December 2015 Pilot of the Month: Ed Luhrman, Cambria, CA

My interest in flying started when I was about five years old.  My father was in the US Air Force and a model airplane enthusiast.  I remember the days when he would take me to the air force base where he and his friends were flying single channel airplanes.  Yes, that was a very long time ago.  After my dad left the Air Force we moved to Long Island, New York, where he had taken a job with the airlines and continued to fly RC model airplanes.  He would always take me along with him to the flying field.  I got to mingle with the other club members such as Nick Ziroli. I was able to attend the Wrams trade show several times.  One year I got to hang out in a Vendor’s booth all day.  I really thought I was special J. 

When I was 11 years old, our family moved from New York to the Atlanta area where my dad started and organized the model airplane club “The Flying Griffins” in our town of Griffin, Georgia.  It was then when I flew my first RC model, a glider produced by Graupner and powered by a Cox .049.  That airplane is still being flown today!  As my skills improved, I graduated to more advanced and powerful aircraft -eventually moving up to fly a “Tiger Tail” powered by a Super Tiger Blue Head .60.  I liked that airplane so much that I have owned three of them.   Over the years I have flown several pattern designs.  Of course, I have flown other types of aircraft, scale, foamies, ¼ scale, etc., but have always returned to my favorite, the pattern plane.

I started competition pattern flying in 1989, when I entered a pattern contest in Florence, South Carolina, flying the Novice Class and placed 1^st.   I flew a .45 size pattern design by IM known as the “Corsair Acro Knight 45Mk III”, powered by an Enya .49 and running 35% Nitro fuel.  Needless to say, that engine had a very short life.  However, the plane lived on, and I eventually sold it.

I continued in the hobby, but did not fly any more pattern events until 2000 when a seasoned pattern flyer “Emory Schroeder” joined the Flying Griffins and took me on as his protégé’. Turnaround pattern was in full swing, and I started flying a 2-meter YS powered Storm EX.  It was with the Storm EX that I won the 2001 Sportsman District 3 Championship.  I continued in pattern, moving up to intermediate classification.  I started flying an Executive Airframes Patriot and an RC Model Enterprises Silhouette. I still own both of these planes, which I flew in recent contests in district 7.  

In the year 2003, I moved to the San Francisco Bay area where I continued flying pattern in District 7.   I was a member of the Santa Clara Tomcats Club, and the Hollister Wave Masters.  Many of the modelers I was flying with in 2003 are still active in the pattern community.  Unfortunately, life changes caused me to stop flying for several years. 

Three years ago I picked up the hobby again, and started to fly pattern, using my older YS powered 2 meter ships, and a 72 Mega Hertz radio.  I was having fun and did well in a couple of contests, but clearly things had changed.  Electric motors, 2.4 gHz radios, LiPo batteries, arming plugs, ESCs, Power Curves?  Thank goodness, I knew how to solder.  At first it was overwhelming, I am more comfortable now, but still have a long way to go. 

Today I am flying an Oxai Beryll acquired from Jon Bruml, and a Sebart MythoS which I assembled myself.  Both powered by Jeti speed controllers, 5000 mah 10S 25C LiPo batteries, a Hacker C50 in the Beryll and a Plettenberg Advance 30 in the MythoS.  Both setups have been relatively trouble-free.  Beats glow, that’s for sure! 

For many years, I was loyal to JR radios, but when I purchased my 2.4 system I went with a Spectrum DX18.  The radio is reliable and it has all the features that I would probably ever need.  Currently there is nothing new in progress on my work bench, as I need to make room in my work shop for some new planes.  I am hopeful Santa will bring me a new 2 meter ship this holiday season.

My motivation for flying pattern is threefold.  (i) I like the way the planes fly, (ii) I enjoy interacting with some of the top names in the hobby, but most of all (iii) I enjoy the comradery, social aspect and friendly competitive nature of the hobby…it’s all about the fun.  Currently I will remain flying the Intermediate class at least till the end of the 2016 season, and competing at the Nats is at the top of my bucket list. 

