My father, Russell Brunott Ross, died Friday, May 7, 1999, in Sheridan, Wyoming. He was in a rest home. He was talking to a friend when he fell asleep and then passed on quietly. In his things, this photo of our first airplane was found. Some of the most fond memories of my life revolve around this airplane. It had a 65 horsepower engine and we went hunting, fishing and just plane galavanting around in this little red T-Craft. Daddy would come and get me out of school early to go hunting and we would take fried egg sandwiches and chocolate bars for lunch and get a good deal of our food using this plane.

My father was a preacher. Near the time this picture was taken, my dad was flying between Sheridan and Casper, Wyoming. As he flew along, the weather deteriorated rapidly. Soon he was flying in some pretty dicy weather. He started to pray and included this little phrase: "God, if you get me through this, I'll sell this airplane." The weather got worse. Soon, he was praying: "God if you get me through this, I'll sell this airplane for 500 dollars." Sure enough, the weather got worse and it started to rain. The prayer became: "God, if you get me through this, I'll sell this airplane for 250 dollars." Now, visibility was down to barely being able to see the ground, the air was extremely rough and daddy thought he was going to die. As lightning flashed around the little red T-Craft, he prayed: "God, if you get me through this, I'll give this airplane away."

Suddenly, the rain stopped though the air was still extremely turbulent and the T-Craft bounced around violently, but sunshine could be seen. He praised God and said: "Lord, thank you so much. When I get out of this I'm going to sell this airplane for 250 dollars." Soon, the sunlight was pretty steady, though the air was still turbulent. Feeling jubilant, dad praised God and said: "Lord, thank you, thank you. When I get home I'm going to sell this airplane for 500 dollars." Within ten minutes, the air settled down a bit and the fuel indicator wire in front of the cockpit stopped bouncing. Feeling ecstatic, he shouted: "Hallelujah God, you saved me. When I get home I'm selling this plane for fifteen hundred dollars." Twenty minutes later, he entered the pattern at Sheridan in bright sunlight, still air and made a perfect three point landing. As he taxied up to the fuel pump he thanked God: "Lord, flying is such fun and I get to see your power and glory so close, I think I'll just keep this airplane."