I just received some very sad news that a long time friend and fellow aviation enthusiast and photographer Phil Glatt passed away yesterday. I have tears in my eyes as I write this as Phil was a wonderful person and I am so glad that I had the privilege to have known him.
I first met Phil here in Southern California when he lived and worked in San Diego. He and Richard Black would come up and visit the Douglas store and we would get together for dinner following an afternoon of shooting at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB). That's a time when MD-80's, MD-90's and MD-11's were still being built and test flights were common.
It was Phil who encouraged me to start having BBQ's and slide shows here at the house. We had a slide auction at one and of course I was threated to be kicked out in true Phil fashion.
When Phil moved to Miami it was always a pleasure to see him and talk airplanes when we were there for Eddy Guals slide conventions. He would always threaten to kick somebody out of the slide auction if they got to noisy or were passing gas (Ryan?). I will never forget the time he yelled at Eddy Gual saying "Eddy, shut-up or get out" it was classic as Eddy was the one putting on the show.
My wife Judy and I made a side trip to Miami in 2000 and Phil was so gracious as he took us to a couple of his favorite restaurants and both were fantastic as Phil loved his food as much as he did airplanes.
Rest in peace my friend you will be greatly missed by all of us who knew you.
Michael Carter
5 comments:
Michael, thanks for the write-up on Phil.
If memory serves, we caught him doing his best to toss unruly people out of the slide show at Airliner's International in Phoenix, once.
He scared the crap out of us newbies.
Sorry to hear of his passing.
God Speed, Phil.
Mike, good obituary on Phil. It's sad to hear of his untimely death. I had the pleasure of spending a few days in San Diego with him in the late 1990s. We ate dinner one night at a local steakhouse which, coincidentally, I revisited with my wife's good friend and her kids.
During dinner, I kept thinking of Phil. He was one of a kind and will be missed.
Michael - great write up on Phil. We will all miss him.
I knew Phil long before any of you.. I worked with Phil in 1976 at PVD airport (actually in Warwick, RI) at a company called Food Advisory. We would cook the meals and load/unload the buffets on the planes. He taught me how to guide planes in and drive the truck up and lift it. He also showed me how to keep the beer that came in from the west coast on Eastern Airlines (Coors) where it was not available east of the Miss. It was paid for and not inventoried! He was 3 years older than me and I knew he was an enthusiast of aircraft but was not aware of his photog interests. He was a good guy even when I pissed him off! RIP
Steven F. Long, Esq.
Birmingham, AL
Licensed in AL, RI, MA
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