I built the radio with the help of my uncle, who was a ham radio operator who built all of his radio equipment from Heathkit products. I entered my first Scale competition in 1975, and in 1976, I entered the Mint Julip Scale Contest at Rough River, Kentucky. There is a picture of my airplane in the October 1976 issue of Radio Control Modeler.
My Designer Scale Beech King Air 200.
I’ve flown mostly RC Scale and Giant Scale aircraft, but I also flew RC Aerobatics (Pattern) during the 1980s and ’90s.
Now, I mostly fly a pencil around score sheets as a judge at Scale contests: 30-plus years at the Nats, 23 years at Top Gun, 30-plus years as a Scale Masters judge, and 30-plus years at various other Scale contests. I’m also a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Scale judge for RC.
My Nosen P-51 is 24 pounds with a Zenoah G-38 engine.
My Top Flite P-47 ARF.
I was a member, and then team manager, of the Buckeye Aero Squadron, which was an AMA Show Team in Dayton, Ohio, from 1984 until the Show Team program was disbanded.
Model aviation has been very good to me and helped me in my career as a pilot and aircraft mechanic. I’ve recently retired as an FAA safety inspector of 20-plus years.
My friend, Ed Wallace has coerced me into flying CL models again. When you see me at any event, come up and say hi.