John McQuire was a good friend of mine and used to let me fly his Colt around Memphis, in the late '70's. I had recovered his wings for him, under my A&P instructor's supervision. I loved that plane, and looked for a Colt or Tri-Pacer before I got into 150's. We lost John to a heart attack in the mid '80's, but his wife kept the Colt, as their teenage daughter wanted to learn to fly it when she became old enough. They had moved to Kansas before John's death, and the Colt was tied down outside. It was destroyed by hail and wind damage, just as the daughter was coming of age to fly it. It was like losing John all over again for all of us.
