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Jon Thocker video

A

A W Foltz

Member
An old friend to us all, Jon Thocker ...God rest his soul, once had a video on line that was a favorite of mine and a RV8 inspiration. It featured 2 RV8's with identical paint jobs except one was in red and one in blue. The video featured the musical accompaniment "True Love" by Angels and Airwaves. It started with a take off then went on to several flying sequences and ended with a formation landing. The video was available for a long time then disappeared. I suspect due to some scenes not being in exact tune with FAA flight suggestions? To the point....I would love to have a copy or be directed to a place where I can once again view one of my favorite RV8 flying videos. Can anyone in VAF land help me out here? Many thanks, AWF
 
A W Foltz said:
An old friend to us all, Jon Thocker ...God rest his soul, once had a video on line that was a favorite of mine and a RV8 inspiration. It featured 2 RV8's with identical paint jobs except one was in red and one in blue. The video featured the musical accompaniment "True Love" by Angels and Airwaves. It started with a take off then went on to several flying sequences and ended with a formation landing. The video was available for a long time then disappeared. I suspect due to some scenes not being in exact tune with FAA flight suggestions? To the point....I would love to have a copy or be directed to a place where I can once again view one of my favorite RV8 flying videos. Can anyone in VAF land help me out here? Many thanks, AWF
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Is this the video?


The 1080P version of the video is over 84 MB in size.
 
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RV6_flyer said:
Is this the video?


The 1080P version of the video is over 84 MB in size.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the effort Gary but no this is not it. The one I am searching for is not related to any airshow. The one I want is just a random day flying with a friend for the love of flying with the specific music "True Love". Again, thanks! AWF
 
A W Foltz said:
Thanks for the effort Gary but no this is not it. The one I am searching for is not related to any airshow. The one I want is just a random day flying with a friend for the love of flying with the specific music "True Love". Again, thanks! AWF
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You're probably thinking of his Haley-Batics video he did with his daughter.
 
Still very much miss seeing him biking around the airport, stopping in to see what's going on and chat away. He helped a few times on my build once I moved the project out to my hangar, and he was around for my first engine start.
 
I know the one you're talking about with A&A, and I believe it was titled "what really happens at the airport". It was mostly follow the leader between the clouds and it was beautifully done. it was on vimeo. Then it disappeared; I assume the music publisher did the takedown thing. I would love to find it again.
 
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nf7w said:
I know the one you're talking about with A&A, and I believe it was titled "what really happens at the airport". it was on vimeo. Then it disappeared; I assume the music publisher did the takedown thing. I would love to find it again.
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It’s been a while but I’m pretty sure that got pulled because it appeared to show some flying that may have not been entirely legal.
It was an awesome video though. Def one of my faves as well.
 
I do miss Jon. He was great help when building my rv4.He was building his second 4. I’d drive to his house to see how he was building .Stand up fellow
 
I so miss my buddy Jon. When YouTube randomly gives me one of his videos….it gets me down deep if you know what I am saying! He was one of the good ones!
 
I used to watch the Redline airshow videos while I was building. When neighbors stopped by my garage and wanted to know what I was building, I always showed them the Redline videos.
 
Bingo!!!! That is the one. "What Really Happens At The Airport". With music by Angels and Airwaves. Now, how to find it again? Im reluctant to contact the family but I suspect that may be the only place it lives. Anyone know the other pilot in the video? AWF
 
A W Foltz said:
Bingo!!!! That is the one. "What Really Happens At The Airport". With music by Angels and Airwaves. Now, how to find it again? Im reluctant to contact the family but I suspect that may be the only place it lives. Anyone know the other pilot in the video? AWF
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I don’t know what video you are referring to, but the other pilot in the video is most likely Ken (the lead on Redline). Ken is a good friend, and Jon was even more close. I worked with Jon on several panel rebuild projects almost daily for some time, and flew with him and Ken many times. I knew Jon for 20+ years, and most of us here in Cincinnati will never get over his loss. I’m sure Ken has all those videos. PM me and I’ll send you Ken’s contact info after I talk to him first, and get his approval. Please don’t contact his wife or kids.
 
Jon and Ken were with us on Team RV, aka Team AeroDynamix. He truly was one of the good ones. I still think of and miss “Mutha”, (Badger), and that’s a whole nother story. RIP my friend.
 
One darn fine inspirational video and I too was gutted when it disappeared.

Let's try get it back up on YouTube please.

Sadly missed Gentleman.
 