My current home field is located in Paso Robles California, near San Luis Obispo.  The President of the local club, Joe MacGregor, is also a competition IMAC flyer.  He is also my current mentor and a good one.   In 2015 I was lucky to get in two practice sessions each month.  In 2016 I intend to change this frequency to three practice sessions a week.   One thing is certain - I will always be learning!  I am still struggling with the whole electric thing, how the brake should be set on the ESC, what is acceptable current draw, etc.  When I first started using the electric solution all I did was plug everything in and bingo - it worked!  Later I have learned that there are ways to tune the set up to achieve better results, but I am still operating somewhat in the dark here and I am looking for some tutoring.   In addition to the electric set up, it seems that trimming/setup/mixing is also a little different than glow setups.  The Beryll seemed to be for the most part already dialed in when I acquired it, however the MythoS still needs some attention.

There is always something new to learn and exciting in this hobby!  I look forward to the coming year!

October 2015 Pilot of the Month: Daniel Lipton

According to my mother, one of my earliest words was “maremane”, which she assured me was how I pronounced airplane in those days.  I can remember always being fascinated by flying things, and sometimes afraid, as when I was 4 or 5 years old, my older brother used to have me look out the window at airliners flying overhead and warn me that the red lights on them were, in fact, evil demons of some sort coming to get me.  This, while horrifying, did not deter me from pursuing that curiosity about airplanes.

One day, when I was about 7 years old, my mother presented me with my first rubber band powered stick model (Guillows brand) that she brought home from the grocery store, having paid about 49 cents.  I managed to put it together, ran outside, and flew it in front of my house.  I’m pretty sure it ended up on the roof of my house, or stuck in a tree, but she got me another one soon enough.

I soon received my first balsa and tissue built up model at the age of 8 or so.  A Guillows Cessna 150.  And for some reason, my parents felt comfortable giving me a tube of airplane glue and an x-acto knife, and I managed to build it without serious injury.  This was the first in a long line of such kits, and resulted in my grandparents buying me a hard cover book (in the mid to late 70s) called the “The World of Model Aircraft” (http://www.amazon.com/The-World-Model-Aircraft-Williams/dp/0399110879).  Flipping through the pages, I quickly came across the chapter on radio control airplanes and I was instantly obsessed.  I had to have one, so much to my mother’s dismay a few years later, I used $200 of my Bar Mitzvah money to buy a used RCM trainer 40, with an MRC774 radio and an Enya 35 engine.  That airframe didn’t last long, but I built another plane (the radio survived the crash) using more Bar Mitzvah $$.  I learned to fly that airplane in the Levittown Aerobugs club in Bucks Country, Pa. 

It was at that field where I saw my first pattern planes, and I was hooked again.  They were about the coolest thing I’d seen when I was 15 years old, and my next plane was a Sig King Kobra which is where I started dabbling with Pattern maneuvers, though never more than a dabble.

Fast forward 8 years, 1989, I moved to California to start my career at Apple, and quickly found the Tomcats field (SCCMAS in San Jose) and joined right away.  It was there that I somehow connected with the group of pattern flyers who frequented that club, and made great life-long friends, including the Colen family (whom I adopted as my west coast family after teaching Steve Jr. to fly on his Duraplane), John and Lisa Bruml, the Whitacres, and many other names I’m sure you’d all recognize from D7. 

With the purchase of a used Pattern Tek Beetle, a new YS 61 engine, I entered the world of Pattern competition.  I spent the next 4 or 5 years active on the D7 pattern circuit, moving from my old Beetle to a beautiful Conquest VI.

As with so many of us, “real” life becomes more consuming and I took a break from model aviation.  A few years into that break I decided to try full scale in 1997 and obtained my private pilot’s license in 2001 and my instrument rating in 2008, but alas the pattern flying still beckoned me, and I became fascinated with the developments in electric power and 2.4Ghz radios, and once again I was sucked in, though flying small relatively inexpensive pattern like planes with limited success at performing anything looking like a “real” pattern sequence.   More importantly, I started flying with Jon Bruml once again, and he re-introduced me to other local D7 celebrities, such as Jon Carter and Dale Olstinske, and before I knew it, I was showing up at contests, reconnecting with great people from the “old” days, such as Frank Capone, and so many others - not to mention meeting and befriending a new group of great people from all over D7 (you know who you are)!

Jon Carter, while judging me flying my 48” Vanquish, informed me that he’d let me know what my scores would have been if I’d purchased and flown his 2M Neptuno instead of my 48” Vanquish…  Well, that was it, I took the bait and quickly fell in love with 2M pattern flying.  No turning back, as they say.   And because I’m a sucker for a great gadget, I couldn’t resist adding a JETI DS-16 radio system to my 2M setup.  I find this to be an exceptional product with precise and sturdy build quality.  Additionally, I have a new Contrast LT, which while I currently find myself in couples therapy with, I hope to have our issues resolved and compete with it in 2016.

