Gone West: Mike Andrews (mikea)

ScottM

ScottM

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iBazinga!
Grant just called me and said that a couple of hours ago Mike Andrews passed away suddenly. It was just a couple of weeks ago that we were celebrating his 60th birthday. He was a great guy and friend. I have no other information than that right now. I reached out to his wife Joan and I know that Grant and Dr. Bruce have already spoken with her.

RIP Mike.
 
Oh, frack! Mike was such a nice guy & overcame a bunch of stuff. This one is painful.

RIP, Mike. :(:(:(
 
I don't think I met Mike, or if I did it was only once. However I interacted with him enough to know that he was a very nice guy and will be missed.

RIP, Mike. :(

Oh, and hi @ScottM , ain't seen you 'round these parts in a while
 
You can look long and wide, but will be severely challenged to find a nicer guy. Good to folks, good to animals, great company.

Raise a glass to Mike. If you knew him, you know why; if you didn't, take my word for it - you wish you had.
 
Someone notified me off-line. Met Mike at Gaston’s.

Truly sad to hear. We didn’t keep in close touch but always loved his photos of pups, and can’t imagine what Joan is going through.

RIP. Blue Skies and Tailwinds, Mike.
 
Scott, I’m very sorry to hear this news, I never met him, but remember interacting with him here, in the subforums over the years. I’m always saddened when a member of the POA family flies west.

My condolences! :(

RIP @mikea
 
My condolences. I did meet Mike, and I thought he was a really nice guy. A real pity he had to go so young. RIP.
 
IIRC, Mike was one of the founders of this board.
 
Yes, Mike was one of the founders of this board and a really great guy. As Scott noted, he, Leslie, Dr. Bruce, and I helped him celebrate his 65th birthday less than a month ago.
He learned to fly later in life, and was a founder of the PilotCast with Kent Shook.
He took his Cherokee 235, N284M, to Gaston's at least once, and he drove down there on at least one occasion, as well as up to 6Y9 a couple of times. He loved his dogs and his new wife Joan. (He's loved his dogs longer, but not more!;))
When he couldn't fly for a while he loaned us his plane and we kept it flying for a couple of years. He was never without a new technical gadget to share, and we also shared another group, Uniforum Chicago, where he served on the board.
He was a kind soul, and will be missed!
 
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wsuffa said:
IIRC, Mike was one of the founders of this board.
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Yes. Mike was user number 3, and IIRC he was the tech brain behind the start of PoA. He's probably the one that originally registered the domain!

Mike was also the guy who started the Pilotcast, and when I offered a few suggestions after the first couple of episodes, heartily invited me on board as the third host. That has led to quite a few flying opportunities that have been truly memorable, and we were both flattered one year when, after waiting seemingly forever for our bill at Gaston's, were told that a fan had heard our voices and paid the tab for us. (Thank you, whoever you are - I still don't know!)

One particularly memorable few days with Mike was in 2007. We flew his plane, a Cherokee 235, N284M - Get it? The (PA)28 For Mike? - from his Chicagoland base out to Connecticut for the AOPA Expo. I remember that, while not being particularly "fancy", that plane was clearly impeccably maintained. The DG never once drifted a degree on the entire trip, among other things... And while in Connecticut with the other Pilotcast host @corjulo, we had several other memorable moments, including dinner with Rinker Buck (author of Flight of Passage) and an interview with Alan Klapmeier in the Cirrus jet mockup. We capped it off with a return flight right over Chicago at night, getting one of the only three ORD Bravo clearances I've ever gotten in my life.

Mike was a big guy with a big smile and a big heart, who loved to have fun, work hard, and loved to tinker with gadgets and anything else he could get his hands on. I'm sure Joan is crushed but I'm glad they found each other and I'm quite sure his last few years were his happiest ever.
 
Sad to hear. I met Mike the one time I went to Gaston's. :(
 
I did not live far from Mike. He always had a cable or gadget for something I'd be working on and if I started a sentence with "I need to order..." before I'd even finish he would be offering me one for what I needed and a spare for when that one might one day break! As some have said he loved his dogs. What they did not say is that with all the stuff he built, rebuilding broken dogs was one of his favourite pass times. IMHO you can always tell a lot about a person in the way that they care for animals. Mike loved the forgotten strays and abused adoptee bulldogs. I recall when one of his 'project' dogs was really having a hard time and Mike just held on to him as he passed away. Mike was sobbing and apologizing. That is the mark of a great man right there. I was so happy for him and Joan. Their wedding earlier this year was really special! Mike was so happy. As Grant said, it was just a few weeks ago that several of faced the outside world and joined him to celebrate his 60th. I had no idea that was going to be the last I ever saw him. RIP my friend.
 
