Friends pay tribute to expert pilot

Dan Neuman, who is presumed dead in crash, was beloved instructor at OCC and Royal Aviation.When Cheri Dyson, a flight instructor at Royal Aviation, took her test flight for the job, she felt understandably nervous. Her trainer, Dan Neuman, helped to ease the tension.

“He hit his head on the flap and it was bleeding, so he wadded up some paper towels and put them on with duct tape,” Dyson recalled. “Then he took me on my checkout flight with duct tape on his head. That’s just how Dan was.”

In the wake of the plane crash Saturday that apparently took the lives of Neuman and three others, friends and colleagues remembered the Orange Coast College aviation instructor as gracious and optimistic, with a wicked sense of humor.

Neuman, 51, was reportedly piloting a single-engine Cessna back from the Baja 1000 offroad race in Mexico on Saturday. Shortly after 2 p.m., for reasons still unknown, the plane crashed off the coast of San Clemente.

“He was one of those guys who would never have a sad face,” said Bret Newton, a longtime colleague of Neuman in the Royal Aviation flight club. “Hot or cold, early morning or late nights, Dan was always there ready to go and always had a smile on his face. He always had a good disposition, a good attitude toward flying. He just loved to fly.”

After hearing of Neuman’s death, Newton printed fliers with his friend’s picture and a one-paragraph tribute. He spent most of Monday posting the fliers at John Wayne Airport, local flying clubs and Neuman’s aviation classrooms at OCC.

When Neuman’s students arrived for their 6:30 p.m. Monday class, technology dean Jorge Sanchez told them the tragic news. Students were sad and puzzled, expressing disbelief at the circumstances of Neuman’s death. According to a newspaper article taped to the front door of the room, experts believe that Neuman’s plane crashed because its engine stalled.

“Every day he would focus on weights and balances, and he seemed like the last person in the world who couldn’t get out of a stall,” said Jillian Speer, 18, of Tustin.

“He knew what he was talking about,” added Max Gelardi, 19, of Newport Beach. “It [the cause of the crash] definitely wasn’t lack of experience.”

Neuman had been an adjunct instructor at OCC since 1988. He held an associate degree from OCC and a community college credential in aeronautics from the state. At the time of his death, he was teaching two fall semester classes in aviation -- one for private pilots, the other for commercial pilots.

Neuman is survived by his wife, Zandra, and their children. Newton said he and other friends were in the process of starting a memorial fund for Neuman’s family.