January 2004 157
Kolby Hoover
Kolby
Hoover, a
graduate of
North Kitsap
High School in
Poulsbo,
Washington, is
the recipient of
a $7,000 award
from the
Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship
fund and a
$4,000 award from the Toledo Weak
Signals. Kolby is enrolled at Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York.
Kolby was named class valedictorian as
well as Outstanding Senior. He was
presented the Joe Shandera award, his
school’s most prestigious athletic award.
Ranked first in a class of 485, Kolby
attended Evergreen Boys State and was
chosen Student of the Year in 1999-2000.
He is a Washington State Scholar and was
awarded the Daughters of the American
Revolution Good Citizenship Award.
Kolby’s athletic accomplishments
include being named Athlete of the Season
by the North Kitsap Herald. He participated
in cross country and diving, and was
nationally ranked in the 300 intermediate
hurdles (IH) in track and field. Kolby
participated in track and field for six years
and holds a school record in 300 IH, and
placed second and third in 300 IH in
various Washington State track
competitions.
A volunteer coach for the Poulsbo
Junior High track team in 2002-03, Kolby
assisted with the sprint team and high
jump.
A musician, Kolby has played French
horn for eight years. He was a member of
the top symphonic band at North Kitsap
High School, and was section leader in the
Kitsap Youth Symphony. He was drum
major in the marching band for two years,
and plays both acoustic and electric bass in
a jazz combo that performs at social
functions and contests. The combo won
recognition at the Columbia Basin Jazz
Festival for its rhythm section.
Kolby played in the state solo and
ensemble as part of a brass quintet two
years and one year as part of a horn trio. He
has studied piano for six years, taking part
in three recitals per year.
Since 1993, he has been a part of a
Norwegian dance group that regularly
performs for retirement home residents,
senior centers, and elementary schools in
Washington State and British Columbia.
Kolby is part of a church worship team that
meets twice a week and a member of the
orchestra playing for school plays.
Kolby’s first Radio Control (RC)
experience came when he was 9. He, his
father, and brother built a 1/2A Bellanca
Cruiser that was “underpowered and we
ended up with a broken plane and about
one second of flying time.”
Undeterred, the three built a Katydid for
Kolby’s brother and had better luck. They
pulled one of his father’s old airplanes, the
Miss Grandin, or the Flying Boat as the
family called it, out from storage, fixed it
up, and the aircraft flew beautifully. The
three joined AMA and the local club, the
Olympic Radio Control Association
(ORCA).
Kolby abandoned the hobby for a while
following the crash of the Flying Boat.
“This was the most traumatizing experience
in my RC career. For months afterward, I
couldn’t stand near a flying airplane or
even next to the pilot.” It took a long time
to get back into flying, but with his father’s
encouragement, Kolby soloed the summer
after seventh grade. His first model was a
Sig Four-Star 40 which he built with help
from his father. Next was his own Flying
Boat, modified to look and operate like a
smaller version of his dad’s.
A member of ORCA designed a
GutterSnipe, made from PVC and foam
insulation. These aircraft are what Kolby
has spent much of his time flying. The club
holds GutterSnipe Pylon and Combat races
and he placed fourth overall last season.
Kolby has flown aerobatic aircraft and
he, his dad, and brother are learning to fly
helicopters. Two projects include building
a Marutaka P-38 Lightning and scratchbuilding
an Aeronca Champion.
Building has given Kolby the thought of
studying engineering or even aerospace
engineering at Cornell. “It has been a great
way to become closer to my dad and my
brother.” He feels aeromodeling will be a
lifelong hobby and will always be
something he enjoys and hopes to have
room in his luggage to pack his Chipmunk
and Thunder Tiger.
Congratulations and good luck, Kolby.
Jeffrey C. Smith
Jeff Smith,
son of Bernie
and Charlene
Smith of
Lincoln,
Nebraska, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson
Grant
Scholarship. A
graduate of
Lincoln High
School, Jeff
AMA News
Academy of Model Aeronautics 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
View from HQ
See page 192
2003 AMA/Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship Winners
SINCE 1970, the Academy of Model Aeronautics has provided scholarships to young men and women seeking to continue their
education in colleges and universities. The primary awards are presented through the Charles Hampson Grant scholarships.
In 2003, four individuals received a portion of the $21,500 Charles Hampson Grant awards. These monies came from a variety of sources
including gifts, memorials, and the AMA general fund. The top winner of the Grant award also receives an award provided by the Toledo
Weak Signals from monies generated from the club’s annual trade show and exposition. This year the Weak Signals contributed $4,000.
An additional scholarship program awarded funds this year. The Sig award, a memorial in honor of the late Glenn Sigafoose, is
presented by Hazel Sig-Hester and Sig Manufacturing Company. Presented to one or more individuals, the award is based upon financial
need and aeromodeling activity. A total of $2,500 was awarded in 2003.
Forty-seven applications were evaluated by a four-member committee. The applicants are rated in several major areas including grade
average, test results, school and community activities, and modeling activities. High achievement in all of the categories is important for
the maximum amount of scholarship awarded to an individual.
Information regarding applications may be obtained from Jack Frost at AMA Headquarters or visit the AMA Education Web site at
www.buildandfly.com.
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:04 pm Page 157
158
was 14th in a class of 720. Jeff plans to
major in aircraft systems management, a
professional pilot major, at the University of
Nebraska.
Jeff earned his private pilot’s license last
March and since then has enjoyed giving
rides to family and friends. He has logged
most of his time in a Cessna 152, but has
some time in a Cessna 172.
Jeff first became involved in RC when
his parents bought him a used Hobbico
Superstar 40 trainer for his 13th birthday. He
and his father joined AMA, and the Lincoln
Sky Knights RC where club members taught
him to fly. The Superstar 40 crashed shortly
after Jeff soloed, but since then he and his
father have flown several other aircraft
including a Sig Hog biplane.
Active in the Lincoln Sky Knights’
activities, Jeff helped raise funds for the club
by helping fly a blimp at a Lincoln Stars
hockey game.
Jeff and his father have begun
participating in RC Combat. “We
engineered our own original scale design—a
Japanese Jill torpedo bomber—with the help
of other Combat fliers.”
A member of the Radio Control Combat
Association (RCCA), Jeff has flown
competitively against nationally ranked
fliers. He has done well in the National
Point Standings but feels his greatest
accomplishment was a second-place finish
in Scale at the Waverly, Nebraska, Midwest
Nationals. Jeff was asked to be the RCCA
representative from Nebraska.
Jeff ran junior varsity and varsity track in
high school, competing in the 800-meter,
one-mile, and two-mile events. He ran junior
varsity cross country and helped raise
money to support both teams by working in
the concession stands during other school
sports events.
Jeff was nominated by his teachers to be
one of the first students to serve on the
March of Dimes Chain Reaction Leadership
Council, a group formed to promote the
March of Dimes and provide an opportunity
for youth leadership.
Last year, Jeff’s Differentiated
Physics/Pre-Calculus class took advantage
of a grant to go to the Worlds of Fun
amusement park. There the class used its
knowledge to scientifically investigate rides
and collect data.
Math and science are Jeff’s favorite
subjects. He has been on the honor roll since
his freshman year of high school and has
earned academic letters.
A member of the National Honor
Society, Jeff is active in the First Plymouth
Church youth group. The youth group
donates time in a local soup kitchen as well
as going on annual mission trips that include
helping at community job sites. Jeff
volunteered at Camp Friendship, a camp for
disabled people of all ages. “It was one of
the most rewarding experiences I have had
in my life,” he wrote.
Jeff was involved in the Civil Air Patrol
where he practiced drill and ceremony,
learned about aerospace science, learned
leadership skills, and was trained to work in
search-and-rescue and disaster-relief
missions.
Hobbytown USA in Lincoln is where
Jeff works part time as a sales associate,
primarily in the RC department, helping
Richard “Dick” Obarski, a charter
member and secretary of the Chicago
Aeronuts, died September 24, 2003. Born
in 1918, Dick received his noncommercial
glider license at age 16, and went to
Purdue University in Indiana to pursue a
degree in engineering. He was a member
of the Purdue University glider club and
helped organize the Purdue Aeromodelers
Club in 1937-38.