On another note, this past year I’ve gotten to experience a most wonderful aspect to the sport.  My younger son Ellis agreed to attend a contest with me to be my assistant. I thought it would be no more than simply a fun father/son road trip, but having him call for me during my rounds was a real thrill for me.  He found it interesting enough that he decided he wanted to learn to fly. I’ve been training him with the buddy box.  Helping him and watching him to learn to fly RC has truly been a highlight of my model aviation life.   I hope he, too, will be competing alongside all of us in D7 soon.

I was drawn to Pattern and continue to participate because I always found that the act of learning how to do something, and do it in a measurably, precise way was more interesting than simply doing it. (This is the same thing I loved about pursuing my instrument rating in a Cirrus SR20 in 2008).   With pattern flying, every flight is a learning experience, one in the pursuit of being more precise in the activity.  In addition to that, I’ve found what you all know to be true:  The great camaraderie that comes with D7 pattern flying.  From the helpful hints, the coaching, the banter, and constructive competition (rather than cut-throat out to win mentalities) with a truly great bunch of people is what it is all about.  It’s a wonderful thing.  Thanks to all of you whom I’ve come to know and become great friends with over the years.  I’m looking forward to this continuing always!

November 2015 Pilot of the Month: Derek R. Emmett, Livermore, Ca.

Wow, I’m back after taking a 25-year leave from all RC flying!  Much has changed since I left in 1990, but the changes have been mostly good!  I’ve always loved all forms of aircraft, and back in the 80’s, I’d frequent the Reno Air Races, and shows alike.  As a kid I built many model scale WWII airplanes, with the P38 as my favorite, and the Spitfire and Hawker Sea Fury beautiful seconds!  When I was 9 or so, I attempted to “boy handle” a Cox 049 U-Control kit, and spent hours just trying to start the engine.  At one point I cut the wires, taped the elevator, and just hand launched the plane!  Thank God it didn’t go far.  When I was 21 in 1985, I had a dream one night of flying RC.  Sounds strange maybe, but true.  In any case, the next day I was driving to Sheldon’s Hobbies in San Jose, on a mission to see what RC flying was about.  It was not long before I was standing on the runway at Pioneer club San Jose, with my GP trainer 40.  With no instructor, no training, and apparently lots of blind ambition, I was convinced I could teach myself to fly.  With my powered up trainer, and a couple up and down runway taxis runs, I ran up my OS 40, pulled back on the elevator, and quickly discovered two sayings; “re kit” and “Lomcovák!”  Thankfully I had the sense to find an instructor after building a second kit!  In 1986 I came out to fly my Sig Komander 50 one day, and there was this guy flying these amazing maneuvers, and in complete control of his airplane.  He was flying a beautiful Rossi 60 powered Laser, and it was Sean Mersh our current D7 VP!  At that moment I fell in love with pattern!  Sean was the consummate ambassador type even back then, and it is because of Sean now in 2015, I owe my return to pattern!       

I left pattern in 1990 as the D7 FAI Champ, to return to school a second time and finish my electrical engineering degree.  In the 25 years passed, I married, had three children, divorced, competed at golf, archery, underwater photography, taught scuba, and have travelled the world.  I love engaging in activities that people are passionate about.  Like many of you I’m sure, I’ve been blessed and cursed, but keep going and enjoying life as fully as I can.  I’ve been with my high school sweetheart Corrine for the last 12 years, and I guess you could say we are converging on figuring things out.  I struggle with my kids, as the modern world and its technology do more to create inside the house recluses, than active outside people.  I’ve been trying to get my boys into RC flying, but I can see in their eyes they rather play video games, and it hurts to see that.

