January 2016 Pilot of the Month: Steve Hannah, Placentia, CA

My name is Steve Hannah.  I live in Placentia California with my wife of 25 years, Leigh, and am fortunate enough to live close to all of our 4 kids (who are all out of the house now).  In between my hectic work schedule, which includes frequent trips to China, I fly FAI F3A.  I am the Vice President of Engineering for Gatekeeper Systems Inc. and we develop security and asset protection electronics, including some sophisticated low power 2.4GHz radio systems. 

I have been involved with R/C nearly my entire life.  My Dad, Bill Hannah, was the Vice President of Engineering for Heath Company and lead the development of their RC products.  So, of course I built and flew Heathkit radios as a kid.  My Dad was a pattern flier in the 60’s and into the 70’s.  I learned to fly on a buddy box with his Webra Blackhead powered New Orleanean.  During the summers my late brother Rick and I built and flew our own control line designs in our backyard.

I left R/C flying for many years as I was going through school (University of Michigan) and as I was establishing my career and family.  My brother got me interested again in the late 80’s when he sent his .60 size Dalotel out to me in California for a week of flying.  That was all it took.

I started competing in Pattern in about 1989 with a YS .60 Short Stroke powered Modeltech Calypso.  I flew and competed fairly regularly in local events until about 1997 when I started flying IMAC.  I flew IMAC exclusively until 2007 when I then returned to Pattern.  I enjoyed flying IMAC and progressed through to the Unlimited class.  I fletevew in the Tucson Shootout in 2005 (second place Advanced) and also in 2007 in Unlimited (don’t ask how I did…).  But, I never got the same feeling of beauty and precision with IMAC as I did with Pattern.  I began to really miss the emphasis on geometry, centering, precision and the overall pace.  When I acquired my e-powered Pinnacle I was totally hooked on it and quit flying IMAC altogether. 

Now, I am a team pilot for BJ Craft.  I am currently flying the BJ Craft Essence.  It is powered with a Plettenberg Advance 30-10, Jeti ESC, Power Unlimited Batteries, Futaba SBUS system, and Futaba 18mz transmitter.  I fly at the Orange County Modeler’s Association (OCMA) field in Irvine CA.  I normally fly on Saturday or Sunday and meet up with fellow OCMA fliers Randy McElhattan, Bill Malvey and Tom McNicholas.  I am a member of the NSRCA, as I have been pretty much since the late 80’s.  I think the NSRCA is a great vehicle to keep the US connected to the worldwide F3A community. 

I have always flown Pattern because I love the challenge and the beauty.  My life schedule hasn’t allowed me to devote as much time to flying as I would have liked, but the time I have spent has been wonderful.  It has been my hobby for many years and has been a fantastic way to meet great people around the world and to challenge myself in problem solving and “motor skills”.  To me, flying a pattern sequence is very similar to playing music.  It seems to energize the same part of my brain, but the pilot is the only one that can “hear” the music.  It is a tremendously rewarding experience to build, test, tune and fly a plane through a difficult pattern sequence.  And, I truly feel connected to my late brother when I am out flying.  Especially on those pristine, calm, and sunny days when the only thing you hear is the breeze, the prop, and the subtle motor hum of an e-powered pattern plane.