Here's one for Tophe

[uncletain]

My deepest condolences to his family, so sad to hear of his passing.
I may only 'joined in' recently but have viewed everybody's work for more years than I can remember.

Tophe was inspired, saw reality from a unique angle, one that always amazed me.

Agree that a fitting tribute would be an annual 'Tophy',  ( twin boom, asymmetrical and imagined propulsion)

Wherever you are resting may it be with a stash that is fitting for your imagination

[Old Wombat]

My condolences to Christophe's family.


May he rest in peace & have the time to elaborate on his out-there ideas.

[kerick]

We must preserve his threads here so we can go back and look up a new idea for when our wells run dry.

[zenrat]

Tophe my friend I am going to miss you.
You are a brilliant, fascinating, unique, unpredictable individual.  There will never be another like you.
The world has become a less interesting place.

[kerick]

Tophe my friend I am going to miss you.
You are a brilliant, fascinating, unique, unpredictable individual.  There will never be another like you.
The world has become a less interesting place.

So true!

[Captain Canada]

Haha ! That's awesome ! Nice find Ratty. And as a side note, I'll be singing " This note's for Tophe " forever......

[perttime]

I am not surprised - but I am shocked. That is often the way death strikes me.

I love the way ericr describes him:

...
To me, he was an extra-ordinary person, in more than one sense.
In our whiff world, his imagination was extraordinary, in that he was exploratory to the extreme,
knowing no bound, and for every new idea or observed shape, trying out every possible combination,
in a quite scientific way actually, including all those that we would not have dared to think of, even less to show around.
His flow of ideas was so fast that he had no time for elaborate or clean implementation,
but the richness and density of unexpected and incredible and never-seen-before was a form of poetry and magic.
...

I must admit that his asymmetrical and twin boom creations were often too crazy for me - but his imagination was not limited to those. His P-51, Mirage and F-16 designs perhaps struck chords with us who have a little more conventional minds. I remember him as a pacifist. Several times, he pointed out that he didn't design his creations for destruction.

I'm sure people remember his signature line: "the word "realistic" hurts my heart..."

[Weaver]

Very sorry to read this: my condolences to his family, and thanks to Ericr for finding out for us.

Tophe and I disagreed, quite strongly at times, about a number of things, but I fully recognise that his contribution to this place was valuable, enthusiastic, prolific and unique, and I'm deeply sad that it's come to an end.

I fully support the suggestion of a "Tophy" (and it absolutely MUST be called that, or "Tophey" maybe?) in the Whiffies for best asymetric or twin-boom aircraft. It's entirely fitting and appropriate.

RIP Tophe.

[kitbasher]

Farewell hilarious, crazy, inspirational Tophe, rest in peace.  You and your unique builds and drawings will be very much missed.

A memorial build would be a fitting tribute to Christophe - or perhaps an 'Asymmetric GB'? 

Sincere condolences to all of Christophe's family and friends.

[DogfighterZen]

Very sad... Tophe was to me, a big part of the whole vibe of this forum and the freedom of his creativity always represented what "What if...?" models are about... Tophe, i will miss your creations and your words... Rest in peace, my friend...
Condolences to his family and thanks to Ericr for letting us know.

I fully support the suggestion of a "Tophy" (and it absolutely MUST be called that, or "Tophey" maybe?) in the Whiffies for best asymetric or twin-boom aircraft. It's entirely fitting and appropriate.

Yes, i also support this idea of a "Tophey" in the whiffies or any other form of tribute, BTW.

[Pellson]

Most unwelcome news indeed. 
I fear these news more often that you think, gentlemen. We are an aging - and sometimes ailing - lot, but - as experienced during yesterdays internet fault - quite irreplaceable. I am very glad indeed to be able to hang out here.

I fully second the thoughts of Mr Rheged, not least in relation to the possibilities of conveying our condolences. Every proof that your loved one was important to someone else is usually very welcome.

[perttime]

We must preserve his threads here so we can go back and look up a new idea for when our wells run dry.

I believe Tophe usually linked his images from his own website. That might not last forever. There was also some trouble with his site hosting, a while ago, which might further cut into the availability of his drawings.

[NARSES2]

Not much more I can say really as it's all been said previously. I was aware Tophe was seriously ill and that this time around it might well be terminal (I have a good friend currently in the same situation), however that still does not prepare you for it when it comes. Tophe was a truly gentle soul and a wonderfully inspirational and unique individual who will be sorely missed. My condolences to his family and friends.

As for a memorial ? I like the idea of a "Tophy" for the best asymmetrical build in the annual wiffies and hope it's something we can move forward with.

It has also been suggested to me that when it comes to the 2024/2025 GB season the first GB of that season should be a Tophe memorial build. Now I am more than happy to go along with that and have made some notes in my diary to that effect. It's still a fair way down the track but as things stand I will be proposing it formally when the time comes, together with a scenario. We can discuss in detail when the time comes.

Au Revoir my friend 

[Nick]

I am sorry to hear of Tophes passing. I was hoping that cancer hadn't caught up with him but sadly this is not the case. His ideas were original and thought provoking and he was always friendly in his discussions.
I hope this can be conveyed to his family.

A memorial build with a Tophe Trophy sounds like a good one.

[frank2056]

I'm so sorry to hear about Tophe - I hope his wife and son know how much he was admired by us.

Eric - thanks for contacting his family and letting us know.