“The Chicago Aeronuts president was
Carl Goldberg,” Dick wrote, “who also
operated Model Research Lab and sold
supplies. Carl was our mentor and infused
us with learning and effort and enthusiasm
at our monthly meetings.”
In 1937-38, Dick had four plans
published in the Zaic yearbook, including
the Curtiss Robin, Indoor Glider, Tandem
Outdoor Fuselage, and Helicopter. His
first “gassie” was a prototype Zipper
which he wrote about in a 1990 article in
the National Free Flight Society (NFFS)
Symposium. Dick’s flight with the Zipper
at the Midwestern States meet in Chicago
was the first of many wins for this Carl
Goldberg design.
Dick started working as an engineer at
Goodyear Aircraft Corporation in January
of 1942. During this time he was involved
in a number of contests as a contest
director, including meets with 200-300
contestants. He served as an assistant
squadron leader in the Air Scouts for
Goodyear and taught modeling and
conducted contests. The Air Scouts were
organized by Paul Litchfield, chairman of
the board of Goodyear.
Dick started a model manufacturing
company, Hely-Arc Model Equipment
Company, in 1945, which catered to the
then-booming Control Line market with
streamlined rubber wheels with aluminum
hubs.
Active in Indoor and Outdoor Free
Flight, Dick held records in Indoor
Autogyro and Indoor Helicopter in 1938
and Outdoor Class C Cabin in 1942.
Following a 20-year hiatus to raise his six
children, Dick set records in Indoor
Helicopter in 1978 and the Indoor
Intermediate Stick category in 1987.
His awards and trophies in the 1970s
and 1980s are too numerous to list. As an
aside, Dick obtained six patents, some for
aircraft tire testers and dynamometers,
one for a granular dispensing device, and
one for a Dead Bolt Key Restricting
Device.
Dick Obarski was a member of the
Model Aviation Hall of Fame, the NFFS
Hall of Fame, and received an AMA
Pioneer award in 1998.
Dick is survived by his wife,
Genevieve; six children: Jerry, Steve,
David, Tina, Jenny, and Louise; and 12
grandchildren.
Dick Obarski and the prototype
Zipper at the 1938 Midwestern
States meet. This was the first
major contest won by a Zipper.
Dick shown after a successful
flight at MacDill Air Force Base in
Florida.
Richard W. Obarski
1918-2003
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 158
January 2004 159
customers and answering questions about
RC aircraft, boats, and cars. Calling upon his
own experience, Jeff was able to advise
customers new to the hobbies about
everything from fuel to propellers to radios.
The money he earned from the part-time
job paid for Jeff’s full-scale flying lessons
and his employee discount was appreciated
when it came time to buy his own hobby
essentials!
Now attending the University of
Nebraska, Jeff joined the Platte River RC
Model Club and is thrilled to have a place to
fly while away from home.
We wish you well at the University of
Nebraska, Jeff!
Colin D. Stuart
Colin
Stuart, who is
enrolled at
Texas A&M
University, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson Grant
scholarship.
From
Friendswood,
Texas, he plans
to major in
chemical
engineering. He has been accepted into the
honors program and resides in the honors
dormitory. He must maintain a 3.0 gradepoint
average in order to remain in the
honors facility.
Colin was a 2003 National Merit
Scholarship finalist in 2003, a semifinalist in
2002, and was the third-place finisher in the
Voice of Democracy speech contest. He was
a finalist in the 1999 Scripps Howard
National Spelling Bee, finishing 52nd out of
248 in Washington DC, and received an
award for Outstanding Engineering Project
at the South Texas Regional Science Fair.
Colin was active in the Boy Scouts of
America, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout
in 2000. With the Scouts, he participated in
blood drives, public hiking trail
reconstruction, National Forest
conservation, and beach cleanups. Through
the Boy Scouts, Colin participated in
Venture Crew, an organization with
activities that included book drives, historic
building restoration, camp facilities
improvement, community services, and
fundraisers.
Colin participated in Young Life, a
church youth group, and did volunteer work
with the Northgate Christian Fellowship.
A four-year 4-H participant, Colin raised
show lambs and volunteered as a guide for
livestock shows, ushering school children
through the exhibits. His other community
activities included working as a volunteer
for Habitat for Humanity and tutoring math
and grammar at a Boys and Girls Club.
Athletically, Colin was involved in
tennis, cycling, water polo, and swimming.
Part-time employment included working
as a caterer’s assistant and as a waiter at
Perry’s Grill and Steakhouse in
Friendswood.
Colin described his entry into
aeromodeling by writing, “I first got into RC
aircraft because a friend of mine was very
much into it. He had about 20 planes!”
In 1998 he received a Goldberg Eagle II
kit for Christmas. Buying his own radio and
engine, Colin built the trainer and after
improving his skills, used a buddy box to
teach his father and brother to fly. The three
continued to build and fly. Other aircraft
include a Tiger II, a Great Planes Giles G-
202, a Sig Somethin’ Extra, and a Great
Planes Extra 300. “I did a wonderful Texas
flag scheme on the wings,” Colin wrote,
“and I really enjoy flying this plane.”
Colin has shared most of his
aeromodeling experience with his family.
He wrote, “Most of my modeling experience
I have shared with my family. We work on
projects together and have just as much fun
building planes as flying them. Modeling
has brought my family closer together and
provided me with years of enjoyment.”
Best of luck at Texas A&M, Colin.
Jordan
Wysong
Jordan
Wysong was
the recipient
of a Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship in
the amount of
$4,500. He is
attending
Rose-Hulman
Institute of
Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, and
plans to study aeronautical or biomedical
engineering.
Attending high school in Pana, Illinois,
Jordan was the class valedictorian. He held
a 5.23 grade-point average on a scale of 5.0
and was an Illinois State Scholar, a member
of the National Honor Society, a student
council member, and was listed in Who’s
Who Among High School Students. Jordan
was a section leader in jazz band, marching
band, and pep band, and played in the
Prairie Winds Ensemble.
Jordan participated in the Bradley
Bridge Pal contest and the C.C.I.S. Bridge
Building contest. He placed first in regional
and sectional competition in the Worldwide
Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE)
Challenge and was a state finalist in 2002
and 2003.
An Illinois State Scholar and member of
the United States Mathematics Association,
Jordan also participated in school plays and
rans the sound systems for most high
school, junior high, and community
activities.
Jordan’s interest in aeromodeling began
in 1997 when he and his father bought an
Almost Ready-to-Fly (ARF) Easy Fly 40.
Early on, he and his father agreed to split
the cost of their airplanes equally. Jordan
completed his solo flight and moved up to a
Four-Star 60.
Jordan competed in several fun-fly
events with the Four-Star 60 then moved to
larger scale aircraft. He purchased a 27%
Midwest Giles G-202 and began practicing
for International Miniature Aerobatics Club
(IMAC) competition.
Club activities Jordan has been involved
in include fun-flys, a club swap meet, and
the planning and construction of a pavilion
for the club’s flying site.
Jordan designed a memorial that will be
built at his high school, commemorating the
Pana Township High School that burned
down several years ago. The project is
awaiting funding.
Jordan’s interest in engineering
developed early. He became interested in
architecture in seventh grade when he
helped his father design houses. “Once I
entered high school, I enrolled in drafting
classes and learned that I liked the
mechanical relationship to engineering
rather than the architectural relationship,”
he wrote.
At Rose-Hulman, Jordan wants to
pursue internships with engineering firms to
broaden his knowledge of engineering and
manufacturing and create a network of
contacts to benefit his career. He plans to
pursue his engineering studies and hopes to
find employment in aerospace engineering.
Jordan wrote, “Upon completion of college
I plan to seek employment with NASA or
an aerospace firm that may be developing
contracts with NASA. I feel this is a
realistic goal because the design project for
the new space shuttle is planned to take
place approximately the same time I
graduate from college.”
From all of us at AMA, good luck
Jordan.
