Jim Luby—an AMA member, AMA Foundation Torchbearer, and vice president of the Vintage Radio Control Society—recently nominated his wife, Mary, for the AMA Foundation's Copilot Recognition Program. Today, Jim shares the in-depth story of the part Mary has played in his model aviation journey:
My Copilot for Life
My name is Jim Luby, and my bride, Mary, has been my copilot for over 46 years! Our flying story begins back in 1980 when we met. I introduced Mary to my love of flying in two ways. First, I took her flying in my Cessna 172 on our second date. She had never flown in a private aircraft before, but she immediately told me that she "trusts me to keep her safe." I knew at that moment that I had a copilot for my RC hobby too!
After our flight touring in New York City at night, Mary would also come out to the flying field and watch me fly. She was curious about these "radio-controlled airplanes," and quickly enjoyed seeing them (and me) fly. From the very beginning, Mary would always help me by standing next to me in the flight box and keeping a sharp eye on others flying. She learned to announce that I was taking off, landing, and even the occasional dead stick!
In recent years, Mary has become more involved in our hobby by designing graphics and color schemes for my airplanes. She would come up with style and design ideas that she thought would stand out at the flying field and would be fun to watch fly. The photos below show Mary with my airplanes; however, my scratch-built Dave Robelen Pronto was her first "design" attempt at creating something unique to see at the flying field. She also provided the color schemes and graphics for my Vintage Sterling Models Royal Coachman and, recently, for my Old School Model Works Comet.
You can image our excitement when her Pronto design won the Vintage Radio Control Society Theme Plane award, as well as a Pilot's Choice award, at 2025 Vintage RC Society events! Not only that, but Mary's Coachman design won the same Theme Plane award in a different year! Now, she not only helps create design colors and shapes, but she literally sits with me when I'm building and asks questions to contribute new ideas in the building process. The most important aspect of the hobby for me is that she makes suggestions for improvements and shares many ideas that come to mind.
Fellow pilots, I would offer that we should never underestimate the power of imagination of an innocent bystander trying to create something that would stand out. My copilot Mary is not bogged down with just providing the "standard/typical designs" that we've already seen. I can literally see the proverbial wheels turning in her mind when I talk about my next build. While I study the blueprints, articles, and videos for my next airplane build, Mary sits and starts to create designs and color schemes for the airplane. I see her quietly sitting there and I say, "Oh, oh, here comes my next design!" We both enjoy the comments at the flying field when fellow pilots and spectators comment about the "awesome" designs!
Finally, when I've helped others to fly (adult or young child), she speaks to them after flying to offer encouragement. But now, she is taking the hobby to the next level. I am happy to say that this season, she will fully dedicate the time to learn how to fly with her new AeroScout! Mary has tried a bit in the past to fly; however, life happens, so she had to primarily focus on raising our children, keeping me centered in life, and her career. Our priority now (as it should be) is visiting with our sons, their brides, and our wonderful granddaughters.
In our early years, I used to also fly RC helicopters. Mary was actually able to hover my Heliboy .60-size helicopter for a short time, but she became a little "stick-shy" when, during the hover one day, the Heliboy started to back up towards her. In fact, the helicopter caught up to her and the main rotor blade took the tip off of my old JR radio antenna! But no one was hurt, and she was actually quick enough to cut the power, and the Heliboy settled back on the ground with only a "notch" in the rotor blade where she "trimmed" my antenna a bit. A funny story to remember now because no one was hurt. But for the first time, she was understandably a little shook up.
I look forward to our twilight years and flying together. I can't wait to see the color schemes Mary will create for my next build and beyond! Personally, I enjoy our hobby even more when she is by my side ... my copilot for life!
