I just ran across your July 2002 article about Tommy Martin and his sons (Sons follow father to create Midwest aviation legend).
My dad, Frank Reinhold of Sioux City, learned to fly in an Aeronca C3 in about 1937 or so, and his instructor was Tommy Martin. My brother, Frank Martin “Marty” Reinhold (deceased), was named for Tommy.
Dad told us of a time when he saw Tommy take off in an old Cub into a strong wind, and land it on the same runway without ever changing direction. He just backed off the power and let the wind fly him “backwards” until he was on final again and landed. Must have been something to watch.
Dad passed the flying bug on to Marty and me. Marty was an Army pilot with two tours in Southeast Asia, and flew until his retirement after 26 years. He then went to work for FlightSafety International in Wichita as an instructor on Citations until his death three years ago.
I was also bitten, but didn’t take up flying until the mid 1990s. I haven’t done much more than fly the patch and a few cross countrys around Oregon. I owned an ultralite for a bit, too.
Well, thanks for the walk down memory lane. I always heard stories about Tommy Martin. Guess he used to visit our farm a lot when I was too young to remember it. Funny how one man can inspire a whole family. Wish I could have known him.
WALLY REINHOLD
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