Krystal
King
Krystal
King, daughter
of Larry and
Jeanine King,
graduated from
Arkadelphia
High School in
Arkadelphia,
Arkansas.
Krystal
received a Sig
award in the
amount of $1,000. She is attending the
University of Arkansas, majoring in
mechanical engineering.
Krystal ranked 24th in her class of 169
and was active in swimming, cross country,
volleyball, basketball, soccer, and golf. She
was a member of the Future Business
Leaders of America (FBLA) and the
Family, Career and Community Leaders of
America (FCCLA) where she served as
state secretary. Krystal was a member of the
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 159
160
student council, Beta Club, was listed in
Who’s Who Among American High School
Students, and was in the All American
Scholars Program.
Krystal worked summers as a swimming
coach and instructor, working with all age
groups. Part of her job included teaching 5-
and 6-year-olds swimming and water safety.
“This is the most rewarding job anyone
could have,” she wrote. “It is a great feeling
to watch the children grow and become
confident in themselves. Last year one of
my students won the high-points award at
the championship. He could not swim at the
beginning of the year. Coaching does have
its rewards.”
A Control Line pilot since she was 9
years old, Krystal has finished first 14 times
and second 15 times at the National
Aeromodeling Championships (Nats) in
addition to numerous other national titles. A
two-time F2A team member, “although my
passion has always been for Combat,” says
Krystal, she finished third at the 2000
Control Line World Championships (WC)
in Landres, France, and fifth at the 2002
WC in Sebnitz, Germany.
Referring to the championships in
Landres, Krystal wrote, “I proudly stood on
the podium at a World Championship
competition and had the American flag
raised over my head as I was presented with
a third-place Bronze Medal. This had to be
the proudest moment of my life. To
represent the Academy of Model
Aeronautics and the United States of
America is something that not everyone has
had the pleasure or opportunity to do. For
me, it was a heart-pounding, unforgettable
experience.”
Krystal is the current US record holder
for F2A Junior/Senior Speed, a two-time
North American Speed Society (NASS)
Overall Junior/Senior Champion, and
received a Distinguished Performance
Award for International Competition. She
was ranked 12th in 1998 and sixth in 2001
in the Miniature Aircraft Combat
Association’s (MACA) Top 20 and was the
Control Line Overall Category Champion in
1998.
In addition to active competition,
Krystal is caught up in the AMA History
Program, an effort to gather and publish
biographies of aeromodelers to preserve
their history for future generations.
It’s not all been work and competition.
Krystal and her father once tried to build an
airplane using a water bottle just to see if it
would fly. “It was a lot of fun trying to
figure out what needed to be done so that it
would fly in a straight line and not do
continuous figure eights. At least I didn’t
have to worry about getting dizzy.”
We at AMA wish you the best at the
University of Arkansas.
Carl Johann Engel
Carl Engle, from Clear Lake,
Wisconsin, is the recipient of a $1,000 Sig
award. At the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology he plans to major in aerospace
engineering and possibly add a second
major in mechanical engineering.
Carl was the valedictorian of his class
and was named Outstanding Student at
Clear Lake High School. Carl was named
one of five
Northwest
Educators’
Outstanding
Students.
Active in
athletics, Carl
was the varsity
football
captain his
junior and
senior years,
lettered in
hockey and
baseball, and
was named his school’s Wisconsin
Interscholastic Athletic Association’s male
scholar-athlete. He was in the school’s
concert and jazz bands, was nominated to
attend Badger Boys State, and was on the
school’s quiz bowl team. He participated
in Student-to-Student, a peer-advising
group that raises funds for needy families,
those in assisted living, and accident
victims.
Carl is most proud of his involvement
in Destination ImagiNation (DI). A
creative problem-solving organization, DI
offers competitions in various areas. His
team competed in the structure problem
where teams design and build a
lightweight structure that is tested for its
weight-bearing ability.
Carl’s team collected four consecutive
state championships and two world
championships. In 2000, Carl’s structure,
built from pasta and glue, weighed a mere
59 grams (roughly 2 ounces) and held 650
pounds. The 2002 entry was built with
balsa and Japanese tissue paper, weighed
6.8 grams, and held 445 pounds.
He participated in Science Olympiad
and the Wright Stuff, building an Indoor
Rubber duration aircraft within prescribed
specifications that won the state title in
2003.
“I have been interested in aviation as
long as I can remember,” wrote Carl.
Following a succession of tissue-and-balsa
airplanes, then Control Line models, he
had a chance to fly a friend’s RC aircraft
and was hooked. He received a Great
Planes ARF for his 12th birthday and had
it ready to go by spring of 1997.
By his third solo flight Carl was ready
to move up. This has meant a Sig Four-
Star 40 and a Sig Hog-Bipe that won
Honorable Mention in a Model Airplane
News color-scheme contest.
Carl has built two Lanier Shrikes and a
Diamond Dust. He has experimented with
rocket assist on the Shrike, creating an
electronic ignition for the rocket engine.
He managed several successful flights
before losing a wing in midair. Carl has
built a number of fun-fly aircraft including
the Scale Aerobatics models Great Planes
Giles 202 and a D&L Edge 40.
“I have built and flown over a dozen
RC aircraft of nearly all types including a
helicopter,” wrote Carl, but an expensive
hobby needs a source of funding. Carl and
a friend started a lawn-care business, The
Lawn Hackers. They started with a
borrowed push mower, a trimmer, and a
single lawn.
The friend moved away and Carl took
over the business and expanded. He
purchased a riding mower and push
mower, built a small trailer for the back of
the riding mower to transport the
equipment and the push mower. When he
got his driver’s license, Carl bought a
trailer so he didn’t have to drive the mower
through town.
“It has been a great experience being
self-employed and owning a business. It
has taught me responsibility, how to
handle income and expenses, as well as
many other things.”
With the exception of Christmas and
birthday presents, Carl has purchased all of
his RC aircraft and equipment himself with
income from the lawn-care business and
working as a youth hockey referee during
the winter months.
Congratulations Carl, and good luck.
Attention AMA
Clubs:
YES Grant Deadline
January 1, 2004
The AMA Youth Education
Stipend (YES) Grant program,
administered by the Education
Committee, awards one-time,
$500 grants to AMA clubs for
the purpose of aiding
introductory modeling
programs.
For the guidelines and an
application, visit
www.buildandfly.com or
contact April Hathaway:
(765) 287-1256, ext. 515;
[email protected].
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Page Numbers: 157,158,159,160
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
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January 2004 157
Kolby Hoover
Kolby
Hoover, a
graduate of
North Kitsap
High School in
Poulsbo,
Washington, is
the recipient of
a $7,000 award
from the
Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship
fund and a
$4,000 award from the Toledo Weak
Signals. Kolby is enrolled at Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York.
Kolby was named class valedictorian as
well as Outstanding Senior. He was
presented the Joe Shandera award, his
school’s most prestigious athletic award.
Ranked first in a class of 485, Kolby
attended Evergreen Boys State and was
chosen Student of the Year in 1999-2000.
He is a Washington State Scholar and was
awarded the Daughters of the American
Revolution Good Citizenship Award.
Kolby’s athletic accomplishments
include being named Athlete of the Season
by the North Kitsap Herald. He participated
in cross country and diving, and was
nationally ranked in the 300 intermediate
hurdles (IH) in track and field. Kolby
participated in track and field for six years
and holds a school record in 300 IH, and
placed second and third in 300 IH in
various Washington State track
competitions.
A volunteer coach for the Poulsbo
Junior High track team in 2002-03, Kolby
assisted with the sprint team and high
jump.
A musician, Kolby has played French
horn for eight years. He was a member of
the top symphonic band at North Kitsap
High School, and was section leader in the
Kitsap Youth Symphony. He was drum
major in the marching band for two years,
and plays both acoustic and electric bass in
a jazz combo that performs at social
functions and contests. The combo won
recognition at the Columbia Basin Jazz
Festival for its rhythm section.
Kolby played in the state solo and
ensemble as part of a brass quintet two
years and one year as part of a horn trio. He
has studied piano for six years, taking part
in three recitals per year.
