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Paul Lipps RIP

Yes Paul had stage 4 lung cancer, and was actively receiving chemo. I had spoken to him a few weeks ago before things took a turn for the worst. He got out of the hospital last week and Paul had his son Jeff call me to let me know he was home again.

RIP Paul, you were truly special.
 
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I'm really saddened to hear this. I knew Paul was fighting hard and asked Jim Smith to pass my (our) good wishes to him (we ran into each other in Virginia City the day after the Reno races shut down). Paul was as "Experimental" as they come, and though a Lancair guy, he really enjoyed talking mods with his like-minded RV and Rocket buddies. I know he enjoyed the debates and the occasionally provocative discussions...knowing that's often the genesis of discovery.

We've lost a great Experimental Aviation mind...I'm hopeful some of it rubbed off on us! :)

Fair Winds Paul

Bob
 
I didn't know Paul but I found him to be one of the most memorable posters on this forum.

He would post these crazy things, way out of the mainstream, you know, just ridiculous, but uh-oh, he had some facts and he had some engineering knowledge and he had some actual results. Also, when others would assert things he would sometimes politely challenge them with real calculations and again, those pesky real world results.

Who would ever dream those crazy looking props could actually work, but they could.

He was a gem.
 
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I met Paul at Reno at few years back. Certainly an innovative thinker always challenging the old approaches to problems and traditional solutions. His successes at Reno with his props were mind boggling in the biplane class- a quantum leap in speed where usually there are only minor, incremental ones.

A true "outside the box" thinker who you had to admire even if you found his approach abrasive. If you wanted to debate, you had to have your facts straight or he'd pick you apart. I didn't know Paul well but got along fine with him. He was always curious about new things or things he was not familiar with although he had tremendous knowledge about many subjects.

Not too many around like Paul any more. He will be missed...
 
Three years ago while on a holiday in California I made an appointment to meet with Paul Lipps. I had heard his name a number of times in regards to props and other innovations and I thought that he would be a good guy to spend a bit of time with. We met at his house and chatted for a couple of hours. He started work as a telephone repair man around Pittsburg (excuse me if I get some of the details incorrect it was three years ago!). He read an add from a company looking for people with a technical back ground. The interviewer was not interested in Paul as he did not have a university degree. Paul suggested that the man would have nothing to lose if he let Paul take the aptitude test. His results were off the chart and he and his wife were moved to California. He ended up working on the radar guidance system for the intercontinental rockets. He was the designer of the popular lightspeed electronic ignition system and in his garage he was still doing some troubleshooting on units. He was not satisfied with the current crop of propellers and set out to make his own. Many of you have seen his unique style and it really set some of the old school design methods to shame.
After chatting for a while he asked if I would like to go for a ride with him in his aircraft, a small lancair. He needed someone to hold the stick for him while he was doing some testing on a gear retraction system. He had recently had a gear up landing and wanted to make a ground proximity sensor. To do this he robbed the automatic focusing sensor from a digital camera and was using that to detect the ground. The settings that day were not correct but he was on the right track. It was a fun ride and that little plane was really fast. This aircraft was not a show winner but man was it innovative. His engine cooling system was quite unique as the cooling air from each individual cylinder mixed with the engine exhaust a few inches below the cylinders. Based on performance I would say that it worked very well.
I was saddened to hear the news of his passing, he was a gifted man.
 
Paul

Paul was a gentleman I always wanted to sit down with and pick his mind. One of those outside the box guys that made sense. We have all lost here. RIP Paul.....
 
I lived just a couple miles from Paul, spent a lot of time with him over the years. Paul was a tenacious maverick. As an engineer, I'd leave his house shaking my head at some of his ideas. I think Paul's greatest strength was he wasn't constrained by conventional training and had a wealth of real world experience he could apply in unconventional ways. We need more people like Paul to challenge the way the rest of us think!
 
Mike, +5!
This was quite a shock for me. Although I never met Paul, as a fellow maverick, I instantly recognized in him that special quality that sets apart those who dare to think outside the box. I will always cherish the insight and wisdom that he has left that should inspire us all to aspire for greater things than we knew.

May he rest in peace, and may his family, friends, and associates be consoled in their loss.

Joe

edit: replaced knowledge with wisdom.
 
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Eternal gift...

Being a propeller fanatic and student of Theodorsen, Paul and I had long discussions as to the merits and "de-merits" of certain designs. I always enjoyed spirited debate as to the pro and con of different ideas and the wonderful freedoms we enjoy in this country to do what we do. I assured him having been overseas and fought bad guys that I enjoy every single day even more than most. He was an innovator, dreamer and took ideas to the fruition stage and employed them. He will be missed.

Like all the rest of us the best advice you can give is to "be ready" when your time comes. :)

Smokey
www.fly-4-life.com
 
E-mail from his son Jeff

I received this e-mail this morning:

Hello,

My name is Jeff Lipps, Paul Lipps' son. For those of you who have not heard yet, Paul passed away last month. I was by his side the last week of his life and he did not suffer. His family is having a Celebration of Life on Saturday November 12th at the Madonna Inn (www.madonnainn.com) in San Luis Obispo, CA and begins at 11:00 am. Following the event there will be a buffet during which we hope to visit with our Dad's friends. We invite all of you to attend if you can, and for those who can't make it, there is an online memorial (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/santamariatimes/obituary.aspx?n=August-Lipps&pid=154451388) and we hope you will take the time to visit and share some thoughts about Paul.

I can be reached for information at [email protected] or by cell phone at 503-312-5704. I appolgize in advance if you were already notified, but I am sending the messages out to those in his email address book.

Best regards,

Jeff
 
smokyray said:
Like all the rest of us the best advice you can give is to "be ready" when your time comes. :)

Smokey
www.fly-4-life.com
Click to expand...

Amen Smokey.

While I never knew Paul personally, I did talk to him on the phone a few years back. We both worked at Vandenberg AFB, CA. during overlapping times and knew some of the same people.

I know that we all are the poorer for his passing. RIP Paul.
 
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