Brink is gone

[Godfather]

anybody from Colgan or up at Manassas has any info on funeral arrangements, viewing or wake, please pass it on...

thanks

 

[Thurman Merman]

He was awarded the Silver Star for evacuating wounded soldiers off a hill. That same night we were at the bar the story was related to me, not by Capt. Brink but by M.C. M.C. was a contract guy on the Saab we used for the sim in St. Lo. that knew Tom very well...

It was too foggy to extract from the top of the hill so Tom landed at the base took off his flight helmet and opened the door. He put the skid on the ground and would listen for the blade sound to change indicating it was nearing the ground. He inched his way up the hill until he was able to reach the wounded.

Afterward 'Nam, he also flew the OV-1 Mohawk, a fixed wing recon and surveillence aircraft. First memory Item in the OV-1 for an engine failure after take-off was to reduce power on the good engine. He had a couple funny stories on that one that night, but I can't recall.

 

[flyboy006]

Capt. Brink was a great guy.. served our country proud.. I had the opportunity to work with him. great guy, hard but very fair...

 

[climbhappy]

that's sad...Tom was straight up on the rocks, no chaser... I'll liked working for him in 02 and 03

 

[caneylane]

RIP Captain Brink.

 

[eighthours]

Captain Brink gave me a Saab type, a couple of ass chewings and bought me a few beers. He was a good man. Too quick an end for a guy who deserved a long retirement on his boat.
God bless him.

 

[GEORGE DUBYA]

eight hours you need to change your name to 12 hours if you still work at Colgan

 

[Mungusaurus]

RIP Tom.

 

[Kream926]

met the man once when i worked there...straight no BS kinda guy

RIP

 

[flyboy006]

good guy.. will be missed

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
I was at Colgan from 04-08', and Tom Brink was indeed a hero in every sense of the word, but you'd never know it. The only thing that indicated that he even flew in the Army was a painting of an OV-1 Mohawk on his office wall. He was a tough guy when he had to be, but I never heard of him being unfair. Being the CP at Colgan wasn't an enviable position and I think he did the best he could for the pilots.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[usav8or]

RIP Captain Brink

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']The services are not until July 23, due to the military availability according to Dot.[/FONT]

 

[70-SS]

Capt Brink interviewed me and hired me when the chips were down in aviation. He did 2 types with me and several nights eating steaks and drinking beers. I never had to put a cent out. He was a straight shooter and never did me wrong. Thank you Capt Brink for your time over the years and your military service to our country. You will be missed. RIP TOM

 

[Yodafly]

RIP Tom

A good friend and a great Chief Pilot gave me my first type ride, Steaks and drinks to celebrate...

Firm, but went to bat for most of us.

He will be missed

 

[cloudkicker1981]

Goodbye

Captain Brink was a man that did as much as he could to take care of his boys at Colgan. He went to bat for me a couple of times and took a chance on me....even wrote me a LOR for the military. He said this to me when I told him I recieved a spot in the guard..his father told him the same thing when he got his commision, "Make sure you take care of your people". I believe it is something he truely lived by! See yeah again someday.....

 

[B-J-J Fighter]

I had a little run in with the TSA in IAH. The TSA called the Kremlin in Manassas and they talked to Tom. Tom of course then called me. Tom backed me 100% on the issue and called the TSA some not so nice names.

 

[SmitteyB]

Tom Brink was a gift to us all.

RIP.

 

[JATAGA]

Captain Brink put the boot in your butt when you needed it and patted you on the back when you deserved it.

RIP Tom

Thanks for the lessons

 

[GSXR600]

RIP Ca, TOM BRINK

 

[akseiner]

Only met him in initial and talked to him when he called me for upgrade. It was just a few weeks ago he did the conference call, so I was surprised and sad by the news. Most didn't know of his battle.

I heard he used to say to the newhires something like this (correct me if im wrong please) "When I was flying the beech 99 in a storm I looked back at the passengers and saw a woman with a baby in her arms....and thats when I knew - it was blind trust."