Since 1993, he has been a part of a
Norwegian dance group that regularly
performs for retirement home residents,
senior centers, and elementary schools in
Washington State and British Columbia.
Kolby is part of a church worship team that
meets twice a week and a member of the
orchestra playing for school plays.
Kolby’s first Radio Control (RC)
experience came when he was 9. He, his
father, and brother built a 1/2A Bellanca
Cruiser that was “underpowered and we
ended up with a broken plane and about
one second of flying time.”
Undeterred, the three built a Katydid for
Kolby’s brother and had better luck. They
pulled one of his father’s old airplanes, the
Miss Grandin, or the Flying Boat as the
family called it, out from storage, fixed it
up, and the aircraft flew beautifully. The
three joined AMA and the local club, the
Olympic Radio Control Association
(ORCA).
Kolby abandoned the hobby for a while
following the crash of the Flying Boat.
“This was the most traumatizing experience
in my RC career. For months afterward, I
couldn’t stand near a flying airplane or
even next to the pilot.” It took a long time
to get back into flying, but with his father’s
encouragement, Kolby soloed the summer
after seventh grade. His first model was a
Sig Four-Star 40 which he built with help
from his father. Next was his own Flying
Boat, modified to look and operate like a
smaller version of his dad’s.
A member of ORCA designed a
GutterSnipe, made from PVC and foam
insulation. These aircraft are what Kolby
has spent much of his time flying. The club
holds GutterSnipe Pylon and Combat races
and he placed fourth overall last season.
Kolby has flown aerobatic aircraft and
he, his dad, and brother are learning to fly
helicopters. Two projects include building
a Marutaka P-38 Lightning and scratchbuilding
an Aeronca Champion.
Building has given Kolby the thought of
studying engineering or even aerospace
engineering at Cornell. “It has been a great
way to become closer to my dad and my
brother.” He feels aeromodeling will be a
lifelong hobby and will always be
something he enjoys and hopes to have
room in his luggage to pack his Chipmunk
and Thunder Tiger.
Congratulations and good luck, Kolby.
Jeffrey C. Smith
Jeff Smith,
son of Bernie
and Charlene
Smith of
Lincoln,
Nebraska, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson
Grant
Scholarship. A
graduate of
Lincoln High
School, Jeff
AMA News
Academy of Model Aeronautics 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
View from HQ
See page 192
2003 AMA/Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship Winners
SINCE 1970, the Academy of Model Aeronautics has provided scholarships to young men and women seeking to continue their
education in colleges and universities. The primary awards are presented through the Charles Hampson Grant scholarships.
In 2003, four individuals received a portion of the $21,500 Charles Hampson Grant awards. These monies came from a variety of sources
including gifts, memorials, and the AMA general fund. The top winner of the Grant award also receives an award provided by the Toledo
Weak Signals from monies generated from the club’s annual trade show and exposition. This year the Weak Signals contributed $4,000.
An additional scholarship program awarded funds this year. The Sig award, a memorial in honor of the late Glenn Sigafoose, is
presented by Hazel Sig-Hester and Sig Manufacturing Company. Presented to one or more individuals, the award is based upon financial
need and aeromodeling activity. A total of $2,500 was awarded in 2003.
Forty-seven applications were evaluated by a four-member committee. The applicants are rated in several major areas including grade
average, test results, school and community activities, and modeling activities. High achievement in all of the categories is important for
the maximum amount of scholarship awarded to an individual.
Information regarding applications may be obtained from Jack Frost at AMA Headquarters or visit the AMA Education Web site at
www.buildandfly.com.
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:04 pm Page 157
158
was 14th in a class of 720. Jeff plans to
major in aircraft systems management, a
professional pilot major, at the University of
Nebraska.
Jeff earned his private pilot’s license last
March and since then has enjoyed giving
rides to family and friends. He has logged
most of his time in a Cessna 152, but has
some time in a Cessna 172.
Jeff first became involved in RC when
his parents bought him a used Hobbico
Superstar 40 trainer for his 13th birthday. He
and his father joined AMA, and the Lincoln
Sky Knights RC where club members taught
him to fly. The Superstar 40 crashed shortly
after Jeff soloed, but since then he and his
father have flown several other aircraft
including a Sig Hog biplane.
Active in the Lincoln Sky Knights’
activities, Jeff helped raise funds for the club
by helping fly a blimp at a Lincoln Stars
hockey game.
Jeff and his father have begun
participating in RC Combat. “We
engineered our own original scale design—a
Japanese Jill torpedo bomber—with the help
of other Combat fliers.”
A member of the Radio Control Combat
Association (RCCA), Jeff has flown
competitively against nationally ranked
fliers. He has done well in the National
Point Standings but feels his greatest
accomplishment was a second-place finish
in Scale at the Waverly, Nebraska, Midwest
Nationals. Jeff was asked to be the RCCA
representative from Nebraska.
Jeff ran junior varsity and varsity track in
high school, competing in the 800-meter,
one-mile, and two-mile events. He ran junior
varsity cross country and helped raise
money to support both teams by working in
the concession stands during other school
sports events.
Jeff was nominated by his teachers to be
one of the first students to serve on the
March of Dimes Chain Reaction Leadership
Council, a group formed to promote the
March of Dimes and provide an opportunity
for youth leadership.
Last year, Jeff’s Differentiated
Physics/Pre-Calculus class took advantage
of a grant to go to the Worlds of Fun
amusement park. There the class used its
knowledge to scientifically investigate rides
and collect data.
Math and science are Jeff’s favorite
subjects. He has been on the honor roll since
his freshman year of high school and has
earned academic letters.
A member of the National Honor
Society, Jeff is active in the First Plymouth
Church youth group. The youth group
donates time in a local soup kitchen as well
as going on annual mission trips that include
helping at community job sites. Jeff
volunteered at Camp Friendship, a camp for
disabled people of all ages. “It was one of
the most rewarding experiences I have had
in my life,” he wrote.
Jeff was involved in the Civil Air Patrol
where he practiced drill and ceremony,
learned about aerospace science, learned
leadership skills, and was trained to work in
search-and-rescue and disaster-relief
missions.
Hobbytown USA in Lincoln is where
Jeff works part time as a sales associate,
primarily in the RC department, helping
Richard “Dick” Obarski, a charter
member and secretary of the Chicago
Aeronuts, died September 24, 2003. Born
in 1918, Dick received his noncommercial
glider license at age 16, and went to
Purdue University in Indiana to pursue a
degree in engineering. He was a member
of the Purdue University glider club and
helped organize the Purdue Aeromodelers
Club in 1937-38.
“The Chicago Aeronuts president was
Carl Goldberg,” Dick wrote, “who also
operated Model Research Lab and sold
supplies. Carl was our mentor and infused
us with learning and effort and enthusiasm
at our monthly meetings.”
In 1937-38, Dick had four plans
published in the Zaic yearbook, including
the Curtiss Robin, Indoor Glider, Tandem
Outdoor Fuselage, and Helicopter. His
first “gassie” was a prototype Zipper
which he wrote about in a 1990 article in
the National Free Flight Society (NFFS)
Symposium. Dick’s flight with the Zipper
at the Midwestern States meet in Chicago
was the first of many wins for this Carl
Goldberg design.
Dick started working as an engineer at
Goodyear Aircraft Corporation in January
of 1942. During this time he was involved
in a number of contests as a contest
director, including meets with 200-300
contestants. He served as an assistant
squadron leader in the Air Scouts for
Goodyear and taught modeling and
conducted contests. The Air Scouts were
organized by Paul Litchfield, chairman of
the board of Goodyear.
Dick started a model manufacturing
company, Hely-Arc Model Equipment
Company, in 1945, which catered to the
then-booming Control Line market with
streamlined rubber wheels with aluminum
hubs.
Active in Indoor and Outdoor Free
Flight, Dick held records in Indoor
Autogyro and Indoor Helicopter in 1938
and Outdoor Class C Cabin in 1942.
Following a 20-year hiatus to raise his six
children, Dick set records in Indoor
Helicopter in 1978 and the Indoor
Intermediate Stick category in 1987.
