A Light has gone out. Dave Ryan R.I.P.
It is with shock and great sadness that we learned yesterday evening of the death of our friend and fellow ILAS member Dave Ryan as a result of an accident in his Rutan Long-EZ aircraft EI-CPI near Dungarvan.
Dave was our current Hon Treasurer, a position he had served in since the foundation of ILAS and indeed prior to that as Hon Treasurer of SAAC of which he was a founder member.
We extend our deepest sympathies to all his family and we hope that they will eventually find some solace in happy memories of a life well lived.
As everyone in ILAS knows, Dave was an extraordinary person. He was endlessly convivial, cheerful, optimistic and charming. To maintain such a high level of curiosity, creativity, experimentation and active flying over a long life was a source of wonder and inspiration to all who knew him.
A homebuilder to his fingertips, Dave built his Long-EZ from plans and was in the process of building a Little Wing autogyro, also from plans. Dave was way ahead of the rest of us in implementing glass cockpit technology and was routinely using CAD and 3D printing for parts for his new project. There are not many octogenarians still leading the way in new technology but Dave was our ‘go-to’ guy in these fields.
Those of us who love aviation, and good aviation company, now have a huge hole to fill in our world. We will mourn his loss, honour his great contribution and forever remember one of life’s true gentlemen.
We await announcement of funeral arrangements
Loman O’Byrne
Chairman
Irish Light Aviation Society
www.ilas.ie
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