Scott Hersha said:
I don’t know what video you are referring to, but the other pilot in the video is most likely Ken (the lead on Redline). Ken is a good friend, and Jon was even more close. I worked with Jon on several panel rebuild projects almost daily for some time, and flew with him and Ken many times. I knew Jon for 20+ years, and most of us here in Cincinnati will never get over his loss. I’m sure Ken has all those videos. PM me and I’ll send you Ken’s contact info after I talk to him first, and get his approval. Please don’t contact his wife or kids.
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Scott, I really appreciate your input. Don't worry I would never risk causing Jon's family more grief by barging in cold with selfish, demanding questions and I hope I'm not rubbing salt in your wounds as well. I think, and it seems many others agree, that the video is a classic that deserves to live on and be re-seen and viewed by newcomers as well. Personally, I would describe the video as a wonderful tribute to Joh...even more so than the existing airshow performances videos on You Tube, etc. If you get a chance to view it I think you might agree. I am not new to VAF (2007) as a viewer and $ supporter but I am new at being a voice/poster in the VAF family so I'm not even sure yet how to do the personal message thing. I can see that will be my very next learning experience on this new program.
Thank you, Scott, for any input you might have. Best.....AWF
 
A W Foltz said:
Scott, I really appreciate your input. Don't worry I would never risk causing Jon's family more grief by barging in cold with selfish, demanding questions and I hope I'm not rubbing salt in your wounds as well. I think, and it seems many others agree, that the video is a classic that deserves to live on and be re-seen and viewed by newcomers as well. Personally, I would describe the video as a wonderful tribute to Joh...even more so than the existing airshow performances videos on You Tube, etc. If you get a chance to view it I think you might agree. I am not new to VAF (2007) as a viewer and $ supporter but I am new at being a voice/poster in the VAF family so I'm not even sure yet how to do the personal message thing. I can see that will be my very next learning experience on this new program.
Thank you, Scott, for any input you might have. Best.....AWF
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I’ll check with Ken and see if he has the video. He’s a pretty busy guy. Flies for Spirit Airlines, has a construction business, does about 12 airshows a year (not yet this year of course) - oh, and he’s building yet another RV8. I think it’s his 5th. I’ll try to describe the video as you did in your original post (OP). I am one of the River Rats.
 
I remember the dueling cloud-dancing video you speak of. One of the things that got me really cranked up on experimental aviation in my early pilot/builder years! Man that's been awhile.
 
I just spoke with Ken, and he doesn’t have access to that video. That video was recorded and put together by Ken’s cousin, Mike Hoeting. Ken built both of those airplanes. Most of the scenes were of Mike and Ken. Jon was in a few of the shots. It was done a long time ago when this type of video editing was pretty low tech compared to today. Ken thinks it was taken down because of copyright infringement for the music. I’ll contact Mike and see if he still has a copy of the video. He will be very pleased to know that it inspired a few builders. If he still has the video footage, he can probably decouple the sound track and put something else on it.
 
I just heard back from Mike. He’s out of town, but when he gets back home next week, he will see if he can find that video on his computer.
 
Scott Hersha said:
I just heard back from Mike. He’s out of town, but when he gets back home next week, he will see if he can find that video on his computer.
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Wow, I really appreciate your effort here. The background story is great to know! If it turns out that the video no longer exists it would be the loss of a real gem. I have been surprised and encouraged by how many others here at VAF remember, and wish to see that video again......it has been a long time! I also believe that it would continue to be an inspiration to the many who have never seen it and need a little juice. However if a personal, not-on-line copy, is the only option I am willing to bear the true cost of securing it. It would do my soul good. Well done Scott.....carry on.
 
A W Foltz said:
Scott, any word if Mike was able to find the long lost video we have been searching for?
Thanks,
AWF
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I haven’t heard back from Mike, but the weather is getting pretty spring like here in Cinci (thank you global warming), and maybe he will show up at the airport. He is pretty busy running his toy business, but I’ll reach out to him and give him crap about not getting back to me. I’ll also reach out to Ken (his cousin - where he keeps his RV8), and see if he can come up with something.
Thanks for rattling my chain about this - I had forgotten about it. I would love to see that video again too.
 
Scott Hersha said:
I haven’t heard back from Mike, but the weather is getting pretty spring like here in Cinci (thank you global warming), and maybe he will show up at the airport. He is pretty busy running his toy business, but I’ll reach out to him and give him crap about not getting back to me. I’ll also reach out to Ken (his cousin - where he keeps his RV8), and see if he can come up with something.
Thanks for rattling my chain about this - I had forgotten about it. I would love to see that video again too.
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Scott,
thanks for your efforts. You are the point man because of local knowledge and we all appreciate it. Several posters who remember it are excited to see it again and among the many who have not seen it I believe it would act as excellent motivation to be among the flying RV family of pilots. And please forward this to Mike and Ken......some of us are willing to come up with $ to pitch in for expenses related to a reproduction of the original.....for instance ...... if it means editing out the music or whatever.
AWF
 
A W Foltz said:
Scott,
thanks for your efforts. You are the point man because of local knowledge and we all appreciate it. Several posters who remember it are excited to see it again and among the many who have not seen it I believe it would act as excellent motivation to be among the flying RV family of pilots. And please forward this to Mike and Ken......some of us are willing to come up with $ to pitch in for expenses related to a reproduction of the original.....for instance ...... if it means editing out the music or whatever.
AWF
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I sent Mike a text this evening, and I’m sure I’ll hear back from him……. or, well, I know where he lives…….
 
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