His awards and trophies in the 1970s
and 1980s are too numerous to list. As an
aside, Dick obtained six patents, some for
aircraft tire testers and dynamometers,
one for a granular dispensing device, and
one for a Dead Bolt Key Restricting
Device.
Dick Obarski was a member of the
Model Aviation Hall of Fame, the NFFS
Hall of Fame, and received an AMA
Pioneer award in 1998.
Dick is survived by his wife,
Genevieve; six children: Jerry, Steve,
David, Tina, Jenny, and Louise; and 12
grandchildren.
Dick Obarski and the prototype
Zipper at the 1938 Midwestern
States meet. This was the first
major contest won by a Zipper.
Dick shown after a successful
flight at MacDill Air Force Base in
Florida.
Richard W. Obarski
1918-2003
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 158
January 2004 159
customers and answering questions about
RC aircraft, boats, and cars. Calling upon his
own experience, Jeff was able to advise
customers new to the hobbies about
everything from fuel to propellers to radios.
The money he earned from the part-time
job paid for Jeff’s full-scale flying lessons
and his employee discount was appreciated
when it came time to buy his own hobby
essentials!
Now attending the University of
Nebraska, Jeff joined the Platte River RC
Model Club and is thrilled to have a place to
fly while away from home.
We wish you well at the University of
Nebraska, Jeff!
Colin D. Stuart
Colin
Stuart, who is
enrolled at
Texas A&M
University, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson Grant
scholarship.
From
Friendswood,
Texas, he plans
to major in
chemical
engineering. He has been accepted into the
honors program and resides in the honors
dormitory. He must maintain a 3.0 gradepoint
average in order to remain in the
honors facility.
Colin was a 2003 National Merit
Scholarship finalist in 2003, a semifinalist in
2002, and was the third-place finisher in the
Voice of Democracy speech contest. He was
a finalist in the 1999 Scripps Howard
National Spelling Bee, finishing 52nd out of
248 in Washington DC, and received an
award for Outstanding Engineering Project
at the South Texas Regional Science Fair.
Colin was active in the Boy Scouts of
America, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout
in 2000. With the Scouts, he participated in
blood drives, public hiking trail
reconstruction, National Forest
conservation, and beach cleanups. Through
the Boy Scouts, Colin participated in
Venture Crew, an organization with
activities that included book drives, historic
building restoration, camp facilities
improvement, community services, and
fundraisers.
Colin participated in Young Life, a
church youth group, and did volunteer work
with the Northgate Christian Fellowship.
A four-year 4-H participant, Colin raised
show lambs and volunteered as a guide for
livestock shows, ushering school children
through the exhibits. His other community
activities included working as a volunteer
for Habitat for Humanity and tutoring math
and grammar at a Boys and Girls Club.
Athletically, Colin was involved in
tennis, cycling, water polo, and swimming.
Part-time employment included working
as a caterer’s assistant and as a waiter at
Perry’s Grill and Steakhouse in
Friendswood.
Colin described his entry into
aeromodeling by writing, “I first got into RC
aircraft because a friend of mine was very
much into it. He had about 20 planes!”
In 1998 he received a Goldberg Eagle II
kit for Christmas. Buying his own radio and
engine, Colin built the trainer and after
improving his skills, used a buddy box to
teach his father and brother to fly. The three
continued to build and fly. Other aircraft
include a Tiger II, a Great Planes Giles G-
202, a Sig Somethin’ Extra, and a Great
Planes Extra 300. “I did a wonderful Texas
flag scheme on the wings,” Colin wrote,
“and I really enjoy flying this plane.”
Colin has shared most of his
aeromodeling experience with his family.
He wrote, “Most of my modeling experience
I have shared with my family. We work on
projects together and have just as much fun
building planes as flying them. Modeling
has brought my family closer together and
provided me with years of enjoyment.”
Best of luck at Texas A&M, Colin.
Jordan
Wysong
Jordan
Wysong was
the recipient
of a Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship in
the amount of
$4,500. He is
attending
Rose-Hulman
Institute of
Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, and
plans to study aeronautical or biomedical
engineering.
Attending high school in Pana, Illinois,
Jordan was the class valedictorian. He held
a 5.23 grade-point average on a scale of 5.0
and was an Illinois State Scholar, a member
of the National Honor Society, a student
council member, and was listed in Who’s
Who Among High School Students. Jordan
was a section leader in jazz band, marching
band, and pep band, and played in the
Prairie Winds Ensemble.
Jordan participated in the Bradley
Bridge Pal contest and the C.C.I.S. Bridge
Building contest. He placed first in regional
and sectional competition in the Worldwide
Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE)
Challenge and was a state finalist in 2002
and 2003.
An Illinois State Scholar and member of
the United States Mathematics Association,
Jordan also participated in school plays and
rans the sound systems for most high
school, junior high, and community
activities.
Jordan’s interest in aeromodeling began
in 1997 when he and his father bought an
Almost Ready-to-Fly (ARF) Easy Fly 40.
Early on, he and his father agreed to split
the cost of their airplanes equally. Jordan
completed his solo flight and moved up to a
Four-Star 60.
Jordan competed in several fun-fly
events with the Four-Star 60 then moved to
larger scale aircraft. He purchased a 27%
Midwest Giles G-202 and began practicing
for International Miniature Aerobatics Club
(IMAC) competition.
Club activities Jordan has been involved
in include fun-flys, a club swap meet, and
the planning and construction of a pavilion
for the club’s flying site.
Jordan designed a memorial that will be
built at his high school, commemorating the
Pana Township High School that burned
down several years ago. The project is
awaiting funding.
Jordan’s interest in engineering
developed early. He became interested in
architecture in seventh grade when he
helped his father design houses. “Once I
entered high school, I enrolled in drafting
classes and learned that I liked the
mechanical relationship to engineering
rather than the architectural relationship,”
he wrote.
At Rose-Hulman, Jordan wants to
pursue internships with engineering firms to
broaden his knowledge of engineering and
manufacturing and create a network of
contacts to benefit his career. He plans to
pursue his engineering studies and hopes to
find employment in aerospace engineering.
Jordan wrote, “Upon completion of college
I plan to seek employment with NASA or
an aerospace firm that may be developing
contracts with NASA. I feel this is a
realistic goal because the design project for
the new space shuttle is planned to take
place approximately the same time I
graduate from college.”
From all of us at AMA, good luck
Jordan.
Krystal
King
Krystal
King, daughter
of Larry and
Jeanine King,
graduated from
Arkadelphia
High School in
Arkadelphia,
Arkansas.
Krystal
received a Sig
award in the
amount of $1,000. She is attending the
University of Arkansas, majoring in
mechanical engineering.
Krystal ranked 24th in her class of 169
and was active in swimming, cross country,
volleyball, basketball, soccer, and golf. She
was a member of the Future Business
Leaders of America (FBLA) and the
Family, Career and Community Leaders of
America (FCCLA) where she served as
state secretary. Krystal was a member of the
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 159
160
student council, Beta Club, was listed in
Who’s Who Among American High School
Students, and was in the All American
Scholars Program.
Krystal worked summers as a swimming
coach and instructor, working with all age
groups. Part of her job included teaching 5-
and 6-year-olds swimming and water safety.
“This is the most rewarding job anyone
could have,” she wrote. “It is a great feeling
to watch the children grow and become
confident in themselves. Last year one of
my students won the high-points award at
the championship. He could not swim at the
beginning of the year. Coaching does have
its rewards.”
A Control Line pilot since she was 9
years old, Krystal has finished first 14 times
and second 15 times at the National
Aeromodeling Championships (Nats) in
addition to numerous other national titles. A
two-time F2A team member, “although my
passion has always been for Combat,” says
Krystal, she finished third at the 2000
Control Line World Championships (WC)
in Landres, France, and fifth at the 2002
WC in Sebnitz, Germany.
