Model aviation has been a big, enjoyable part of my life, beginning with control-line and current involvement with drones. This activity has fostered many wonderful friendships. Our local flying field was the Falls Church High School football field. It was there that I met J.E.Albritton, who has competed in international events.
One of our local club activities was Thermic 50 flying. A few of us competed in CL speed and stunt events up and down the east coast.
A Falls Church company, Melpar, started up a drone program. They hired some local modelers to design and build their drones. This included JE Albritton, Bill Hinnant, and myself. We had a wonderful time designing, building, and testing drones. These tests included flying at a local naval airport, flying in ranges in Nevada and a demonstration in Germany.
I received a Top Secret clearance for a Cuba drone overflight that never was actually done. When Melpar got out of the drone business, I applied at the CIA and was hired. Considerably interesting international travel ensued, then I got a call: "John, we have a drone program starting up, will you come with us?" I said, "I'll be right there."
The program was for a "stealthy" drone. The program started with a competition between the major aircraft companies, and Lockheed won the competition. It sure was fun working with the top designers of those companies, Ben Rich, Ladislio Pazmany, Richard Tracy, etc. The result of the competition was the RQ-3 Dark Star project.
I have been blessed with the opportunities given to me. I have published over 60 articles on model aviation.
In another field of endeavor, I was hired by the AMA to design their Reston facility, then to help out on planning their Muncie site. I was privileged to have been able to work with Bill Winter and help him publish many of his designs.
In retirement, I still enjoy my model aviation activities.
John Hunton