ScottM said:
I did not live far from Mike. He always had a cable or gadget for something I'd be working on and if I started a sentence with "I need to order..." before I'd even finish he would be offering me one for what I needed and a spare for when that one might one day break! As some have said he loved his dogs. What they did not say is that with all the stuff he built, rebuilding broken dogs was one of his favourite pass times. IMHO you can always tell a lot about a person in the way that they care for animals. Mike loved the forgotten strays and abused adoptee bulldogs. I recall when one of his 'project' dogs was really having a hard time and Mike just held on to him as he passed away. Mike was sobbing and apologizing. That is the mark of a great man right there. I was so happy for him and Joan. Their wedding earlier this year was really special! Mike was so happy. As Grant said, it was just a few weeks ago that several of faced the outside world and joined him to celebrate his 60th. I had no idea that was going to be the last I ever saw him. RIP my friend.
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Oh, Scott. You said it well, and I admit to being a little broken up.

Thanks for that.
 
@AdamZ was sharing with me how back in 2007 at Gaston's he watched Mike pull up in "Buddy" (N284M) and start unloading stuff. And keep unloading stuff. And keep unloading stuff. That plane was a truck. If you could put it in, it could lift it! A couple years later I remember Mike making the drive down to Gaston's with one of his faithful rescues by his side.

He and Joan just pulled the wedding cake top out of the freezer after 6 months and shared it.

Way too soon.
 
I spoke to Ed Fred the other day and he told me about Mike. It was a shock and sad. So many memories came flooding back, including those of many other POAers that have flown west, Bob Bruneau, Trombair and others. Mike was a gentle and humorous big guy! I recall him landing a Gaston's in his 235 and it was like a clown car when he unloaded it. He just kept taking stuff out and more stuff out and more stuff out. I also remember him recording the pilotcast at Gastons with Kent when he interviewed Dr. Bruce. Mike was a big guy with a big heart. I am saddened by his loss.
 
Oh man. I hate to hear this. I never had the pleasure of meeting Mike personally, but was around when he was really active with getting PoA on the map. I have yet to hear anyone utter a derogatory word about him.

Praying for his family.
 
So sorry to hear this. I never had the pleasure of meeting him. Prayers to his family.
 
This brought me back. Primarily to say I'm heart broken and sad to read this news, and frankly a bit sick to my stomach.

He was such a good guy, and an awesome representative for aviation through the pilot cast. Interestingly, we shared employers for a very brief time and he was the first person I reached out to when that occurred...

:(
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yes. Mike was user number 3, and IIRC he was the tech brain behind the start of PoA. He's probably the one that originally registered the domain!
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You are correct, Mike was user #3 according to the records. I'm not sure if anyone has notified @Greebo or who has contact with him to let him know.

But this also got me going down a rabbit hole of PoA history, looking to see some of the earliest members. While I've been around a while, PoA was about 2.5 years old when I joined and a lot had already gone on in those first couple of years. My dear wife was in the first 100 users (#91, to be specific) and joined within the first 2 weeks of PoA being founded. Some of the earliest users are now only around on rare occasion, some I never really got to know at all, some basically gone entirely but still keep in touch with elsewhere.

The one thing I couldn't find, though, was user #2. There were a few "poadeleted" users (their user IDs changed when that happened). Curious if any PoA historians may remember who that was.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Some of the earliest users are now only around on rare occasion, some I never really got to know at all, some basically gone entirely but still keep in touch with elsewhere.
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I’ve noticed the same and that’s what led me to post the thread -https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/you-ever-wonder-where-they-went.113103/
Often times I’ll search and come across some of the original charter members and get curious as to where they are now. I joined in the summer of 2010 and recall much of the culture pre-Xenforo. I hope each of them are okay, but naturally I’m sure we’ve lost several that we don’t know about. I’m also glad to see original members still participate around here.
Ted DuPuis said:
There were a few "poadeleted" users (their user IDs changed when that happened). Curious if any PoA historians may remember who that was.
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I don’t know all of them, but I know Ron Levy is(was) one of them.
 
