Vale: Dennis Coffey (Army Porters)

[MakeItHappenCaptain]

For those who knew him, Dennis passed yesterday morning after a long illness.

I believe his record of non-stop from Carnarvon to Brisbane and being sent back to Amberley in one go in a Porter still stands.

My old man took me down to see a Porter that had arrived at Casino when I was about ten. He had a chat with the pilot, who promptly took me out to the aircraft, told me what to turn, push, move and then said, "There you go, young fella. You've just started your first plane."

Not the only reason I got into aviation, but one of my first experiences.

I only met him for the first time since then a few weeks ago, but he had been a friend of my father's for several years.

In his own words, "I came in with the Porters and I left with the Porters."

[Avgas172]

Pilatus Aircraft Enthusiasts - World Record Flight (http://www.pilatus-enthusiasts.com.au/pc6records.html)
Happy Flying Dennis .....

[nitpicker330]

Excellent story but I'm amazed he let himself run out of gas at 14,000' 25 nm from BNE...:ooh:

[Avgas172]

I'm not sure he 'let' himself run out of fuel .... it was a non stop record attempt .... however he did in fact run out of fuel.:ok:

[TBM-Legend]

Another good guy gone.

Tailwinds Dennis...

[Flingwing47]

Checking into a hotel many moons ago, the delightful young thing behind the counter was so overwhelmed by Dennis's presence that she started calling him "Mr Tea". Kept doing so for the next 2 days....cause of much hilarity.
A bit later in life our paths crossed in Canberra..his Labrador had just had pups. I was lucky to get one...young Sundance spent many hours sitting next to me (suitably strapped in of course) in a Hughes 500 doing fire work in the ACT.

Another good bloke bites the dust :sad:

[nitpicker330]

He must have known the fuel was about to run out, the gauges would have been knocking on empty for a while!!!! So in my mind he certainly did "let himself run out of gas"...... a big gamble in my book....

Anyway RIP to another Aviator.....

[MakeItHappenCaptain]

How about we refrain from having a go at the deceased, nitpicker. Not really understanding what you are trying to achieve on a memorial thread.

If you want to start a separate thread, fill yer boots, but there's a time and place and this isn't it.

[DeeSea]

A sign that we are all getting old!

All the the best Dennis.

Len H..............l.l

[Feather #3]

RIP, Dennis!

I suspect the ACT touch-football mob might miss you more than the aviators?

G'day ;)