Referring to the championships in
Landres, Krystal wrote, “I proudly stood on
the podium at a World Championship
competition and had the American flag
raised over my head as I was presented with
a third-place Bronze Medal. This had to be
the proudest moment of my life. To
represent the Academy of Model
Aeronautics and the United States of
America is something that not everyone has
had the pleasure or opportunity to do. For
me, it was a heart-pounding, unforgettable
experience.”
Krystal is the current US record holder
for F2A Junior/Senior Speed, a two-time
North American Speed Society (NASS)
Overall Junior/Senior Champion, and
received a Distinguished Performance
Award for International Competition. She
was ranked 12th in 1998 and sixth in 2001
in the Miniature Aircraft Combat
Association’s (MACA) Top 20 and was the
Control Line Overall Category Champion in
1998.
In addition to active competition,
Krystal is caught up in the AMA History
Program, an effort to gather and publish
biographies of aeromodelers to preserve
their history for future generations.
It’s not all been work and competition.
Krystal and her father once tried to build an
airplane using a water bottle just to see if it
would fly. “It was a lot of fun trying to
figure out what needed to be done so that it
would fly in a straight line and not do
continuous figure eights. At least I didn’t
have to worry about getting dizzy.”
We at AMA wish you the best at the
University of Arkansas.
Carl Johann Engel
Carl Engle, from Clear Lake,
Wisconsin, is the recipient of a $1,000 Sig
award. At the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology he plans to major in aerospace
engineering and possibly add a second
major in mechanical engineering.
Carl was the valedictorian of his class
and was named Outstanding Student at
Clear Lake High School. Carl was named
one of five
Northwest
Educators’
Outstanding
Students.
Active in
athletics, Carl
was the varsity
football
captain his
junior and
senior years,
lettered in
hockey and
baseball, and
was named his school’s Wisconsin
Interscholastic Athletic Association’s male
scholar-athlete. He was in the school’s
concert and jazz bands, was nominated to
attend Badger Boys State, and was on the
school’s quiz bowl team. He participated
in Student-to-Student, a peer-advising
group that raises funds for needy families,
those in assisted living, and accident
victims.
Carl is most proud of his involvement
in Destination ImagiNation (DI). A
creative problem-solving organization, DI
offers competitions in various areas. His
team competed in the structure problem
where teams design and build a
lightweight structure that is tested for its
weight-bearing ability.
Carl’s team collected four consecutive
state championships and two world
championships. In 2000, Carl’s structure,
built from pasta and glue, weighed a mere
59 grams (roughly 2 ounces) and held 650
pounds. The 2002 entry was built with
balsa and Japanese tissue paper, weighed
6.8 grams, and held 445 pounds.
He participated in Science Olympiad
and the Wright Stuff, building an Indoor
Rubber duration aircraft within prescribed
specifications that won the state title in
2003.
“I have been interested in aviation as
long as I can remember,” wrote Carl.
Following a succession of tissue-and-balsa
airplanes, then Control Line models, he
had a chance to fly a friend’s RC aircraft
and was hooked. He received a Great
Planes ARF for his 12th birthday and had
it ready to go by spring of 1997.
By his third solo flight Carl was ready
to move up. This has meant a Sig Four-
Star 40 and a Sig Hog-Bipe that won
Honorable Mention in a Model Airplane
News color-scheme contest.
Carl has built two Lanier Shrikes and a
Diamond Dust. He has experimented with
rocket assist on the Shrike, creating an
electronic ignition for the rocket engine.
He managed several successful flights
before losing a wing in midair. Carl has
built a number of fun-fly aircraft including
the Scale Aerobatics models Great Planes
Giles 202 and a D&L Edge 40.
“I have built and flown over a dozen
RC aircraft of nearly all types including a
helicopter,” wrote Carl, but an expensive
hobby needs a source of funding. Carl and
a friend started a lawn-care business, The
Lawn Hackers. They started with a
borrowed push mower, a trimmer, and a
single lawn.
The friend moved away and Carl took
over the business and expanded. He
purchased a riding mower and push
mower, built a small trailer for the back of
the riding mower to transport the
equipment and the push mower. When he
got his driver’s license, Carl bought a
trailer so he didn’t have to drive the mower
through town.
“It has been a great experience being
self-employed and owning a business. It
has taught me responsibility, how to
handle income and expenses, as well as
many other things.”
With the exception of Christmas and
birthday presents, Carl has purchased all of
his RC aircraft and equipment himself with
income from the lawn-care business and
working as a youth hockey referee during
the winter months.
Congratulations Carl, and good luck.
Attention AMA
Clubs:
YES Grant Deadline
January 1, 2004
The AMA Youth Education
Stipend (YES) Grant program,
administered by the Education
Committee, awards one-time,
$500 grants to AMA clubs for
the purpose of aiding
introductory modeling
programs.
For the guidelines and an
application, visit
www.buildandfly.com or
contact April Hathaway:
(765) 287-1256, ext. 515;
[email protected].
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 160
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 157,158,159,160
January 2004 157
Kolby Hoover
Kolby
Hoover, a
graduate of
North Kitsap
High School in
Poulsbo,
Washington, is
the recipient of
a $7,000 award
from the
Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship
fund and a
$4,000 award from the Toledo Weak
Signals. Kolby is enrolled at Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York.
Kolby was named class valedictorian as
well as Outstanding Senior. He was
presented the Joe Shandera award, his
school’s most prestigious athletic award.
Ranked first in a class of 485, Kolby
attended Evergreen Boys State and was
chosen Student of the Year in 1999-2000.
He is a Washington State Scholar and was
awarded the Daughters of the American
Revolution Good Citizenship Award.
Kolby’s athletic accomplishments
include being named Athlete of the Season
by the North Kitsap Herald. He participated
in cross country and diving, and was
nationally ranked in the 300 intermediate
hurdles (IH) in track and field. Kolby
participated in track and field for six years
and holds a school record in 300 IH, and
placed second and third in 300 IH in
various Washington State track
competitions.
A volunteer coach for the Poulsbo
Junior High track team in 2002-03, Kolby
assisted with the sprint team and high
jump.
A musician, Kolby has played French
horn for eight years. He was a member of
the top symphonic band at North Kitsap
High School, and was section leader in the
Kitsap Youth Symphony. He was drum
major in the marching band for two years,
and plays both acoustic and electric bass in
a jazz combo that performs at social
functions and contests. The combo won
recognition at the Columbia Basin Jazz
Festival for its rhythm section.
Kolby played in the state solo and
ensemble as part of a brass quintet two
years and one year as part of a horn trio. He
has studied piano for six years, taking part
in three recitals per year.
Since 1993, he has been a part of a
Norwegian dance group that regularly
performs for retirement home residents,
senior centers, and elementary schools in
Washington State and British Columbia.
Kolby is part of a church worship team that
meets twice a week and a member of the
orchestra playing for school plays.
Kolby’s first Radio Control (RC)
experience came when he was 9. He, his
father, and brother built a 1/2A Bellanca
Cruiser that was “underpowered and we
ended up with a broken plane and about
one second of flying time.”
Undeterred, the three built a Katydid for
Kolby’s brother and had better luck. They
pulled one of his father’s old airplanes, the
Miss Grandin, or the Flying Boat as the
family called it, out from storage, fixed it
up, and the aircraft flew beautifully. The
three joined AMA and the local club, the
Olympic Radio Control Association
(ORCA).
Kolby abandoned the hobby for a while
following the crash of the Flying Boat.
“This was the most traumatizing experience
in my RC career. For months afterward, I
couldn’t stand near a flying airplane or
even next to the pilot.” It took a long time
to get back into flying, but with his father’s
encouragement, Kolby soloed the summer
after seventh grade. His first model was a
Sig Four-Star 40 which he built with help
from his father. Next was his own Flying
Boat, modified to look and operate like a
smaller version of his dad’s.
A member of ORCA designed a
GutterSnipe, made from PVC and foam
insulation. These aircraft are what Kolby
has spent much of his time flying. The club
holds GutterSnipe Pylon and Combat races
and he placed fourth overall last season.
Kolby has flown aerobatic aircraft and
he, his dad, and brother are learning to fly
helicopters. Two projects include building
a Marutaka P-38 Lightning and scratchbuilding
an Aeronca Champion.
