He lived life to the fullest, spending his free time flying, boating, golfing, riding his motorcycle, and traveling. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Carol; his four children, Diane Boxley, Connie Matta (Craig), Leonard (Carroll), and Suzanne Wade (Jim); his seven grandchildren, Brian Matta, Cody Bottoms, Josh Baker, Kyle Baker, Trent Bryan, Chelsea Bryan, and Anderson Bryan. He was preceded in death by his parents Leonard L. Bottoms, Sr. and Cora Belle Bottoms; sisters Virginia Cox, Thelma Throckmorton, Lorraine Fadely; and one brother Otis Knight.
Over his approximately 70 years’ love affair with aviation, he flew nearly everything from a Piper Cub to twin engine corporate aircraft. His lifelong dream was to fly a WWII icon, the P-51 Mustang. That dream was realized when he flew “Dazzling Donna” owned by legend Bob Odegaard of North Dakota in April of 2002. It was everything he imagined and more.
Lin’s career in aviation included managing New Kent Airport, Corporate Terminal, and Aero Industries at Richmond International Airport.
He held every pilot rating from Private Pilot to Certified Flight Instructor Multi-engine Instrument. He was selected by the FAA to be a Designated Pilot Examiner and spent most of his weekends giving flight exams in every type of aircraft a pilot might fly. If it was something unusual, or one of his favorite aircraft, he would finish the exam and then ask it he could take the controls for a few minutes.
One of his greatest joys was to put the student at ease with a joke so that they could do their best on the check ride. He always wanted to teach them something as well, and took great satisfaction when a student did an exceptionally good job. Occasionally, he had to fail a student. Invariably, that student would come back about a week later for a retest and thank Lin for failing him/her, saying that he probably saved their life.
In approximately 1964, he started the Richmond Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). He was in the process of designing and building a homebuilt aircraft his daughter, Diane, named “Skeeter”. She also designed the logo. His good friend, John Ostergren, was with him when he made his first test flight. He remained President of the Chapter for many years. In 1966, he flew Skeeter to the annual EAA Fly-in, which at the time was held in Rockford, Illinois. His aircraft won the Best All-wood Aircraft Award, was on the cover of Air Progress magazine, and included in Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, a yearly compilation of noteworthy aircraft worldwide.
Another of Lin’s hobbies was riding horses, a passion shared by one of his other daughters, Connie, who rides to this day. He loved to fish and go boating. He said many times, that if he didn’t have at least a few hours on the water every weekend, it was a wasted weekend.
Over 57 years ago, he and a good friend, Jim Thimsen, started the Richmond Chapter of the International Aerobatic Association which is still in existence today. In February, 2020, he and his wife were invited to the 55th year anniversary party and they honored Lin as the Chapter founder.
Combining his love of flying and his sales/business skills, he went to work for Van Dusen Aircraft Supplies. Since all of his customers were on airports, he had a company plane instead of a company car. If you asked him what he did for a living, he would say that he flew around all day telling jokes to mechanics.
He loved doing aerobatics and flew for Barnstormers Airshows who put on a wonderful airshow on a nightly basis for King’s Dominion, a local amusement park. The show started with skydivers landing with an unfurled American flag, an aerobatic routine with two beautiful red and white World War II open cockpit Stearman biplanes, and ending with the assent of a hot air balloon. His youngest daughter, Suzanne, was usually his sidekick every weekend. Steve Hoffman, the man behind the airshow magic, and the nearly 100 people involved in the airshow, held a reunion several years ago at Frank Isbell’s hangar in Petersburg. Tommy Woodburn, one of Steve’s linemen when Tommy was a teenager, went on to be an airline pilot, and has a hangar at Hanover Airpark, just down from where Lin and his wife had theirs.
He was a member of the Quiet Birdmen (QBs), an aviation organization started in WW I for and by male pilots.
In 1988, he and Carol started his biggest woodworking project: a cedar log home. Once a weekend, his son Leonard "Lin", and his friend Juergen, both carpenters by trade at the time, dropped by to help. The main part of the house was completed 1-1/2 years later.
In 2002, Lin, Carol, and Jack Pettigrew completed a three week coast-to-coast trip in Cessna 140’s: small, 2-place aircraft manufactured in the 1940’s. Updates were posted nightly to the trip website so that the approximately 100 people that were following their trip, could see their progress.
Another of his loves was riding motorcycles, so at the age of 79, he decided to take up the hobby again. He bought a Harley and started riding with some of his airport buddies, one of whom was Ray Tyson. After a heart problem, he was forced to move to a trike so he bought a beautiful Honda Gold Wing and put over 28,000 miles on it in a 7-year period.
In 2007, he was inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame.
The family will receive friends on July 13th at Nelsen Funeral Home on Laburnum Avenue from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. The funeral will be at Four Mile Creek Baptist Church on July 14th at 2:00 pm.
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