This morning my mobile remained “beeping”. I was scared to look as it might/could be, that Kiev had fallen.
But no it was n’t, though it is too bad/sad for words what’s happening over there. More in my Wednesday blog.

Ingo passed away….. and from all parts of the world I got messages.
“The great man has left us. Gliding in Australia is infinitely stronger for having had Ingo, and will never be quite the same without him. Fly high.”
By Skyrace GP

Here is my personal tribute for an outstanding and erudite person;
I got to know Ingo in Rieti in Italy during the WGC in 1985 ,where he won in open class.
That was the beginning of a real friendship between our family from The Netherlands and several families from Australia.
Bruce Brockhoff, Peter Griffith, Paul Mander, Terry Cubley, Michael Giles and Tony Tabart….they all flew the Pre-worlds in 1984 and that is where it all started. The start of regular visits to Australia and to Tocumwal.
The Aussies invited us and till now we still visit our friends over there and some visited us here in The Netherlands.
In December 85, I saw the WW2 hangar for the first time and got to know people as Bill Riley and his family, Corckey and Peter who worked with David Riley in the “work shop” .
Bill told me how Ingo walked over the beams in the top of the hangar…scary….to keep the wooden beams in good order.
In between Bill supported Ingo with his competition soaring, as he saw straight away, already in 1969 , that Ingo was more than good!!!
That Christmas, Ingo and Teresa invited us for a drink in their caravan and we had a great time .Ingo got a bottle of “something very strong” [might have been Slivovitch ] and we happily drunk through the afternoon. Will never forget Ingo’s loud laughter and the movement of his whole body whilst laughing.

Through the years we became more and more involved with Sportavia and were regular customers making more and more friends also in Tocumwal town.
When Don, one of the owners, decided to sell he asked George, if he wanted to buy his shares and so the Schuit family George and I and Dennis and Inge got involved.
From customer to owner, a huge difference.
Ingo had been there for 20 years already and he kept being a great and never tiring factor.
Our Dennis died and Ingo wrote a message on the mortuary card, Ingo married Judy and we attended the wedding in their garden.
We had customers who specially flew over from Europe, Argentina or Canada to fly with Ingo.
One Canadian elderly gentleman threw his money on the desk in the office and for that money he wanted to fly as much as possible in the back of a 2-seater with Ingo. His last wish.

After some time Sportavia got a new owner in Richard who, after one season had enough of it and auctioned the lot off. It broke our hearts.
Ingo and all the other employees , I was one of them , lost their jobs unexpected.
Soon a modest new gliding club was formed and Ingo became the CFI from the Southern Riverina Gliding club and he and Judy worked hard to get some gliding activities going again, first out of the hangar of Mike Toth, later acquired by Bruce Wilson. Some years later they had to move out and managed to get some room in the old Sportavia hangar that had been sitting locked up and deserted for more than a decade.

Lumpy ,who bought the hangar for a dollar as I heard , did with his partner Sharon a great job to get it back in a good condition. Even the pool was working again and clean and the gardens were beautiful as they were in the past. Compliments for them. Tocumwal was back on track. Meanwhile the club fleet gradually grew and Ingo became quite busy again. 
Ingo was on the field whenever he could. He flew his own Discus when he had time and together with Judy , even on the day he married her, in the Kookaburra. Lots of guests flew with him in it as well.

In our time George set up the Outback Shootout. A gentleman competition, geared toward flying distance rather than achieving speed. Every year we invited a young promising new lad from Europe to soar with Ingo. I only heard good about those flights. Young Tijl Schmelzer has learned so much he told me and he uses it now for fabulous flights. 

Till the end Ingo FLEW. I knew already that he was sick for a longer time. It was no secret that he had bone cancer, which was detected, when the horse he fed in the meadow behind his house  ,broke his shoulder when nudging Ingo.
Not long ago I heard Ingo had leukemia as well and then it is only waiting for the message, which came to me this morning.
I shared a message on FB this morning;
“To all who flew at Sportavia and got to know Ingo, I send my love and sympathy, as this is a very tragic loss for all, also for me; Those who worked there, those who flew there and those who became his mates. He will be sadly missed, but we have an enormous amount of fabulous memories. Treasure them. RIP Ingo…you were the BEST…. for us, as a family including Dennis and Inge ,who both flew and worked with you and the grandchildren Indya and Dexter, who got to know you as “a legend” a couple of years ago ,when they visited Tocumwal.”

Ingo was a man of stature, he received an order of Australia and was loved ALL OVER THE WORLD.
In summer he flew in Tocumwal, to leave for Italy [Sondrio] in autumn and spring was the time for Oerlinghausen [Germany]. Yes he made friends everywhere and with his enthusiastic way of talking about soaring, he invited people to come to Tocumwal and they did.
One of these stories brought Dieter Albrecht” Dundee” to Australia. He just was divorced, bought a ticket to Australia and arrived without knowing ONE word of English ,at my desk in the office.
He was very pleased to hear that I spoke German. So I asked him what we could do for him. ” Well” he said” Ingo told me to come and fly here so here I am”.
How long do you stay. “Oh about 6 months. “
Did you book a room in town” No I want to stay at the field.”
It was high season , no rooms available. So our staff quickly emptied room 6, full of not used stuff. We put a bed in it made the room nice with a few small Aussie things and for a few years he lived there. We then offered him to buy one of the little houses, which he did.
He now is not fit enough to visit anymore, but he and Ingo became friends and when possible “at 4PM” they had a beer together.
“(Wenn um Vier bestimmen wir!)”
One of those nice unexpected stories.
R.I.P. Ingo and I wish Judy a lot of strength for the upcoming time .

Here is the message from the Tocumwal Aviation Museum ;
“Tocumwal has lost an aviation icon and true gentleman with the passing of Ingo Renner. Ingo was a legend of the soaring world and as well known within the powered flying fraternity. Ingo was a key part of the establishment of the iconic Sportavia soaring centre in 1970 in the former World War 2 hangar at Tocumwal and the name Ingo Renner has been synonymous with gliding at Tocumwal ever since.Our thoughts and wishes are with Judy and family.Blue skies, thermals and tailwinds Ingo.“

And here from Gliding Australia;
“Dear Members, It is with great sadness that I advise you of the death of Ingo Renner OAM, aged 81. Ingo passed away on Saturday 26th February following a long illness. Ingo is truly an Australian gliding legend. Through his career he had amassed in excess of 36,000 hours, had won countless Australian and four world gliding championships. He had set many gliding records and had taught hundreds of people to fly. Ingo is arguably the most naturally gifted and generous glider pilot the world has ever seen. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1987.Our condolences go out to Ingo’s wife Judy, his family and countless friends. He will be sorely missed.  There will no doubt be an opportunity where we will all be able to share our thoughts and celebrate Ingo’s life. Vale Ingo Renner OAM.
Steve Pegler
President
Gliding Australia
https://www.aahof.com.au/inductees/Ingo-Renner
here you can read Ingo ‘s introduction in the Australian Hall of Fame.

And here from Lumpy Paterson who runs the Sportavia Tocumwal business now. Ingo had his gliders in the WW2 hangar.
“My gliding experiences will be a little different now without my Hero, mentor and mate around anymore. Very sad day yesterday with the passing of a true gentleman Ingo Renner.I was so fortunate to have met and spent time with him, he last left a lasting impression with me which I will cherish. RIP Sir Ingo“

I will dig out more pictures before Wednesday.
CU then.