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View Full Version : Passing of Bruce Levison (Tefflon rocketry)


BSNW
04-07-2020, 09:35 AM
Hello all-

It was a trip in getting here. My name is Andrew Kleinhenz.

I am a good friend of Dr. Bruce Levison. I know he posts a lot on this forum.

I am sorry to tell you that he passed away this morning. He was taken by COVID 19.

I can go on and on about how generous he was. he was instrumental in encouraging me to return to my science career and helped me do so. He and I launched together often here in Ohio. We have our own little field we would often go to. He was a master modeler and loved this hobby with all his heart. He kept his patience while managing scores of cub scouts. He was a guru of RockSim. He even "simmed" my Level 2 rocket. He opened his workshop to me and we often spent afternoons together working on our projects. He was kind-he was our friend. I will miss his endless knowledge of model rocket history. I will miss his friendship.

I will miss him terribly. Please pray for his wife Deb. Please pray for his family.

Andrew Kleinhenz.
TRA #12272 L2

Ltvscout
04-07-2020, 09:39 AM
I'm very sorry to hear about Bruce's passing, Andrew. He and his knowledge will be missed here at YORF.

I didn't realize he was a published PhD. Here's a link where you can find out more about what Bruce did.

https://www.utoledo.edu/med/depts/physpharm/hypertension_center/levison.html

Vanel
04-07-2020, 09:44 AM
Very sad news - Bruce will be missed.

My sympathies to his family.

ratchetman
04-07-2020, 10:30 AM
My sympathies to friends and family. He is a huge loss to the hobby and the world.

sandman
04-07-2020, 10:42 AM
I met Bruce and Deb at numerous NARAMs and I always looked forward to seeing them.

I will miss him.

His death is so sad.

Rocketflyer
04-07-2020, 11:09 AM
Oh man, this is sad news. I had chatted with Bruce privately a couple of times. What a great guy. What a loss. My deepest condolence to his family.

astronwolf
04-07-2020, 11:14 AM
He was just posting stuff too. This was fast. He and I knew each other when we were students at CWRU. I'm going to miss him.

Ltvscout
04-07-2020, 11:15 AM
He was just posting stuff too. This was fast. He and I knew each other when we were students at CWRU. I'm going to miss him.
His last post was the evening of 3/31/20.

A Fish Named Wallyum
04-07-2020, 11:24 AM
Hello all-

It was a trip in getting here. My name is Andrew Kleinhenz.

I am a good friend of Dr. Bruce Levison. I know he posts a lot on this forum.

I am sorry to tell you that he passed away this morning. He was taken by COVID 19.

I can go on and on about how generous he was. he was instrumental in encouraging me to return to my science career and helped me do so. He and I launched together often here in Ohio. We have our own little field we would often go to. He was a master modeler and loved this hobby with all his heart. He kept his patience while managing scores of cub scouts. He was a guru of RockSim. He even "simmed" my Level 2 rocket. He opened his workshop to me and we often spent afternoons together working on our projects. He was kind-he was our friend. I will miss his endless knowledge of model rocket history. I will miss his friendship.

I will miss him terribly. Please pray for his wife Deb. Please pray for his family.

Andrew Kleinhenz.
TRA #12272 L2

Wow, that's a gut punch. He just posted the other day. Fun guy to fly with. You never knew what he was going to bring to the field. :(

rocketguy101
04-07-2020, 12:42 PM
Wow, what sad news! He will be missed! I always enjoyed his Rocksim hacks. RIP... prayers for his family.

Gus
04-07-2020, 06:26 PM
I am SO sorry to hear this. Emma and I met Bruce and his son at NARAM many many years ago. What a delight he was. Oh, I am SO sorry to hear this.

Steve

Gus
04-07-2020, 07:10 PM
If anyone has an address to send a note to his family I would appreciate it.

Earl
04-07-2020, 08:10 PM
What a sad, sad time for us all. I never met Bruce, unfortunately, but my heart is greatly saddened at our loss here and especially for his family’s loss. Like others have stated, he just posted here a few days ago.

He had mentioned he was sick and battling ‘something’ that was serious and we wished him well in a fast recovery, but I don’t believe he ever stated it was the coronavirus.