Ryanb said:
I don’t know all of them, but I know Rob Levy is(was) one of them.
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My question was more who was user #2. I know which poadeleted Ron was, but I don't think he was user #2. One of those with tribal knowledge might know, though.
 
I remember Mike from the early days here, and I remember something in his sig about giving 200lbs (or whatever number is was) of fuel a free ride wherever he went...

Tail winds, Mike.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My question was more who was user #2. I know which poadeleted Ron was, but I don't think he was user #2. One of those with tribal knowledge might know, though.
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I believe user #2 was another incarnation of Chuck.
 
I did not know Mike except through the POA forum.

They say the measure of a person is what they do in life, but the true measure of a person is how they are remembered by friends and family.

Based upon what I have read here, Mike was truly one of the good ones. Thanks for sharing.

Condolences to his wife Joan, and the family.

RIP Mike.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My question was more who was user #2. I know which poadeleted Ron was, but I don't think he was user #2. One of those with tribal knowledge might know, though.
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Not sure abou #2 specifically, but the folks involved in founding the board were Greebo, Chip, Brian Austin, Bruce, Mike, and Ron, if I recall correctly. I was one of the earlier users (first 10 days or so), but not a founder of the board.

I know Chuck set up a couple of accounts for himself (Was evil Chuck one of them?)
 
Mike is going to be cremated in Grayslake, IL (C81). Joan plans to have a memorial celebration of life for him after COVID-19 gets better so people feel comfortable attending. Hopefully it’ll be this year, but she doesn’t want anyone to come down with COVID-19 as a result of this.
 
EdFred said:
I believe user #2 was another incarnation of Chuck.
Click to expand...

wsuffa said:
Not sure abou #2 specifically, but the folks involved in founding the board were Greebo, Chip, Brian Austin, Bruce, Mike, and Ron, if I recall correctly. I was one of the earlier users (first 10 days or so), but not a founder of the board.

I know Chuck set up a couple of accounts for himself (Was evil Chuck one of them?)
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Another incarnation of Chuck would make sense. I do seem to remember Evil Chuck from the early days before he essentially disappeared from the board. Maybe that's a PoA Deleted somewhere.

Chip was #4. Brian Austin was in the single digits but not 2. What was Ron is now a poadeleted so it's hard to see. Maybe?

Thinking about it, I seem to remember when I first joined, Chuck just had his normal "Greebo" username but he had the evil eyes avatar.

Doing a bit more digging, it looks as though Bruce knew at one point:

bbchien said:
IIRC I'm #6.
#2 wanted to run this board like it was AT&T. It just couldn't take it.
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Ted DuPuis said:
Chip was #4. :
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Chip was a lot of fun when he was here, he spent almost the whole time at Gastons 2005 giving folks rides in his Extra 300L:

i-b2Qh7mz-X3.jpg


This is Chip buckling Toby in for a ride:

i-J7BJwtT-X3.jpg


She was an other early member who hasn't been here in a long time.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You are correct, Mike was user #3 according to the records. I'm not sure if anyone has notified @Greebo or who has contact with him to let him know.

But this also got me going down a rabbit hole of PoA history, looking to see some of the earliest members. While I've been around a while, PoA was about 2.5 years old when I joined and a lot had already gone on in those first couple of years. My dear wife was in the first 100 users (#91, to be specific) and joined within the first 2 weeks of PoA being founded. Some of the earliest users are now only around on rare occasion, some I never really got to know at all, some basically gone entirely but still keep in touch with elsewhere.

The one thing I couldn't find, though, was user #2. There were a few "poadeleted" users (their user IDs changed when that happened). Curious if any PoA historians may remember who that was.
Click to expand...
Ron Levy or Joe Williams. Can't remember exactly.
 
I got to fly with Mike once, or at least give him a ride. Picked him up at Campbell and he and I flew down and had dinner with Bruce. He also came to town a few years later and I chauffered him around. He flew in to get one of his (I believe his last) rescue pups. After lunch and conversation we loaded up the pup and Mike flew him back to his new home.

He always wanted to help out. Last year at 6Y9 he was adamant about us getting a weather cam install and brought up all sorts of cameras and parts and everything we needed. We didn't/haven't because we dont have an internet connection up there, but he wanted to help out with that too.

Always a great guy, always laughing and smiling. Definitely someone we lost too soon.
 
ScottM said:
This was just a few months ago. Mike was so happy!
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Love the photo! I didn't realize he had gotten married recently. :(

I think I know who everyone is except the couple behind Scott... and the bride.
 
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