Al Goss has been part of Kern County's aviation community for the better part of two decades.
Wednesday night, there are a lot of broken hearts over the loss of this affable aviator.
Al Goss was a crop duster by trade.
But his real passion was flying his AT-6 "Warlock" at airshows and the Reno Air Races.
To Eddie Van Fossen, owner of Old River Crop Dusting, Al Goss was like a brother.
When asked what made the two so tight, Fossen responded "I guess the comraderie."
"Together all these years and you fly close formation with someone for years, you get real tight and as an employee-employer relationship, we really didn't think of it that way. We were just pilots," said Eddie Van Fossen.
For some 20 years, Goss and Van Fossen were fixtures of the Minter Field "Warbirds in Action" Airshow, thrilling crowds with their precision flying.
And they duked it out for years at the Reno Air Races, Goss the perennial bridesmaid, usually behind Van Fossen, until he won it all in 2004.
"I've been racing up here for 24 consecutive years and I've got second place six times but I've never quite won the event, and so this is really been something I've been trying to do for a long time and we finally accomplished it," said Al Goss in an interview in September, 2004.
Van Fossen's son Jeff was the last one to see Goss Wednesday, as he set out on a joy ride with an aviator friend.
"He says I'm going for a spin or two. And me and my dad sat there and watched him take off, said Jeff Van Fossen.
The 68-year-old Goss was a fun-loving flyboy, but all business when he climbed into the cockpit.
"We all know that. We've known that from day 1. It's something that's there so you just try to put it out of your mind and go about your business," said Van Fossen.
A graduate of Porterville High School, Al Goss had more than 30,000 hours in the cockpit, as a crop duster and warbird pilot.
Warbird Mechanic L.D. Hughes says Al Goss was a mentor to him, and a big reason why he pursued a career in Aviation Mechanics.
"Al Goss was always one of the guys who you would think would die of old age, so it's a shocking loss," said L.D. Hughes.
"He loved to fly his WWII trainer. He was very passionate abot it. I've flown with him for years, so it's just really shocking," added Hughes.
The Warbirds in Action Air Show will never be the same without him.
Funeral services for Al Goss are pending.
Al Goss leaves behind two sons and a daughter, and his longtime girlfriend Anita.
