Rex Yoakam

Final Flights

Rex Yoakam

Sept. 19, 1950 - June 30, 2011

Eulogy as given by Roger Godfrey

A day or so after Rex flew his racer for the first time I bought him breakfast at the Hotel and we discussed how the flight went. He said the Racer flew well. Many people had told him that the tail surfaces were too small. But the aircraft had good control authority and exhibited no unexpected or unusual handling characteristics.

He said it flew a lot like a Pitts in that it had completely neutral stability and remained in any attitude selected by the pilot with no return to trimmed flight.

He was pleased that it was fast. It needed a larger air scoop on the oil cooler and he could only use 40% power to keep the oil temperature in the green. At that power setting it went 235 MPH. and seemed to like that speed for low power cruse.

He said he flew final approach to landing at 160MPH and when he slowed to 135 over the fence the nose came up to three point attitude and he just waited until it was close to the ground then closed the throttle and it just stopped flying and dropped on to the runway. The constant speed prop went flat, acted as a big speed brake and the thing stopped in about 500 feet despite its high approach speed.

We talked about the plane how it ran and the best way to fly it. We both agreed that it probably had the same glide characteristics as a Motel 6.

The last thing Rex said about the plane that morning was, “It will be fine as long as it keeps running.”

At approximately 5 O’Clock on June 30^th it quit.

In addition to losing a good friend and a really neat guy this tragedy upsets me because it seems to validate the opinions of the critics and the predicators of doom and gloom who haunt the lives of those of us who are more adventurous.

President Teddy Roosevelt said it better than I could:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph Of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Rex could and did dare greatly as Roosevelt said but those of us who knew him recognize this as just one facet of his entertaining competent and complex personality.

His dress of choice might be described as off duty surfer. You could always tell if he was staying in our camper at Oshkosh if our closet looked like a Miracle Grow flower ad, Rex and his Hawaiian shirts were aboard.

Walking with Rex at an aviation event was an adventure; if a person flew Rex knew him and introduced him to me. He never introduced me to Obama he must not fly.

I never could decide which Rex liked better flying or the blond ladies. When he could combine the two he was really pleased. He promised me a ride in an Eagle at Antique Field then one of the Applegate blonds arrived, guess who got the ride. He said later he thought I’d do some high “G” aerobatics in the Eagle and make him sick- Yeah Right.

Possibly the one thing he liked better than blonds was laying a hair raising buzz job on you when you were engrossed in something and your situational awareness was down. He didn’t just approach people on the ground. One of my friends was returning from a flight breakfast and Rex flew leisurely by just off his right wing and waved. Not unusual except that Rex was inverted, that’s upside down for you both feet on the ground types.

I was an “X” Navy pilot and a school superintendent with a doctorate in education; Rex was an “X” crop duster pilot with a degree in aviation mechanics. Pretty diverse, but as someone once said we were both lonesome for the sky. Rex could fly anything and he had so many aviation friends who recognized his expertise he often assisted on check outs and flew planes for friends. We never knew what he would arrive at an EAA meeting flying. I could never seem to make a perfect landing with Rex watching and he took great delight in teasing me about the number of bounces I made. He was always going to fly my Sonerai and I made plans to tease him about his landing although I secretly wondered if he would land it better than I did.

Years ago he started building a racer for the sport plane races at Reno. A rule change made his plane ineligible and it languished in his hangar for years. Then the rules changed back and several of us help him finish the racer.

I didn’t just work with Rex because I liked airplanes and especially ones that sounded like his racer. I liked his unassuming competence in dealing with things aviation and people.

For those of us who knew him the world has become a less interesting and exciting place.

In short everyone should be lucky enough to have a friend like Rex.

Rex Alan Yoakam, 601 of Hedrick and Montrose, died at 10:40 p.m. June 30, 2011 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, from injuries suffered in a plane crash.

He was born September 19, 1950 in Ottumwa to Donald Wayne and Mary Alice Dayton Yoakam.

Rex graduated from Pekin High School with the class of 1968. He attended Iowa Tech in Ottumwa, receiving an AA degree in airframe and power plant mechanics. After serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, Rex returned to Farson, where he farmed and was still currently farming the family farm. He also enjoyed spending time on his Mississippi River front home with his fiancé of 15 years. He was a licensed pilot and was active in the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Surviving are his mother, Mary Yoakam and his sister, Alisa Meacham, both of Fort Myers, Fl; a nephew, greg Meacham; nieces, Betsy Meacham and Mindy Ihrke; his fiancé, Miriam Johnson of Montrose; and friends that were like family both nationally and internationally.

He was preceded in death by his father, Donald Yoakam.

Funeral services were at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Reece Funeral Home with Pastor Bill Hornback officiating. Burial was in Ottumwa Cemetary with military services conducted by O.B. Nelson Post #3 American Legion and Walter B Schafer posts #775 Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Mississippi Valley Chapter, 736 Federal St. Bldg 2, Davenport, IA 52803