Modern Vespa

I know Oliver has already posted this in NSM

Sad news about Aviator47

but it seems appropriate to post it here too. Al passed away suddenly on Friday morning after a short illness. Al was a moderator here on Modern Vespa and was well regarded for his fairness and debate. He will be remembered here by many and indeed sorely missed, especially by those of here who became friends with him (and each other) through the many rallies he organised in Italy, Greece, Spain and France under the guise of Vespa Club del Mediteranneo.

RIP Al.

I was very sad to hear about this last night.

Al was important to many of here on MV, and he never flagged as a moderator. But he was so much more than that.

I met Al Fragola in Greece in 2008. A pugnacious, cigar smoking, ex military pilot in Vietnam, colonel, academic, with a spark about him. I had never met anyone like that before and doubt I shall again. He had a total disregard for cant and humbug. I liked him immediately.

He was a fine, upstanding man of many achievements. A man who was a thinker and a doer. He was funny, he was intelligent and great company. He had a dignified character and I will miss him enormously. He was a terrific person and we shared great times together.

My thoughts go to Ardy this morning.

He will be sorely missed.

Fairness and wisdom were only a couple of his calling cards, and I learned a great deal about life, riding... and myself from this fair, wise man.

Rest in peace, my friend.

When I first saw this this morning I thought WHAT? This can't be, I was 'speechless'.
My thoughts and condolences to his family and those of us in the MV family who had the honor of knowing him personally.

I am still in shock of the news we received yesterday of Al's passing. I met Al and Ardy on Paros a few years ago. I avoid group rides, but after meeting and spending time with the two of them there was no way I could miss the opportunity to spend more time with them and signed up for all the rides since then. I am so glad I did.

I can not write a better description than Wonder Machine.

I will miss him and hope that we can keep Ardy in our circle of friends.

What a shock. He was a top bloke.

I can barely believe this. I did not know him personally, only through this site. But know one could not like his posts. It was apparent he was indeed a gentleman and very knowledgeable with much experience that he was keen to pass on. Aviator will be very very much missed here. Still can't believe it. My thoughts are with his family and friends...RIP Aviator.

We had the pleasure and honour of meeting him when he was over in London not so long ago. Totally genuine guy, extremely wise and knowledgeable.
Much love and respect from the Skoks.
Condolences to his family.

Beautiful tribute.
I could not add more.

Requiscat in pace, Al

The VCdM is in mourning. RIP Al.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Al in person, only here on MV.
The world has lost a good one. Condolences to all friends and family.

Just gutted. I first "met" Al through some PM's on this board in 2008. Last year, I was scheduled for the Tour of Tuscany, but my own health issues prevented my making the trip. I was upset about missing the ride and not meeting Al "face to face". I naively thought, "well there is next year." Unfortunately not. Aviator47's wisdom, good advice and friendliness to everyone who ever posted or lurked on this Board will missed greatly.

RIP.

Will be missed very much.

I'm shocked and saddened to hear this. While I never personally met Al, we have had a few exchanges on MV. He will be missed.

Healing mojo sent out to Ardy and his family.

R.I.P. Very even-keeled fellow from my experience. And a great contributor to gas/octane threads. This forum lost a lot.

Pretty shocking news. Never met, but knew him as a fixture on MV-The older, wiser guy that I always hoped to meet some day.
A real loss.😐

Condolences to his family and friends.

RIP Aviator

OMG, on my ride into Honolulu on Fri i thought it was strange i hadn't seen AV on here in a while. Swear to God this is true. While i never got to meet him in person he was a awesome person. We have truly lost a great one. 2016 was a bad year for loss. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, especially Ardy. If anybody knows if they want a contribution to a cause or memorial, just holler. I'm in. He did many great things in his life and he enjoyed his retirement. He will be missed.

Al had been a nurturing and encouraging mentor to my late husband Arno, who met him on one of his epic Tuscany tours in Vespa. Arno spoke of him always with high respect, praise, and admiration. I had the privilege of exchanging a few written messages with Al, and immediately found him to be a fair, intelligent, knowledgeable, energetic, and grounded human being of many qualities.

I am deeply saddened to hear of his passing. He is missed. To his wife Ardy and his family, my sincerest condolences.