If you can pass a ‘collective’ condolence on to the family from us here, that would be most appreciated. And if you do have a good old mailing address that we can send cards to, that would be welcome also.


Earl

tbzep
04-07-2020, 08:15 PM
My condolences to the Levison family and friends. I feel as if I knew him better than I do most of my neighbors, thanks to YORF.

BSNW
04-07-2020, 08:31 PM
His last post was the evening of 3/31/20.

I have to tell you that his wife told me that he actually worked on a RockSim file while IN the hospital. I am not kidding. THAT was Bruce!

I will post more stories later. Also, the photo of him in post #1 with the Wasp clone...I believe that was his last project to be completed.

Andrew

BSNW
04-07-2020, 08:35 PM
If anyone has an address to send a note to his family I would appreciate it.

I will ask family

Andrew

Gus
04-07-2020, 09:20 PM
I will ask family

Andrew

Andrew,

Please also ask the family where they would like donations made.

Steve

BSNW
04-08-2020, 08:06 AM
If anyone has an address to send a note to his family I would appreciate it.

You can send condolences to:

The Levison Family
9601 Rockingham drive
Whitehouse, Ohio
43571

Donations: The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

Thanks guys.
Andrew

BSNW
04-08-2020, 08:24 AM
I wanted to share something else.

Bruce and I met at an MTMA launch in Ohio. For the life of me I don't remember how it was that we hit it off so well. We were kind of opposites in many ways. But we became fast friends. As time progressed, I moved into high power and my projects got bigger. But Bruce and I still found common ground in our love of models and we would often launch together at the various fields I found. His favorite motor was the B6-4. I really don't have a memory of him launching much of anything else. He was at home on the launch field. I have to chuckle at past images of us....two old pudgy guys out in the field, feeling like kids while launching our rockets. Since we both had a bit of a gut...we called ourselves "Muffin Top Rocketry". No matter the circumstances Bruce always had a sense of humor.

He helped me and my small family in ways I will always be grateful for. I have many fond memories of Bruce. I do not know if he told any of you all. But even though he never smoked, he was also battling lung cancer and some other issues that came up.

The last time I saw him in person, they invited my wife and I to his place to have dinner with him and his wife Deb. We hung out and watched a movie. That evening was truly a good time and a fond memory. I really did not know that was the last time I would actually see him in person.

I am sorry to go on like this. I am sure some of you have stories to share as well. If you do, please post them. He was a good guy, he was surely a character, he was also my close friend.

Fly high and soft landings Bruce

Andrew Kleinhenz
TRA #12272 L2

BSNW
04-08-2020, 08:26 AM
Andrew,

Please also ask the family where they would like donations made.

Steve

Deb Levison asked to send any donations to: The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

Thanks!
Andrew

A Fish Named Wallyum
04-08-2020, 09:54 AM
We flew together a couple of times at the Rip Rap Road field in Dayton. Always flying something interesting, and on one occasion we were talking as we recovered our "gliders" and I put two and two together and realized that we both posted here. On that particular day Bruce was flying a Centuri Hummingbird, making multiple flights and trying to chase out the gremlins that often ride along with early flights of any glider. He was very focused on getting the thing to work, and I recognized that my own lack of focus was probably where the bulk of my personal gremlins came from when it came to gliders. Then I saw something shiny and lost the thought. A couple of years back Bruce had been doing some work on the Estes Geo Sat LV and I'd taken some pictures of details on my eBay rescue kit for him. Only now I realize that you were his test mule for the parts he made with his 3D printer. :cool:
I think I'll build a Hummingbird.

BSNW
04-08-2020, 10:12 AM
We flew together a couple of times at the Rip Rap Road field in Dayton. Always flying something interesting, and on one occasion we were talking as we recovered our "gliders" and I put two and two together and realized that we both posted here. On that particular day Bruce was flying a Centuri Hummingbird, making multiple flights and trying to chase out the gremlins that often ride along with early flights of any glider. He was very focused on getting the thing to work, and I recognized that my own lack of focus was probably where the bulk of my personal gremlins came from when it came to gliders. Then I saw something shiny and lost the thought. A couple of years back Bruce had been doing some work on the Estes Geo Sat LV and I'd taken some pictures of details on my eBay rescue kit for him. Only now I realize that you were his test mule for the parts he made with his 3D printer. :cool:
I think I'll build a Hummingbird.

