Roseville's Gary Maack mourned; called consummate mechanic

Gary Maack lived and breathed airplanes, so his career as an aircraft mechanic was something of a dream come true.But that dream turned to a nightmare this weekend when the 53-year-old Roseville husband and father died in a plane crash that also killed the pilot, David Michaud, of Sacramento.Now, Maack's friends are left wondering what happened to bring the plane down as they comfort a family devastated by loss."His life really did revolve around airplanes," said Laura Bickford, a family friend who described Maack as "just a very likable person.""Everybody just immediately warmed up to Gary," she said.Maack was a 30-year aircraft expert who was the mechanic for the plane, a 1966 Mooney M20E, associates said.Those who knew him described him as a dedicated family man, a NASCAR fan and extremely competent airplane mechanic who had worked for a number of aircraft manufacturers and servicers. Most recently, he had become a full-time independent mechanic."People would call him because they knew he was good," said Kirk Godfrey, a longtime friend and customer of Maack's.The crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday after Michaud and Maack took off from the Rio Linda Airport, according to reports. The plane came down near the Roy Hayer Memorial Speedway next to the airport shortly after takeoff, witnesses said. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.Officials this week said they were just beginning the painstaking work of determining exactly what caused the crash."Witnesses told us (the pilot) was doing a maintenance test flight, so that's what we're looking into," said National Transportation Safety Board investigator Tealeye Cornejo.She said witnesses described an engine "sputtering" sound and then seeing smoke before the plane crashed on the west side of the Rio Linda Airport. "That's all stuff we're going to talk to them about and see what kind of noises they were hearing," she said.The plane, a Mooney M20E, is a high-performance single-propeller aircraft produced from 1964 through 1975.Maack was skilled in working on all kinds of aircraft, including the Mooney, those who knew him said."He was a super fun guy to go out and have a beer with, but when it came to the mechanic stuff he was super anal," said Zachary Weiner, friend who hired Mack to work on his own Mooney aircraft. "That's why I always used him. He wouldn't let anything fly as far as there being problems.""It's a small community of pilots, so when something like this happens it hurts," Godfrey said.Bickford described Maack as dedicated to his wife Tammy, and his two boys, 9-year-old Brandon and 29-year-old Andrew, of Hollister."He was always going to his son's games," Godfrey said.Curiously, a plane with the same aircraft registration is listed as having been involved in a crash that caused "substantial" damage on July 3, 1967. That incident, in South Bend, Ind., was caused when the pilot prematurely retracted the landing gear, according to the NTSB.Bickford said information on services and a trust fund to be set up for the family was still pending. Updates will be posted to www.rosevillept.com and a Web site that has been set up, www.virtual-memorials.com.