Building has given Kolby the thought of
studying engineering or even aerospace
engineering at Cornell. “It has been a great
way to become closer to my dad and my
brother.” He feels aeromodeling will be a
lifelong hobby and will always be
something he enjoys and hopes to have
room in his luggage to pack his Chipmunk
and Thunder Tiger.
Congratulations and good luck, Kolby.
Jeffrey C. Smith
Jeff Smith,
son of Bernie
and Charlene
Smith of
Lincoln,
Nebraska, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson
Grant
Scholarship. A
graduate of
Lincoln High
School, Jeff
AMA News
Academy of Model Aeronautics 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
View from HQ
See page 192
2003 AMA/Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship Winners
SINCE 1970, the Academy of Model Aeronautics has provided scholarships to young men and women seeking to continue their
education in colleges and universities. The primary awards are presented through the Charles Hampson Grant scholarships.
In 2003, four individuals received a portion of the $21,500 Charles Hampson Grant awards. These monies came from a variety of sources
including gifts, memorials, and the AMA general fund. The top winner of the Grant award also receives an award provided by the Toledo
Weak Signals from monies generated from the club’s annual trade show and exposition. This year the Weak Signals contributed $4,000.
An additional scholarship program awarded funds this year. The Sig award, a memorial in honor of the late Glenn Sigafoose, is
presented by Hazel Sig-Hester and Sig Manufacturing Company. Presented to one or more individuals, the award is based upon financial
need and aeromodeling activity. A total of $2,500 was awarded in 2003.
Forty-seven applications were evaluated by a four-member committee. The applicants are rated in several major areas including grade
average, test results, school and community activities, and modeling activities. High achievement in all of the categories is important for
the maximum amount of scholarship awarded to an individual.
Information regarding applications may be obtained from Jack Frost at AMA Headquarters or visit the AMA Education Web site at
www.buildandfly.com.
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:04 pm Page 157
158
was 14th in a class of 720. Jeff plans to
major in aircraft systems management, a
professional pilot major, at the University of
Nebraska.
Jeff earned his private pilot’s license last
March and since then has enjoyed giving
rides to family and friends. He has logged
most of his time in a Cessna 152, but has
some time in a Cessna 172.
Jeff first became involved in RC when
his parents bought him a used Hobbico
Superstar 40 trainer for his 13th birthday. He
and his father joined AMA, and the Lincoln
Sky Knights RC where club members taught
him to fly. The Superstar 40 crashed shortly
after Jeff soloed, but since then he and his
father have flown several other aircraft
including a Sig Hog biplane.
Active in the Lincoln Sky Knights’
activities, Jeff helped raise funds for the club
by helping fly a blimp at a Lincoln Stars
hockey game.
Jeff and his father have begun
participating in RC Combat. “We
engineered our own original scale design—a
Japanese Jill torpedo bomber—with the help
of other Combat fliers.”
A member of the Radio Control Combat
Association (RCCA), Jeff has flown
competitively against nationally ranked
fliers. He has done well in the National
Point Standings but feels his greatest
accomplishment was a second-place finish
in Scale at the Waverly, Nebraska, Midwest
Nationals. Jeff was asked to be the RCCA
representative from Nebraska.
Jeff ran junior varsity and varsity track in
high school, competing in the 800-meter,
one-mile, and two-mile events. He ran junior
varsity cross country and helped raise
money to support both teams by working in
the concession stands during other school
sports events.
Jeff was nominated by his teachers to be
one of the first students to serve on the
March of Dimes Chain Reaction Leadership
Council, a group formed to promote the
March of Dimes and provide an opportunity
for youth leadership.
Last year, Jeff’s Differentiated
Physics/Pre-Calculus class took advantage
of a grant to go to the Worlds of Fun
amusement park. There the class used its
knowledge to scientifically investigate rides
and collect data.
Math and science are Jeff’s favorite
subjects. He has been on the honor roll since
his freshman year of high school and has
earned academic letters.
A member of the National Honor
Society, Jeff is active in the First Plymouth
Church youth group. The youth group
donates time in a local soup kitchen as well
as going on annual mission trips that include
helping at community job sites. Jeff
volunteered at Camp Friendship, a camp for
disabled people of all ages. “It was one of
the most rewarding experiences I have had
in my life,” he wrote.
Jeff was involved in the Civil Air Patrol
where he practiced drill and ceremony,
learned about aerospace science, learned
leadership skills, and was trained to work in
search-and-rescue and disaster-relief
missions.
Hobbytown USA in Lincoln is where
Jeff works part time as a sales associate,
primarily in the RC department, helping
Richard “Dick” Obarski, a charter
member and secretary of the Chicago
Aeronuts, died September 24, 2003. Born
in 1918, Dick received his noncommercial
glider license at age 16, and went to
Purdue University in Indiana to pursue a
degree in engineering. He was a member
of the Purdue University glider club and
helped organize the Purdue Aeromodelers
Club in 1937-38.
“The Chicago Aeronuts president was
Carl Goldberg,” Dick wrote, “who also
operated Model Research Lab and sold
supplies. Carl was our mentor and infused
us with learning and effort and enthusiasm
at our monthly meetings.”
In 1937-38, Dick had four plans
published in the Zaic yearbook, including
the Curtiss Robin, Indoor Glider, Tandem
Outdoor Fuselage, and Helicopter. His
first “gassie” was a prototype Zipper
which he wrote about in a 1990 article in
the National Free Flight Society (NFFS)
Symposium. Dick’s flight with the Zipper
at the Midwestern States meet in Chicago
was the first of many wins for this Carl
Goldberg design.
Dick started working as an engineer at
Goodyear Aircraft Corporation in January
of 1942. During this time he was involved
in a number of contests as a contest
director, including meets with 200-300
contestants. He served as an assistant
squadron leader in the Air Scouts for
Goodyear and taught modeling and
conducted contests. The Air Scouts were
organized by Paul Litchfield, chairman of
the board of Goodyear.
Dick started a model manufacturing
company, Hely-Arc Model Equipment
Company, in 1945, which catered to the
then-booming Control Line market with
streamlined rubber wheels with aluminum
hubs.
Active in Indoor and Outdoor Free
Flight, Dick held records in Indoor
Autogyro and Indoor Helicopter in 1938
and Outdoor Class C Cabin in 1942.
Following a 20-year hiatus to raise his six
children, Dick set records in Indoor
Helicopter in 1978 and the Indoor
Intermediate Stick category in 1987.
His awards and trophies in the 1970s
and 1980s are too numerous to list. As an
aside, Dick obtained six patents, some for
aircraft tire testers and dynamometers,
one for a granular dispensing device, and
one for a Dead Bolt Key Restricting
Device.
Dick Obarski was a member of the
Model Aviation Hall of Fame, the NFFS
Hall of Fame, and received an AMA
Pioneer award in 1998.
Dick is survived by his wife,
Genevieve; six children: Jerry, Steve,
David, Tina, Jenny, and Louise; and 12
grandchildren.
Dick Obarski and the prototype
Zipper at the 1938 Midwestern
States meet. This was the first
major contest won by a Zipper.
Dick shown after a successful
flight at MacDill Air Force Base in
Florida.
Richard W. Obarski
1918-2003
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 158
January 2004 159
customers and answering questions about
RC aircraft, boats, and cars. Calling upon his
own experience, Jeff was able to advise
customers new to the hobbies about
everything from fuel to propellers to radios.
The money he earned from the part-time
job paid for Jeff’s full-scale flying lessons
and his employee discount was appreciated
when it came time to buy his own hobby
essentials!
Now attending the University of
Nebraska, Jeff joined the Platte River RC
Model Club and is thrilled to have a place to
fly while away from home.
We wish you well at the University of
Nebraska, Jeff!
Colin D. Stuart
Colin
Stuart, who is
enrolled at
Texas A&M
University, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson Grant
scholarship.
From
Friendswood,
Texas, he plans
to major in
chemical
engineering. He has been accepted into the
honors program and resides in the honors
dormitory. He must maintain a 3.0 gradepoint
average in order to remain in the
honors facility.
