152,030.98 raised in 2026. We have reached 30% of our goal.
Help us reach this year's goal of $500,000!
Born in 1952, I started my AMA membership and competitive Control Line scale and rat-racer flying at 7 or 8 years old. My dad flew scale and my older brother flew combat during the late ‘50s in the Lexington/Winston-Salem, North Carolina area. My dad and I attended the 1961 AMA Nationals at the Willow Grove NAS.
My AMA Story
In the early 1970s, my uncle gave me a small (049) Control Line airplane. Knowing nothing about the hobby at the time, we followed the instructions for set-up and fired up the engine. Once it was tuned for peak performance, my brother let go of the little plane. Within seconds, possibly one or two, I was picking up pieces. I meticulously glued all the parts back together. We rechecked the instructions to see if we had missed something. The only obvious thing to do was to adjust the controls to minimize surface deflections.
I started into the hobby a little over 7 years ago; my father had started flying with a friend who'd gotten him hooked in the hobby and my dad asked if I'd be interested in getting into the hobby as well. I jumped at the chance, starting with a racing drone (and I do NOT recommend going that route as a first aircraft; it involved LOTS of crashing on my part LOL).
I'm a retired architect who has been in the hobby for 35 years. I flew full-scale aircraft from 1976 until 2002. I'm a member of Jefco Aeromod'lers in Denver, Colorado. I have served as the President of the club and was a AVP for District IX. I'm a builder, and many of my projects have been featured in Stan Alexander's Scale Builder.
I began building model airplanes when I was 7 years old. I got some basic instruction from an older (junior high school) boy down the street, who built very nice "stick models."
Of course, I also built Speedee Bilts by Monogram, as well as Comet stick models. And I joined a local club when one appeared. We built hand launched and high-start gliders. There I learned a bit more about why airplanes flew and what the airfoil actually was and did.
Started learning in 1980. Took some time off to raise 2 daughters and rejoined my club a few years later. Our Club has been in the same location for over 55 years!!!! I became President of our club and have stepped down to the Treasurer position after 5 years of growth. Now retired, flying 3-4 times a week, and enjoying LIFE!!!!!!
My nickname is "Chic." I grew up in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, living off the end of an active runway of the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. I watched Boxcars, Constellations, and Electras take off. When at the Observation Deck, I even talked to the departing pilots.
B.S. in Ceramic Engineering, University of Washington, 1961
M.S. in Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1963
PhD. in Engineering-Mineral Technology, University of California, Berkeley, 1965
1965-1987 Research Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.
1987-1999 Associate Professor of Metallurgical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
My journey with model aviation started at age 9 or 10 by building plastic model airplanes with my father. By the time I was 16, I wanted to learn how to fly real aircraft and I started working at Midwest Products Co. Inc in Hobart, Indiana, to earn money to pay for my lessons.
The AMA helped me gain the background needed for the career I have today, serving as an engineer and drone pilot for an upcoming NASA space mission launching in 2028 to land a drone on Saturn's moon, Titan. Growing up, I dreamed about flying, which led me to studying mechanical and aerospace engineering in college and learning to fly remote control and full-scale airplanes.
