Greg Gimlick

You can read Greg’s “Electrics” column bi-monthly in the February, April, June, August, October, and December issues. His email address is [email protected]. I caught the aviation bug as a kid when my mother was secretary for the airport commissioner at Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York. On my days off from school, I spent time running all over the airport. I discovered model aviation in junior high when an Air Force colonel who lived at the end of my street tolerated my standing around his shop watching him build airplanes. I got one of his cast-off airplanes and converted it to a CL “Mini-Mambo,” since radios were too expensive.
In college I built two hang-gliders from plans with moderate success; they didn’t kill me, but they didn’t fly too well, either. I then enlisted in the Army and went from basic training to flight school. I spent my career as an instructor pilot flying a wide range of helicopters before retiring from an Apache Attack helicopter battalion.
My RC career finally began in the late ’70s when I bought a radio and a Mambo Special. I liked it all, from Pattern to Sport to Scale; sizes ranged from 1/2A to Giant Scale. By 1991, I was becoming somewhat bored with it, until a friend came into my shop and threw an electric Cub on the floor in exasperation declaring, “this damned thing won't fly ... you keep it.”
I fixed it, gave it a try, and decided that although it wasn’t great, it was a very cool idea to power things electrically. The rest is history. I started flying all Electrics and have enjoyed the development throughout the years. It never got boring for me again. I now fly everything from indoor to helis to Giant Scale, and except for one airplane they are all electric. I’ve been writing columns and articles about electrics for several magazines since 1994.
When I’m not flying, I’m traveling with my wife and dog in our RV. I occasionally do some substitute teaching since teaching is what my degree is in, but I try not to let it interfere with my travels and modeling.
When it comes to model aviation, I love it all; it’s a lifestyle now!