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Dear netAirspace community.

It is with great sadness we share the news of our founder Stefan Gebenus' passing. Stefan, also known as Zak, passed suddenly and unexpectedly in March at the age of 50.

Stefan was a hugely popular member of the aviation community whose vision gave rise to netAirspace and brought together our little corner of the internet. He was often found at meets around the globe, particularly those in warm climates with cold beer, where his humour and tales of his travels always raised a smile.

Stefan was a friend to many of us. Often a voice of reason and a fierce advocate for fairness and inclusion, he will be sadly missed by us all.

My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today.

Richard Adams, Watership Down

I remember him rightly tearing a.net a new one over their handling of DoctorKeiron's passing. Now we find ourselves handling his own.

Happier times, when Stefan and I met in Copenhagen for technical discussions, cervezas, spotting, and sunburn:

What shocking news. Stefan was always a pleasure to chat to at meets and gatherings, and nothing was too much trouble - I recall a trip to Hamburg (with Jeff as well) to get the LX 777. He must have spent hours on the phone to them changing flights and details as the schedule was always changing but it was never any trouble. And then he took us on a whistlestop tour of Hamburg - beer, currywurst and ice cream. A real gent and a sad loss to the aviation community.

One of the really nice people you'd encounter online--shocked to hear that he's no longer with us. I figured life just had him busy. He's one of the internet folks that I always expected that I would meet (not sure why, since Queso and Ed B. are the only ones I've met in 2 decades as a recluse), and there is a great sadness and loss at being deprived of that opportunity.

I met him a few times, and we shared some great stories over a beer, in various cities across the world.

My deepest condolences to all his family and friends. He'll be missed.

I remember meeting Stefan in-person for the first time at LHR in 2010. Being a World Cup year, it was advisable to hide a German accent and Stefan had mastered a generic US/Canadian accent that was passable and working well. Right until he went to the bar and ordered a "peeent of Guinness" before burning his hand on a candle and letting out a slew of German profanities! The pretence ended there!

So many great memories. The MUC tour translation farce and subsequent personal water cannon salute, sleepless in LHR after he managed to pull in the space of a lift ride, or his attempts at speaking Japanese to an utterly bemused Scouser.

Farewell Stefan. Wherever you are, I hope you have an icy ramp and an old BMW.

mhodgson wrote:a whistlestop tour of Hamburg - beer, currywurst and ice cream

Count yourself lucky you didn't get his tour of the Low Countries... Us in HAM, Vic showed up in BRU, flights were so criminally expensive that chartering an Islander for the two of us was actually not that much worse, but Stefan opted to drive. I spent the journey coding furiously in the passenger seat and trying to forget how quickly not just the scenery but most of the other traffic on the autobahn was getting left in our dust...

That wasn't the only time he and I cheated death together:



This was the last time that floatplane took off before flipping in Hamburg harbour and drowning its two passengers; Stefan and I were booked on the very next flight.

He informed me as we were driving to the airfield for our hastily-arranged glider flights that the previous HAM floatplane had spun in, the night before he and his then-wife were due to fly in it.

At least now it should be safe to book a floatplane ride.

mhodgson wrote:A real gent and a sad loss to the aviation community.

Well said.

Such a terrible shock. I'll second Martin's comments regarding nothing being too much trouble for Stefan. The first time we met, he picked me and a fellow spotter up in a car and drove us round the various spots at HAM before having food and beer in the evening. Next day, more spotting and an offer of a night on the town which we sadly didn't have time for. A true gentleman and a real loss to netAirspace and the wider aviation community. Rest in peace, Stefan.

JLAmber wrote:I remember meeting Stefan in-person for the first time at LHR in 2010. Being a World Cup year, it was advisable to hide a German accent and Stefan had mastered a generic US/Canadian accent that was passable and working well. Right until he went to the bar and ordered a "peeent of Guinness" before burning his hand on a candle and letting out a slew of German profanities! The pretence ended there!

Might have been the same trip, first time I met him (also in a lift, not the same one!) I hadn't quite worked out that 'Zak' and Stefan were the same person which was a confusing 20 minutes

And I suspect that same meet somehow wound up in you wearing a Germany shirt at the Airport Pub in Manchester on an England v Germany match day - Stefan getting the better side of the bargain with an England top which was much safer in those Airport Pub days...

Good times.

This one hits you like a swift kick in the nuts. Hell of a nice guy, whose tag line was: "What could possibly go wrong?" Met up in a few places around, LIS, BRU, BCN, LAX, MIA and who can forget SXM? I have to dig that photo up.

Its hard to write something when you feel that emotion nut smash.

Blue skies my friend.

