ANN Contributor Kevin R.C. "Hognose" O'Brien:

The phone call came in from Jim... I snapped it up. I greeted him happily, but he was clearly upset. When Jim said, "I've got bad news for you," I wasn't expecting what came next.

"We lost one of the Oshkosh crowd." Oh no. We've had a great team over the years at the show. My mind raced through the possibilities... some of us serve in the military. Some fly high-performance aircraft. But my mind didn't race to the name and grinning face of our own Happy Warrior. "Derrick Vogt's gone," Jim said, his voice barely in control. "He had a heart attack."

Aviation is a small world, and it is smaller today than it was February 12... the last time Derrick sent his many friends an eye-opening email.

Derrick was an amazing human character, a former Cessna worker who showed up every year at Oshkosh to string for us... but he was so much more than a stringer. Yes, he could get a couple of stories; and yes, he could take competent photographs; and he could tell a P-51D from a P-51H at 3,000 meters.

Derrick's personality was most remarkable for his good nature and sportsmanship. We need someone to volunteer to drive a cart. "I'll do it!"  We need photos of the powered parachutes flying at the crack of dawn, and we're all going to be up writing until the wee hours. "No problem, I've got it! Anything I can do to help."

That was Derrick.

That same good nature made him welcome among every one of the thousand little cliques and fiefdoms that make up sport aviation. We'd pile out of the company van, bleary-eyed yet excited, our day ahead a tabula rasa, and there'd be Derrick. Grinning. "Hey Pete, these guys in Camping are doing something that would make a great podcast. Hognose, a couple rotorheads and your Army buddy were looking for you. Rob, there's a new LSA I think you'll like."

Derrick didn't have any secret means of information gathering... he was just a friend to all he knew, and if he met you once, that was good enough. You'd have to be a sociopath not to like him (even they usually liked him, actually.) He had the gentle decency of another era, and the gentle decency of his native Midwest... so you could say he was a nice guy, squared.

Unlike most of us Aero-Newsniks, Derrick wasn't a pilot. But he loved flying machines and he loved flying people, and he always brought a fresh eye that showed us a new way of seeing things. That will be missed.

Derrick worked many years in various Cessna plants. I recall he did a lot with windows and windshields. The next time you strap into the best seat in a Cessna, whether it's a bug-smashing 152 or a record-smashing Citation X, you might just be looking at the world through one of Derrick's windshields.

Do you ever think about the thousands of skilled hands that worked on your airplane? If Derrick is typical, they were thinking of you when they built it.

His knowledge of Cessna's culture led us to one scoop after another, and he connected us to enough insiders that the scoops Aero-News owes him will continue for decades. He insisted on being anonymous, and uncredited; partly out of modesty, and partly out of a desire to avoid trouble for his friends still at Cessna. 

At one time, a flight school suffered storm damage that grounded much of its flightline... until Cessna swung into a multi-shift, superhuman effort to get the student pilots back into the sky. Derrick spent two hours on the phone with me, explaining exactly how the replacement parts would be made, inspected and shipped. Cessna did exactly that.

I wrote the story... and promptly got an earful from a Cessna exec for my "inaccurate" report. And who was giving me such "bad" information?

It DID turn out the information we received was accurate. The Cessna executive (who now works for another firm in our industry) graciously corrected herself... and still wondered who our source was. Well, now we can tell you, as he's beyond the reach of anything except, perhaps, our prayers: it was Derrick W. Vogt.

ANN Senior E-Media Producer Pete Combs:

As the guy who brought Derrick into the ANN fold several years ago, I guess I was among those of us who knew him best. A former Cessna production worker, Derrick had been laid off some years ago. He always kept up with developments at the Wichita planemaker (as Kevin can attest), and was always there with the up-to-the-second news tip.

But more than that, Derrick was a friend. He took good care of his mother in Venice, FL, driving down every winter from Wichita to watch over her. He was a witty, gruff kind of guy, his sense of humor touched with the sort of wisdom born of experience. I'm terribly saddened to learn of Derrick's demise. I hope his family and his close friends accept my best wishes and share my fond memories of him.

ANN Managing Editor Rob Finfrock:

Derrick was the second ANN staffer I met, on that first cool, rainy day at Oshkosh 2005. I met Derrick before I met Jim. I was a "stringer," then, too... same as Derrick, technically. But it was clear to me immediately how vast his knowledge was, far eclipsing mine... and I realized quickly if I wanted to hit the ground running at AirVenture, it would be in directions Derrick pointed me towards.

At AirVenture 2006, Derrick selflessly assumed the responsibility of being our chief "go-to" guy -- if anyone needed to "go-to" somewhere on the field, Derrick would shuttle us there. This was in addition to what Derrick loved doing best: talking to people. Getting "the scoop." He wasn't in it for the money -- to my knowledge, he refused any gesture of compensation. Derrick did it to just be part of the story... the most important part, actually. The guy who FINDS the story.

In addition to his vital role in our Oshkosh coverage, Derrick was also one of the most prodigious News-Spies to ever grace the ANN Inbox. I can't count the number of times I've awakened early, to get a head-start on the day's news... only to find three or four (or six) stories Derrick had already emailed to me.

He was still showing me where to go, in which direction to head. He will be sorely missed.

ANN Contributor Lisa Kondrick:

When Rob gave me the assignment to find someone for an interview for ANN, Derrick volunteered to play chauffeur. We covered the entire length and depth of the airshow looking for him. Behind the wheel, Derrick reminded me of Moses and the Red Sea, as the ocean of people parted for our little golf cart to pass.

He was a kind, gentle, vibrant, wonderful human being. I am so fortunate to have met and worked with him, and I extend my sincere condolences to his family. Please know that tomorrow, there will be a ton of pilots at McVille Airport who will lift a glass of iced tea to his memory at our luncheon. He was a talented photographer and a GREAT friend to aviation enthusiasts and aircraft everywhere.

ANN Associate Editor Mark Sletten:

What a sad, sudden loss... I didn't know Derrick well; I only met him once, at OSH last year. We spoke just a few times, but I got the impression of man with a keen intellect and even keener wit. He always seemed to know more about what was going on than me (there's a surprise), but was able to answer my questions without seeming the least bit condescending. Derrick appeared to enjoy himself and what he was doing very much, even when he wasn't feeling well.

The best thing I can say about Derrick, is I wish I'd had the opportunity to get to know him better.

FMI: www.aero-news.net