Sanford Alvin Bennett Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

"Sanford Bennett 1945-2019, with Jesus 4/19/19, is survived by wife of 24 yrs, 3 children, 15 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren. A 28-yr aircraft inspector at Lockheed, multiple aircraft pilot, flight instructor, R/C aircraft enthusiast, Sanford loved Lord Jesus and many friends." A friend at MARKS Club remembered Sanford as: …"somebody with an almost never ending optimism, excited about everything that had to do with flying, and very fond at passing on his passion of modelling to the next generation of airplane enthusiasts-he was a great instructor with a lot of patience. I remember Sanford to show up at almost every club meeting with a new plane that he had either traded, built, or purchased through one of his many channels. He was very creative and inventive!...My fondest memory of Sanford was, however, when he told us about the story of the flying chicken. He had built a radio controlled, electric chicken... there was too much wind and the chicken started to drift...he kept it afloat until it had truly broken loose and was out of sight. Still the optimist, he... went on a quest to bring back the escaped chicken... however, the search and rescue mission was called off. For months to come we jokingly asked Sanford about the chicken, and he always jokingly replied that he was still looking. This is the Sanford that I remember and I am sure many of his friends feel the same." --------- 2018 interview: "By Hector Hernandez, Jr, reporter, Highland Community News- Sanford Bennett, flight instructor for Highland's MARKS RC Club, has made flight a constant pursuit and hobby beginning with model aircraft, earning a pilot's license, flying professionally and then teaching others to fly both aircraft and radio-controlled aircraft. While attending the radio-controlled aircraft club's annual night fly on Saturday, Oct. 6, Bennett shared his lifelong passion for flying as he prepared to pilot his LED-lit models. He began at an early age by building models under the family piano (where his work would not get trampled on) and later riding his bike to the nearby Whittier Airport. At the airport he would watch the airliners take off and land and help private pilots wash their planes for free rides. He fondly remembers the day his dad brought home a Grumman Guardian control line model kit from Berkeley. He recently found another like it at model aircraft show and bought it. 'It was dinkier than I remember but it's a hangar queen now because I'm afraid to damage it' Bennett said. Later he was drafted into the Army where he began in electronics repair before entering aviation and flying Cessnas. He earned his private pilot's license, commercial license and multi-engine helicopter license. After leaving the military Bennett continued flying as an instructor and in aerial tours throughout the southwest. 'It's the only fun thing I got out of the Army,' Bennett said of the helicopter license. He now flies primarily by radio-control as it is cheaper. He also takes pleasure in guiding new enthusiasts to the hobby by teaching them to fly using an apprentice model. An apprentice model uses auto pilot features that can quickly correct the mistakes of inexperienced pilots without crashing the plane. Bennett says he can teach most to fly within three hours, and he is available for instruction at the MARKS RC Club's runway from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The airstrip is in the Santa Ana River Wash, accessed by a dirt road on the south side of Greenspot Road just west of the Old Iron Bridge."

Sanford Alvin Bennett

May 7, 1945 - April 19, 2019