Bold letters JD, which could be seen on the remains of a glider that went down near Midlothian, sent a particularly poignant message to pilots across the country. Dick Johnson, who many called one of the best glider pilots ever to sit in a cockpit, was dead.

His skills brought him eleven national championships and one world title.

“He learned to fly before WWII; and he had been flying since he was a young boy,” said Jeff Baird, Texas Soaring Association in Midlothian.

Around noon Wednesday, he went up to check the weather at the Soaring Association’s airfield near Midlothian. His colleagues saw him slip below the tree line a couple of miles away, which was where they found the wreckage.

The cause of the crash is still unknown.

Johnson flourished in a sport whose name captures its thrill, soaring.

At the Texas Soaring Association, he was literally the wing beneath the wings of young pilots. At age 85, he was an encyclopedia of flying who was willing to share his passion, Baird said.

“He loved his family, and he loved soaring and he flew every chance he could get,” Baird said.

The most important instrument in a glider is the yaw string, which is located outside the cockpit in front of the pilot’s nose. The flimsy piece of fiber tracks the airflow over the aircraft. Pilots learn that to stay aloft, the string must be centered in the middle of the nose for a balance point. Friends said Johnson's values were as straight as that string.

“He probably couldn't imagine a better way to go if he had to go,” said Dick Mockler, a friend. “To go in his sailplane was probably the best.”

E-mail bharris@wfaa.com