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Shocking
Condolences to the family, fly high Stefan !

Nice guy. Good times in SXM and Barcelona. He'll be missed.

What unbelievable sad news.

Stefan was the one who brought me to Netairspace. Will never forget when he asked me if i´d like to upload my pictures here. Thats 12 years ago now.
Since than we have been on so many meets together. MIA, FRA, BCN, LIS...

And not to forget the nice evening in Duesseldorf when we met Vic there on a stopover. Oh, and some will remember the wedding crashers at the MAN meet 2018...

Stefan, you´ll never be forgotten. Rest in peace

We were neck and neck, and at the end, we were calling JL Amber. That message must have been a hoot.

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Heartbreaking to hear this news, gents and ladies. May each of you find solace in these trying times.

Why a genuinely great person. This community and many people will miss him.

I was very sad to learn of Zak's passing. Two words come to mind when I think of him: world traveler. He also seemed to have quite the luck when it came to baggage. I was very glad our paths crossed during the LAX Netairspace meet, just before the world changed from COVID. Before that, all my interactions with him had been online, and my impression was that he was a very nice guy, committed to the aviation hobby and the friendships forged in consequence. I missed his interactions over the last few years, but I figured life happened and got busy.

Rest easy, Zak, fair winds and Godspeed.

An addition, a photo from his Flickr account--Is this a memory from the famous A380 taxi?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/netairspa ... ateposted/

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From Zak's Flickr

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Whoa. I'm still speechless...

I'm even a worse recluse than Lucas, so I haven't had the chance to meet y'all in person. Even though we only interacted online, Stefan's friendly personality always shone through, and I am glad to have known him and to be part of this community that he helped set up.

Farewell and blue skies ahead, Zak. You will be missed.

md88dawg wrote:An addition, a photo from his Flickr account--Is this a memory from the famous A380 taxi?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/netairspa ... ateposted/

It would be I think, giving JLAmber a lift home. Another great memory.

Just going through the dozens of messages about Stefan it's clear that he was a great host who was very proud of his home city. Like so many, I also had the guided tour of Hamburg from Stefan who was always hospitable and giving of his time.

mhodgson wrote:

md88dawg wrote:An addition, a photo from his Flickr account--Is this a memory from the famous A380 taxi?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/netairspa ... ateposted/

It would be I think, giving JLAmber a lift home. Another great memory.

Yep, that's us, somewhere over Northwest England. Good times.

miamiair wrote:We were neck and neck, and at the end, we were calling JL Amber. That message must have been a hoot.

"We have a table full of empty bottles. The entire lensh of the table!" Stefan's English was suffering at that point

I keep expecting him to reply to one of the posts with "But what is this fake news?"

JLAmber wrote:I keep expecting him to reply to one of the posts with "But what is this fake news?"

Too busy riding a motorbike with Ted.

Not the story I wanted to read at all. I had the obvious guess when seeing his name posted as the title. He came across as a bright guy to me.

Lucas wrote:One of the really nice people you'd encounter online--shocked to hear that he's no longer with us. I figured life just had him busy. He's one of the internet folks that I always expected that I would meet (not sure why, since Queso and Ed B. are the only ones I've met in 2 decades as a recluse), and there is a great sadness and loss at being deprived of that opportunity.

I've only met GQ and AFG, but other than that, word for word I agree.

What incredibly sad news !

Having done some quick research I think that I first met Stefan during an A.net meeting that I had organised at ZRH in 2010 which included a guided tour of SR Technics.
A few other NAS meetings followed in subsequent years with an interruption before and after my father´s death.

I always thought that Stefan originated from Hamburg, but it was during a meeting at FRA that we found out that he grew up the city of Espelkamp in Eastern Westphalia, a mere 60 klicks west of my home town.
And having been to Espelkamp myself I fully can understand that Stefan moved away from there looking for Big City Life, and The World.

(Espelkamp´s number of inhabitants "exploded" (no pun intended) to more than ten-fold after the Second World War, when a former grenade manufacturing site was converted into a refugee camp, gradually turning into permanent housing over the next decades. One big chunk of new arrivals were people of German descent relocating from the Soviet Union (especially from Kazakhstan SSR) in the 1970´s.)


The world has lost quite a character with Stefan !

My sincerest condolences !

P.S.
If anybody would bring up the idea to hold a "Farewell to Stefan Meeting" at some place in Europe this summer I should be among the first to subscribe to it.

-HT

Wow. I'm so shocked to learn of Stefan's passing. We worked closely in the early days of getting this site up and running, me providing only a minor support role, but I remember Stefan being incredibly easy and fun to work with.

RIP Stefan. You will be missed.