Salima

I'm so sorry to read this. I only met Al briefly, and I'd very much hoped to get to know him better some time.

DANG!!!!!

I just sent him a PM about a discussion that was veering into "oil theory", and hoped he would chime in with his usual "voice of reason" and his expertise. He told me he was on holiday but would get back soon.

Wow, probably one of the nicest, most level headed members here, with a love of scooters and proper maintenance, but no love for fiddling or making up your own reality.

Aviator, I never met you in person, but you will be missed.

Sad to read this - he was a fantastic moderator and tremendous resource here on MV. I enjoyed his wise and worldly perspectives, and safety lectures on mishaps vs. accidents. Never met him - but know some folks that rode with him every year on the VM Europe rides. May he RIP and sincere condolences to his wife and family.

Shocked and saddened.

I only knew Al through MV, but always appreciated him as a knowledgeable voice of reason that gave me much to think about. He was as close to an actual know-it-all as one can come - but never came across as a "know-it-all", generously and clearly sharing his knowledge and expertise.

So sorry to hear this. Al was a guy I wished I'd met.

Sad news. Always seemed a fair and knowledgeable fella. RIP Al.

Terrible. We hardly needed another reason to be glad to see the back of 2016. RIP

We are diminished at his passing, there will never be another like him. But I'm appreciative of the time that I've known and learned from him on this forum. RIP Aviator, you surely will be missed.

Such sad news - he was a great voice of reason and good advice, a real asset to the forum. Never got to meet him, but hoped to, thinking we could talk a bit about scooters & flying...
Lousy news at the beginning of the year...
Salute!

Such sad news. After joining the MV forum, it soon became clear to me that any post by "Aviator47" was well worth reading, and that I would know more after reading it than I did before. His wisdom and wit will be sorely missed. My condolences to his family and friends.

Aw, man. Even in my short year here I gained from his wisdom.

Brutal...just brutal news. RIP, Al. Whenever I see a CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter in the air, I think of our own Aviator47.

I'm floored.

Shocked and saddened as well. His eloquence was unmatched.

Anytime he chimed in on any of my posts or threads, I felt a like, "Yay!" because, basically, it proved to me that my logic was NOT flawed. Because if he agreed with you, you knew you were on the right track. He was a mentor to us all.

Thanks to the other MV'ers who posted on their FB feed, to let us reprobates know.

We lost a good one.

Also - can anyone let his family know, what a rock star he was on this forum? Is there anyway to contact them?

They already know and are no doubt reading this.

Modern Vespa lost it's very own Supreme Court Judge.
Always a great and fair man.

What a tragic loss. One of the wonderful things about this board is the variety of people around the planet with a shared passion. I always imagined him tooling around in Greece and enjoying the wonderful food and sunshine from the back of his Vespa. He was a great contributor here and I will miss his posts. RIP.

Such sad news for planet earth, his family and the scooter world. 2016 can officially #%*+ off now.

Al was every thing right about a man, blogger and life enthusiast. I was 1/2 the cyber man he was when I first engaged with him and he helped lift me up just a smidge
closer to his holy ground.

May God bless him and allow him to Rest In Peace. May God bless his family and his close friends that clearly have a huge hole in their lives today.

Al almost single handedly created the integrity that MV sustains today, I'm sure MV will find a way to keep Al and his teachings close to our chests.

God Speed Al

SDG

Kristin (Ivana Tinkle on MV) and I were both devastated when we heard this sad news.

We first met because of Al - on the 2010 Bella Italia rally, and Al and Ardy graced us with their presence at our wedding party in 2013. It was a standing joke that "it was all your fault Al!".

We've lost a good friend, a wise moderator on MV, the instigator and a great organiser of the Vespa Club de Mediterraneo and a consummate story-teller.

Our hearts go out to Ardy and the family.

Very sad to hear this news. I never met Al in person but to read his posts and come face to face with his devotion to logic and decency was to know enough about him to miss him very much. He was a classic, a fixture around here. Condolences to those who loved him.

So sad to hear. I never had the pleasure but I always enjoyed reading his posts on MV. G-d's speed AL... I'm sure we will meet one day.