]

My daughter and her friend joined me at OSH 2016, we had parked in the North 40 and was setting up camp when Kevin parked next to us in a clapped out 172 he flew all the way from Texas. He was very kind and took photos with us.

He got his camp all setup and left to go make the rounds at the show. While he was gone several fellow campers "repo'd" his tent and all his camp gear.

Later that evening when he came back he was quite surprised all of his stuff was gone. Several of the fellow campers were "helping" him look for it all when one finally said "Hey maybe it all got repo'd" Kevin knew he had been had and was laughing hysterically. It was a great time. God speed Kevin.

 

[Half Fast]

CAVU, sir.

 

[Lowflynjack]

Kevin parked next to us in a clapped out 172 he flew all the way from Texas.

He named that plane, SlowHawk. He flew me in it for our photoshoot of his 150s. During the flight, I texted my buddy the best Kevin Lacey photo ever... a half smoked cigarette in the ashtray! He was truly and old school pilot.

 

[Racerx]

I only wish the show showed how much he cared about aviation and teaching the younger generation. A great steward. Blue skies and tailwinds

 

[Lowflynjack]

I only wish the show showed how much he cared about aviation and teaching the younger generation. A great steward. Blue skies and tailwinds

That wouldn't get ratings! He wouldn't talk about the show... it was a way he made money and his fame from the show benefited his club.

 

[RussR]

That wouldn't get ratings! He wouldn't talk about the show... it was a way he made money and his fame from the show benefited his club.

The way he told me the story (and my memory of this could be extremely inaccurate, it's been several years, so please correct me if you know differently) was that he wanted to do a show about the behind-the-scenes operations at an airport, kind of like "day in the life of an airport". But Discovery said "yeah, maybe, but do this other show (Airplane Repo) first and then maybe we'll talk about that show".

So, yeah, I got the impression that Airplane Repo was just an attempt to get his foot in the door.

 

[Lowflynjack]

The way he told me the story (and my memory of this could be extremely inaccurate, it's been several years, so please correct me if you know differently) was that he wanted to do a show about the behind-the-scenes operations at an airport, kind of like "day in the life of an airport". But Discovery said "yeah, maybe, but do this other show (Airplane Repo) first and then maybe we'll talk about that show".

So, yeah, I got the impression that Airplane Repo was just an attempt to get his foot in the door.

That makes sense. They like the drama!

There was a cool show called Wing Nuts about MotoArt, a company that makes furniture out of airplane parts. It was an awesome show with two nice owners and a big angry guy. The angry guy died and the show went off the air. People wanted the drama.