Model Aviation - Segway to a Lifetime Vocation
I was blessed to have been raised on my father’s public-use airport at York, Pa. Being raised on an airport afforded me opportunities to have hands-on learning about aircraft servicing and maintenance. I soloed on my 16th birthday and got my private pilot license on my 17th birthday. The open acreage of the airport was ideal for flying model airplanes. Along with my brothers, I spent countless hours building and flying free-flight and u-control models.
As a child, I frequented Hobby Shops, and my favorite was Skelly’s in West York. The atmosphere was an abundance of planes that hung from the ceiling, and there was always a great assortment of kits that they allowed you to open and examine.
In my college years, I was employed by Dale Myers, who had a hobby shop in Middletown, PA. Dale had designed and kitted the Shoo-Fly, a three-channel RC plane. It was under his mentorship that I was introduced to RC airplanes.
Following college, I landed a career with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation, working in various airport management positions at Harrisburg International Airport and Capital City Airport. I became Bureau Director, which included statewide programs and the Governor's Flight Department. I got to fly our 260 Comanche and Cessna 182, and co-pilot our Twin Beech and Piper Navajo. During several of those years, I would enjoy RC flying with several of the corporate pilots at what was then the West Shore Flying Society Field. My career included being elected to two national aviation organizations as President: NASAO (National Association of State Aviation Officials) and NEC AAAE (Northeast Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives).
Following a thirty-two-year career in aviation, I began a new career in ministry. While serving as a Chaplain at Messiah Village, I formed a men’s fellowship. One of our activities was at the Capitol Area Flyers Field, where club members would share their hobby.
Model aviation has contributed significantly to keeping my spirit and love of aviation vibrant. From a childhood that began with some Jimmy Walker free-flight planes, I have never abandoned the hobby that I love. Model aviation offers the hobby of building and the sport of flying, but more than that, for me, it became a segway to lifetime vocation.
