Chuck Lebrecht has flown west

[Andy Gelston]

It is with great reverence that I announce the passing of Chuck Lebrecht, the man who kept the Porterfield Club going for many decades before Tom Porterfield took his place in the front seat.  Chuck restored a CP-40 Zephyr, and later donated it to the AAA Air Power Museum in Ottumwa, Iowa.  Chuck and his lovely bride lived in Ocala, Florida for several decades after retiring and moving south from Illinois.  His bride passed earlier this year, so Chuck moved back home to Illinois. He experienced a stroke in late August and passed away six days later. His grandson, Luke, is a fellow member of the Club. Chuck never got into surfing the web, so I would print out things from this website and mail them to him, just to keep him in the loop.  He was immensely gratified that the membership is keeping Ed Porterfield’s designs alive and kicking.  Several of his monthly newsletters, which were mailed out, are in the archives here.  He always signed off his newsletters with, “keep the skinny birds flying, safely.” That we shall, Chuck, Godspeed!

[Steve Sharpe]

Just caught up with the sad news that Chuck died back in 2021. I first met him when he worked for TWA and visited G-AFZL during a work trip to London in the early 80s, later met up at Oshkosh. A great loss to the Porterfielding community.

[Andy Gelston]

Long time, no hear, Steve! I was wondering if you had flown west, too. We miss reading of your (mis)adventures with G-AFZL.

Yes, Chuck kept this club, and the type, alive for many decades. Never in the history of skinny birds has so much been owed to one person by so few...