Andrew has been flying since he was 10 years old and in the fifth grade. He knew from that point on that he wanted to be a pilot. After a few months of flying the little plastic and coaxial around the house, Andrew eventually wore it out from the multitude of crashes it suffered, and moved on to a larger, more durable aluminum helicopter. He flew this helicopter for a few more months and even used it in his 5th grade science fair that spring, where he tested ground effect on different surfaces. That spring he got a high wing trainer, called the Dynam “I can Fly.” Later that summer he joined the Mid-Missouri Modelers RC Club in Warrensburg Missouri. This is where Andrew found out about the AMA and where he really began to get hooked on the hobby. After joining the AMA at age 10, Andrew went to every fun fly event that he could and made friends with the community as well as spent time with and picked up on safety tips from his other club members. Andrew competed in events at fun flys, and got second at one and first at a few others. More recently, he has picked up flying helicopters (as of 2014) and has attended Camp AMA 3 times as well. Nick Maxwell has taught him a lot since Andrew started both in building and flying helicopters and he is extremely grateful for the time he was able to spend with him. The best part about Camp AMA is the friends he has made and experience he has gained about what is really out there in the hobby. Andrew won the District 6 Youth leadership award for the past two years and was able to attend camp at no cost. Andrew's favorite achievement in the hobby so far was his time as an AMA leader member and instructor. Within his high school he started a “drones” club, got it chartered, and successfully taught 5 students to fly multicopters his junior year. Everyone had a lot of fun and explored many parts of the hobby, they even started on fixed wing at the end of the year. Andrew hopes to do something similar in college. He is also an instructor with the Civil Air Patrol as well as a Cadet Second Lieutenant and the Cadet Commander of the Warrensburg Composite Squadron. UAS and RC flight is part of the STEM curriculum. Andrew has been teaching cadets to fly RC since his sophomore year and recently started teaching multicopters. This has all been a really great experience for Andrew and hopefully his first aviation related job will be as a pilot in the United States Air Force.
