204,327.77 raised in 2026. We have reached 40% of our goal.
Help us reach this year's goal of $500,000!
There is not enough room here for me to go into what I would like to tell you, so I will just start with how I developed the first digital spread spectrum RC system. It was back in 2001, and I was in the small UAV business building autopilots and telemetry systems for small UAVs.
Like many hobbyists, my interest in aviation started at a very young age. It was not until high school, 38 years ago, that I had an interest in radio controlled model aviation. A classmate of mine was speaking to his friend about flying a radio controlled aircraft. From that point on, I needed to know everything I could about them.
I really enjoyed flying remote control airplanes. I’ve been flying remote control airplanes for 25 years now. I’m all grown up with airplanes and helicopters, now I've stepped up with big planes now. I don’t do nitro planes anymore. All gas and turbines now.
I started flying RC 37 years ago. I got my private pilot's license 49 years ago. What I learned from RC transferred into full-size, and after building a number of RCs, I started building experimental aircraft. I am now building my 4th experience. I am finishing my 14th rebuild and just purchased my 31st airplane.
Aeromodelling is something I started when I was about 10 years old. It challenged me to figure out how to build things, figure out why engines worked or didn't, and to get back to building after a crash. In part, it led me into a fascination with physics, a degree in physics, and a successful career in engineering, where I was a principal engineer at a large semiconductor manufacturer.
I’m a 55-year-old small business owner who focuses on family and occasionally enjoys the sport of modeling. I'm very blessed to have my entire family flying, and our daughter, Skylar Donnelly, not only holds records in electric but is the first junior female world champion in F1B. I’m also a board member for the National Youth Aviation Academy. Thank you for doing what you do and providing help with getting our youth involved.
I’ve been building and flying model aircraft since I was six years old. Saved up all summer and bought my first RC radio at 11 years old. From learning to fly with a sterling fledgling and a Goldberg skyline 62, to building giant scale warbirds for decades, I've flown them all across the US, including Hawaii at major events, and I've competed at Top Gun for 10 years. To say it’s a passion is an understatement!
My love for aircraft began when I was a small child. My father worked for Boeing. He was in charge of the wing sections on the 747. I started out with a Cox Control Line Mustang P51. I quickly jumped to Radio Control with a couple of kits. I am now 60 years old and have been enjoying Radio Control airplanes, helicopters, watercraft, cars, and drones.
My name is Albert Manansala, now 55 years old. I have been RC modeling for 37 years. Right after graduating high school, I worked part-time at Willoughby Hobbies in Guam, which is owned by the late Capt. Dale Willoughby, an AMA HALL OF FAMER known as the FATHER OF SLOPE SOARING of AMERICA. He taught me everything I know about building RC airplanes and showed me how to find and ride the “INVISIBLE WIND” using our RC gliders.
I have been flying model planes since I was a little boy, from the small, rubber-powered stick flyers, to the comet kits, onto the sterling Control Line and Radio Control kits. I was always building something that flew. Today, I'm in my 60s. I not only fly the models but also fly the real thing, and my workbench is cluttered with one being built and one being repaired.