I remember that day! We were there together. I also remember it was a HOT day. I remember our trip/drive down. If memory serves....we went to E-Rockets after the launch to get some goodies (he did). Yes he loved that hummingbird glider...it also frustrated him a bit.

He also made me a Geo-Sat "kit". It is one of my most precious rockets. I will try and post a photo of it. He was so happy that I made something that he made the parts for!

Good times.
Andrew

BSNW
04-08-2020, 10:22 AM
Can some body tell me how to post a photo in this forum? I click on "add image" and it asks me about "text" and all I get is "(IMG)" thing....
Thanks

Gus
04-08-2020, 11:34 AM
You can make a memorial donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation here. (https://www2.jdrf.org/site/Donation2?2374.donation=form1&df_id=2374&s_src=google_cpc&s_subsrc=180410_PrimaryDonation_SiteLinkMemorial)

Once again, the information you need to have JDRF send a note to Bruce's family is:

The Levison Family
9601 Rockingham drive
Whitehouse, Ohio
43571

Ltvscout
04-08-2020, 12:14 PM
Can some body tell me how to post a photo in this forum? I click on "add image" and it asks me about "text" and all I get is "(IMG)" thing....
Thanks
Andrew,

You can view this post for help:

https://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=16067

I'll add that the each file you upload can't be larger than 2mb in size. If it is you'll need to resize the picture on your end first to decrease the file size. Again, a limitation of the old software I'm running.

BSNW
04-08-2020, 12:49 PM
Hey all-

I posted some photos of my friend Bruce on The Rocketry Forums. I miss him so badly.

Here is the link:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/we-lost-one-of-our-own-bruce-levison.158724/

Andrew

Eagle3
04-08-2020, 08:18 PM
Bruce will be missed. I recall chatting with him at several NARAMS. My condolences to his family.

Ez2cDave
04-09-2020, 04:35 PM
https://www.utoledo.edu/med/depts/physpharm/hypertension_center/levison.html


OBITUARY - https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/bruce-levison-obituary?pid=195909876

https://www.rocketryforum.com/attachments/muffin-top-rocketry-jpg.411568/


https://www.rocketryforum.com/attachments/bruce-2-jpg.411735/


https://www.rocketryforum.com/attachments/bruce-3-jpg.411736/

https://www.utoledo.edu/med/depts/physpharm/hypertension_center/images/Levison3.jpg

R.I.P. Bruce !

Dave F.

BSNW
04-10-2020, 11:19 AM
THANK YOU for posting these photos Dave. I could not get it to work and I simply did not want to try and mess with it at the time. THANK YOU to everyone who replied. Stay safe ALL!

Andrew

Ez2cDave
04-10-2020, 12:57 PM
THANK YOU for posting these photos Dave. I could not get it to work and I simply did not want to try and mess with it at the time. THANK YOU to everyone who replied. Stay safe ALL!

Andrew

Andrew,

You are very welcome, sir !

Dave F.

Ez2cDave
04-10-2020, 01:17 PM
Yes he loved that hummingbird glider...it also frustrated him a bit.

Andrew

https://www.rocketreviews.com/rocksim-centuri---hummingbird.html

https://www.rocketreviews.com/file-851586/Centuri%20Hummingbird%20Boost%20Glider.rkt

https://www.oldrocketplans.com/centuri/cenKF-2/KF-2.pdf

https://www.oldrocketplans.com/centuri/cenKF-2/Fin-Patterns.jpg

Dave F.

Earl
04-10-2020, 01:51 PM
Here's an alternate that may be just a tad bit cleaner.


Earl

Ez2cDave
04-10-2020, 03:00 PM
Here's an alternate that may be just a tad bit cleaner.


Earl

Earl,

Nice job - Bulls-Eye !

Dave F.

rraeford
04-14-2020, 09:51 PM
I never met Bruce. He made some parts for me last year and was almost too generous. I pulled out some of them the other day and thought about contacting him. Very sad news indeed.

ghrocketman
04-15-2020, 12:15 PM
I chatted with Bruce via PM about 4 days before he passed.
Very Sad.