One thing that has really changed in Pattern is the willingness of the community to encourage and help its people.  A year ago I walked out to EBRC in Livermore Ca, and sure enough there was Bill Sneed after 25 years still flying pattern!  I was going to join EBRC, buy a trainer, because after all I had not flown in 25 years, but then I ran into Peter Vogel.  I tell Peter my story, and next thing I know he’s offering me to come up and fly at the SAM contest, and he’ll bring me one of his Pattern planes to fly?!  I’m thinking Peter is crazy, and obviously he is joking, and I know he heard me say “not flown for 25 years”.  A week later I show up to the SAM contest and Peter actually lets me fly his plane?!  Somehow I didn’t completely blow it up.  Next thing I know, I’m talking to Sean, Bill, and spending thousands on gear…  I must be crazy, right?   A month later I maiden my new MythoS!  Since that time, just one year ago, so many pilots have come around me to coach and offer their insights.  Bill Sneed and Herb Kurlan are always willing to coach me.  Mitch Duh, Derek Koopowitz, and even my direct competitor Jon Bruml offer great feedback.  And Sean is always there to help with radio setups and call for me.  This last year, each has coached in their own way, and brings my attention to the finer nuances.  Honestly I can’t believe how encouraging the Pattern community has become, and I feel very blessed to be part of such a great group.  I’ve gone from no flying in 25 years to going to the Nationals nine months later!?  One of my pattern fathers, Frank Capone, allowed me to drive back to the Nationals with him this year.  Actually he enslaved me to drive back those 38 hours!  What a great trip, and you can all see it here (https://vimeo.com/138406966). 

My first pattern plane was a Prettner MK Magic 60, that I flew Advanced AMA with in 1986.  My first Nationals, 1987 Lincoln Nebraska, I flew Wolfgang Matt’s MK Joker.  I competed in the next two Nationals; 1988 Tidewater Virginia, and 1989 Tri Valley Washington.   I also participated in the 1989 USA Team Selections, Pensacola Florida, flying the Beatle.  In 1988, I was an early adopter of the YS 120 four cycle in the MK Spinks Acromaster.   The four cycle seemed odd to judges at that time.  However, I met Doug Ferguson and he set me up with a Fresh Aire to try with my YS120 on.  I absolutely loved the Fresh Aire/YS120, and was very successful with it.  I finished out 1990 with a D7 FAI championship win, and left pattern on a good note.  Six months later I had to sell everything to help pay for school.  Engineering school was tough, and I had little recreational time. 

I tend to immerse myself in hobbies with great detail and challenge, with people that do it passionately.  Is there any other place to be?  I’m planning a move up to Masters for 2016, and compete at the highest level I can.  I intend to participate in the 2016 Nationals, and expect to put in more than 500-600 practice/completion flights before that time.  I hope my pattern family will continue to give their constructive thoughts, coaching and supporting me in these endeavors.  Likewise, I will share my views, to raise their skills as well!

I have fond memories of watching the Las Vegas TOC, in particular the 1988 TOC.  There I watched my pattern heros; Hanno Prettner and Chip Hide go at it.  There I witnessed Chip do a rotating tail slide in his free style program, and back then, that was a first in competition!  Much has changed in 25 years.  For example, the FAI sequence of 1990 was not at the level of today’s AMA Advanced.  Coming back after all these years was a shock to the system.  Not only do I need to regain my skill of the past, I need to step it up 10 fold! The sequences of today are far more difficult, and I’m up for the challenge, as I really enjoy seeing myself improve.  I hope you all will support me!       

One thing that I’d like to see improved with the AMA, and maybe the NSRCA can help with this, or if each of us writes the AMA.  I’ve notice very little publication of the NATS event in Model Aviation?  A thought comes to mind, the Olympics for example.  As a USA population, there is a very small percentage of our population that actually sacrifices in the attempt to qualify and participate in the Olympics.  Where I’m going with this may be a stretch for some of you, but hang with me here for a moment.  The vicarious act of watching the Olympics triggers something in some of us to pursue these endeavors.  Dreams are eventually realized by some of these future Olympians.   My point is this, if the AMA is not making all it can of the Nationals, in its own national publication, how do we expect to grow pattern, even if the numbers are small?  Back in the 80’s, the AMA did a better job of showing pilots of the world there is a higher place to measure our skills, through Nationals and FAI Worlds.  It was in those early publications I saw this, and decided to come to the NATS myself, first hand!  I’m sure I’m not alone in this view.  We are not doing enough to demonstrate and celebrate the higher grounds of National and World completion.  I’ve noticed our pattern body has gone down since the late 80’s, and I’m wondering if this is true in the other segments offered at the NATS as well?  I believe the AMA should annually dedicate the entire month issue to showing the world what dedicated pilots, of all events, can do and accomplish with hard work!  Don’t you?  The NATS news is great, as is the NSRCA news letter, but that is what in the know pilots see, and this is not enough to draw and grow the future pilots of our sport.

Thank you all!

