There when you needed him.
Ulrich Bollinger was a stalwart friend, a man you could count on to join any mission, any safety meeting and any project. Most of his friends were aviators — old Starfighter jocks, doctors with ultralights, men who could build an articulating loader from scratch, wrench benders and hangar flyers.
He loved to fly, but he didn’t have to fly. He just wanted to be in the milieu of flyers, to be surrounded by the talk of engines and power settings, to offer advice and warnings, to laugh and disrupt with shocking stories and conspiracies.
When the chips were down he was there for support. When tragedy struck, he was the very essence of strength and calm — just like in his 421 days. In 2016, he flew to Calgary to help support Todd Lemieux and Bruce Evans who were flying their T-28s to Cold Lake for an air show. Tragedy struck when the much-beloved Bruce was killed during his show. Though he had witnessed the whole thing, he stepped up to help Todd deal with the emotions and the horrific tasks he had to do following the loss of his best friend Bruce. “I don’t know how I could have made it through Bruce’s crash in Cold Lake without his guidance and support. It meant a lot to me.” wrote Lemieux. He did things only a pilot who has lost friends would think of — sorting out Todd’s hotel room right away, booking him another room, so he wouldn’t be haunted by the sight of Bruce’s personal effects and reminders of his loss. Ulrich stayed an entire week until Todd was ready for home and flew with him back to Springbank.
In May of 2013, he was on a training flight in a WWII vintage Cornell trainer with fellow fighter pilot Francis Bélanger when they lost power and made a forced landing in a boggy field. Bollinger suffered a cut on his head when he bashed the coaming. He was OK but Bélanger was taken to the hospital for precautionary examinations. Bélanger remembers:
“Transported to the hospital by ambulance due to neck & back pains, I had the privilege of being with Ulrich. During the transport and all the time spent at the hospital Ulrich, despite a bad cut to his forehead, he stayed by my side… that day he showed me support, kindness and genuine affection, the memories of that dramatic day are not about what happened to us but how we sprung back and supported each other, Ulrich had been my best “medicine” that day”.
Ulrich did his best to stay in touch with friends, to keep the connections tethered and to support and encourage his friends. You didn't have to be a pilot to feel his gift for mentoring. Dave O’Malley recalls:
“As an obsessed story teller, I used to write a lot of stories about aviation and in particular about warriors like Bollinger. Every time I published one of these stories, I would get a call from him a week or so later. He simply wanted to say how much he enjoyed them, often complimenting me on my writing. That sort of moral support and recognition from someone I respected so much fuelled the continuation of my work. I still spend much of my time on commemoration projects to this day, partially because of his support.”
Bollinger was one of a kind. No one who knew him would deny that. The world was a better place, a more interesting place for him being in it. He had a long life but we all were hoping for and assuming we’d have another ten years of his friendship. He is missed already but he will never be forgotten.
