A BIG LOSS OF A GREAT PILOT~WILL BE DEARLY MISSED!

jc · 12 September 2003, 02:13 AM

On Monday 7th day of September 2003 we lost a great military/aviation pilot "WALTER E BEST" 86 (ex) CEO of BEST LOCK Corp. A Honoree member of The Weir Cook Project/A Call To Honor.

This man was like no other! I could go on w/ a list of great things this man did for others in the state of Indiana but what was really special about him was his knowledge of Aviation & Col. H Weir Cook~Ace~WWI.

A few years back when we were just starting, The Weir Cook Project Mr. Best read an article about our project. He called me & gave his support / blessing. It was so nice to find someone at that time who believed in our cause who understood why I started the project. He Knew exactly why I was so determined to see it through. You see he had a special tie to Col. Weir Cook too. The Col. was one of the first people he met when entering Indianapolis,Indiana. Col. Cook is the person who influenced him as a young man to learn to fly & taught him the ways of aviation. Teaching him the dives & barrel rolls. Mr. Best was one of our "Best" pilots following the footprints of Mr.Cook when it came to knowing the plane,knowing the limits. The respect he had for it was unbelievable. Owning several planes himself last being his PT-17 Stearman,Bi-plane.
Mr. Best was one of three men (that I know of today) who actually knew the pilot "Cookie" . I am so grateful to of spent these last years as a friend to Mr. Best. Learning from him everything I had read & heard about Col. Cook & his ways of flying from WWI through the days of Mr. Best were true. To hear first hand stories of Col.Cook by Mr. Best was exciting. How he made you feel you were there in the moment of flight was incredible. I only hope he saw how much he brought to me by sharing his knowledge of aviation,Col. Cook & history. It was Mr. Best who gave me the strength to talk with the school kids about WWI & Col. Cook as he time and time again taught me.
Mr. Best will be sadly missed by all.
JC

Lufbery · 12 September 2003, 04:31 AM

JC,

I'm sorry for your loss, but it sounds like you were truly blessed by this man's friendship.

Regards,

-Drew

jc · 12 September 2003, 05:06 AM

You bet Lufbery & THANKS!
He's going to be a huge loss to alot of Adults & children alike. He was the type of man who saw a need for a school & Co~founded it in 1965 & is today still going strong.
He was a great mentor in so many fields. Maybe someday his children will tell the story of there father in a book. His story is incredible!
One thing for sure Col. H. Weir Cook had alot of great friends.