Derek…   

September 2015 Pilot of the Month: Jay Winkler, Folsom, CA

I grew up in Florida, spending 32 years there before moving to California. I currently live in Folsom, am married and have two children. I have been a jet aircraft mechanic/inspector for the past 17 years, working mostly on Raytheon (Beechcraft) King Airs and various business jets.

I’ve been into airplanes for as long as I can remember. When I was about four years old, my mom took me to the local department store, so I could pick out a toy. I had been sick for a few days, and she just wanted to get me out of the house to cheer me up. I chose a small blister pack of plastic biplanes. I think there were three of them in the pack…different colors, and only about a 3” wingspan each. I probably could’ve walked out of that store with something much nicer, but I was happy as could be with my little $1 set of planes. I don’t know where my fascination with airplanes came from, as nobody else in my family was into planes. It’s something that has continued my entire life, I still run outside of the house to catch a glimpse of whatever plane I hear rumbling by!

From five to eight years old, I built plastic airplane models and also played with the rubber band powered Guillows sheet balsa airplanes. I progressed to stick and tissue free flight models for a couple of years, then got into ½ A powered control line models. I built quite a few of the Goldberg ½ A models, but never got into the larger .19-.35 models. I was just too afraid of hose huge propellers! How could anyone be brave enough to hand-flip those?!

My mom took me to visit the local RC club when I was 12. After watching those planes flying around free of strings, I was hooked! I saved every penny of allowance and bought an ACE R/C Alpha high wing trainer. I believe it was a 40” wingspan, and I powered it with an Enya .09.

Building the model proved no problem for me, as I had quite a bit of experience with balsa by that time. Covering was another story. Actually, covering the fuselage wasn’t so bad, and I did a pretty good job, using my mom’s clothes iron. The wing was foam (no sheeting), and I quickly became extremely frustrated with all the wrinkles in the covering. I just couldn’t get it to go on smoothly. I ripped all the covering off the wing and went to bed very mad that night. When I woke up, the wing was standing up in the corner of my bedroom, and was beautifully covered! My mom had stayed up half the night covering that wing, and it came out great! The plane ended up being a nice flying model, but I was too afraid to fly it when my instructor offered. I didn’t want to hurt it; I was happy that I built it, and it actually flew!

A couple of years went by before I finally soloed, despite having a great instructor. I was flying a Midwest Sweet Stick .40 at the time. That instructor, by the way, was retired USAF Col. Art Johnson. He was one of the writers of RC Modeler Magazine’s “Scale Views” column and a perennial Top Gun scale competitor. He was my flying idol; I loved how smooth and graceful he flew! He did compete in pattern a bit during the 1960’s/1970’s, well before I knew him. You could see it in his flying, though, and that style of flying rubbed off on me. I was never content to just “bore holes” in the sky; I preferred to fly in a more scale aerobatics fashion.

When I was 20, I built my first pattern plane, an FK Models SBA “Speeda” 60. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a copy of the MK Blue Angel, using a foam core wing and fiberglass fuselage instead of built-up balsa construction. I flew it as a sport model and eventually sold it to a club member. 

I moved from FL to CA in 2002, but didn’t fly much until 2012. I joined the El Dorado Hills R/C Flyers and got back into the swing of things. For 20 years I had thought about entering a pattern contest, but never did. I knew of the yearly Bud Garric contest at the Sacramento Area Modelers club, and in 2013 I contacted Frank Capone for more info. He failed to warn me that pattern has a way of enslaving the unsuspecting, and I blindly entered the contest. Now I’m trapped like the rest of you!

I recently began flying my first 2M ship, a hand-me-down Genesis. Originally flown by Chris Atwood, then Ron Davies, Greg Weissenfluh, and now me. With all of its previous pilots, I would think I could just put this thing on autopilot and sit back and relax. Ahh, if it only worked that way!

I enjoy the challenge of pattern, and have learned so much about flying and trimming during the past two years…skills that help tremendously in simple everyday sport flying. Maybe someday I’ll learn how to keep the infamous “wrong rudder” out of the picture. I plan to work more with a coach (I’m talking about you, Don!) to improve further.

One of my current projects is the Apollo 70 by Flight Model. I love the 70 class airplanes, mainly due to their portability and less expensive equipment…not to mention needing only one motor battery! I’d really like to see a 70-size F3A class here in the U.S., perhaps it could help to draw a few more newcomers to our wonderful sport. Then they would undoubtedly become trapped… it’s just all part of the plan. J