Colin was a 2003 National Merit
Scholarship finalist in 2003, a semifinalist in
2002, and was the third-place finisher in the
Voice of Democracy speech contest. He was
a finalist in the 1999 Scripps Howard
National Spelling Bee, finishing 52nd out of
248 in Washington DC, and received an
award for Outstanding Engineering Project
at the South Texas Regional Science Fair.
Colin was active in the Boy Scouts of
America, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout
in 2000. With the Scouts, he participated in
blood drives, public hiking trail
reconstruction, National Forest
conservation, and beach cleanups. Through
the Boy Scouts, Colin participated in
Venture Crew, an organization with
activities that included book drives, historic
building restoration, camp facilities
improvement, community services, and
fundraisers.
Colin participated in Young Life, a
church youth group, and did volunteer work
with the Northgate Christian Fellowship.
A four-year 4-H participant, Colin raised
show lambs and volunteered as a guide for
livestock shows, ushering school children
through the exhibits. His other community
activities included working as a volunteer
for Habitat for Humanity and tutoring math
and grammar at a Boys and Girls Club.
Athletically, Colin was involved in
tennis, cycling, water polo, and swimming.
Part-time employment included working
as a caterer’s assistant and as a waiter at
Perry’s Grill and Steakhouse in
Friendswood.
Colin described his entry into
aeromodeling by writing, “I first got into RC
aircraft because a friend of mine was very
much into it. He had about 20 planes!”
In 1998 he received a Goldberg Eagle II
kit for Christmas. Buying his own radio and
engine, Colin built the trainer and after
improving his skills, used a buddy box to
teach his father and brother to fly. The three
continued to build and fly. Other aircraft
include a Tiger II, a Great Planes Giles G-
202, a Sig Somethin’ Extra, and a Great
Planes Extra 300. “I did a wonderful Texas
flag scheme on the wings,” Colin wrote,
“and I really enjoy flying this plane.”
Colin has shared most of his
aeromodeling experience with his family.
He wrote, “Most of my modeling experience
I have shared with my family. We work on
projects together and have just as much fun
building planes as flying them. Modeling
has brought my family closer together and
provided me with years of enjoyment.”
Best of luck at Texas A&M, Colin.
Jordan
Wysong
Jordan
Wysong was
the recipient
of a Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship in
the amount of
$4,500. He is
attending
Rose-Hulman
Institute of
Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, and
plans to study aeronautical or biomedical
engineering.
Attending high school in Pana, Illinois,
Jordan was the class valedictorian. He held
a 5.23 grade-point average on a scale of 5.0
and was an Illinois State Scholar, a member
of the National Honor Society, a student
council member, and was listed in Who’s
Who Among High School Students. Jordan
was a section leader in jazz band, marching
band, and pep band, and played in the
Prairie Winds Ensemble.
Jordan participated in the Bradley
Bridge Pal contest and the C.C.I.S. Bridge
Building contest. He placed first in regional
and sectional competition in the Worldwide
Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE)
Challenge and was a state finalist in 2002
and 2003.
An Illinois State Scholar and member of
the United States Mathematics Association,
Jordan also participated in school plays and
rans the sound systems for most high
school, junior high, and community
activities.
Jordan’s interest in aeromodeling began
in 1997 when he and his father bought an
Almost Ready-to-Fly (ARF) Easy Fly 40.
Early on, he and his father agreed to split
the cost of their airplanes equally. Jordan
completed his solo flight and moved up to a
Four-Star 60.
Jordan competed in several fun-fly
events with the Four-Star 60 then moved to
larger scale aircraft. He purchased a 27%
Midwest Giles G-202 and began practicing
for International Miniature Aerobatics Club
(IMAC) competition.
Club activities Jordan has been involved
in include fun-flys, a club swap meet, and
the planning and construction of a pavilion
for the club’s flying site.
Jordan designed a memorial that will be
built at his high school, commemorating the
Pana Township High School that burned
down several years ago. The project is
awaiting funding.
Jordan’s interest in engineering
developed early. He became interested in
architecture in seventh grade when he
helped his father design houses. “Once I
entered high school, I enrolled in drafting
classes and learned that I liked the
mechanical relationship to engineering
rather than the architectural relationship,”
he wrote.
At Rose-Hulman, Jordan wants to
pursue internships with engineering firms to
broaden his knowledge of engineering and
manufacturing and create a network of
contacts to benefit his career. He plans to
pursue his engineering studies and hopes to
find employment in aerospace engineering.
Jordan wrote, “Upon completion of college
I plan to seek employment with NASA or
an aerospace firm that may be developing
contracts with NASA. I feel this is a
realistic goal because the design project for
the new space shuttle is planned to take
place approximately the same time I
graduate from college.”
From all of us at AMA, good luck
Jordan.
Krystal
King
Krystal
King, daughter
of Larry and
Jeanine King,
graduated from
Arkadelphia
High School in
Arkadelphia,
Arkansas.
Krystal
received a Sig
award in the
amount of $1,000. She is attending the
University of Arkansas, majoring in
mechanical engineering.
Krystal ranked 24th in her class of 169
and was active in swimming, cross country,
volleyball, basketball, soccer, and golf. She
was a member of the Future Business
Leaders of America (FBLA) and the
Family, Career and Community Leaders of
America (FCCLA) where she served as
state secretary. Krystal was a member of the
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 159
160
student council, Beta Club, was listed in
Who’s Who Among American High School
Students, and was in the All American
Scholars Program.
Krystal worked summers as a swimming
coach and instructor, working with all age
groups. Part of her job included teaching 5-
and 6-year-olds swimming and water safety.
“This is the most rewarding job anyone
could have,” she wrote. “It is a great feeling
to watch the children grow and become
confident in themselves. Last year one of
my students won the high-points award at
the championship. He could not swim at the
beginning of the year. Coaching does have
its rewards.”
A Control Line pilot since she was 9
years old, Krystal has finished first 14 times
and second 15 times at the National
Aeromodeling Championships (Nats) in
addition to numerous other national titles. A
two-time F2A team member, “although my
passion has always been for Combat,” says
Krystal, she finished third at the 2000
Control Line World Championships (WC)
in Landres, France, and fifth at the 2002
WC in Sebnitz, Germany.
Referring to the championships in
Landres, Krystal wrote, “I proudly stood on
the podium at a World Championship
competition and had the American flag
raised over my head as I was presented with
a third-place Bronze Medal. This had to be
the proudest moment of my life. To
represent the Academy of Model
Aeronautics and the United States of
America is something that not everyone has
had the pleasure or opportunity to do. For
me, it was a heart-pounding, unforgettable
experience.”
Krystal is the current US record holder
for F2A Junior/Senior Speed, a two-time
North American Speed Society (NASS)
Overall Junior/Senior Champion, and
received a Distinguished Performance
Award for International Competition. She
was ranked 12th in 1998 and sixth in 2001
in the Miniature Aircraft Combat
Association’s (MACA) Top 20 and was the
Control Line Overall Category Champion in
1998.
In addition to active competition,
Krystal is caught up in the AMA History
Program, an effort to gather and publish
biographies of aeromodelers to preserve
their history for future generations.
It’s not all been work and competition.
Krystal and her father once tried to build an
airplane using a water bottle just to see if it
would fly. “It was a lot of fun trying to
figure out what needed to be done so that it
would fly in a straight line and not do
continuous figure eights. At least I didn’t
have to worry about getting dizzy.”
We at AMA wish you the best at the
University of Arkansas.
Carl Johann Engel
Carl Engle, from Clear Lake,
Wisconsin, is the recipient of a $1,000 Sig
award. At the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology he plans to major in aerospace
engineering and possibly add a second
major in mechanical engineering.
Carl was the valedictorian of his class
and was named Outstanding Student at
Clear Lake High School. Carl was named
one of five
Northwest
Educators’
Outstanding
Students.
Active in
athletics, Carl
was the varsity
football
captain his
junior and
senior years,
lettered in
hockey and
baseball, and
was named his school’s Wisconsin
Interscholastic Athletic Association’s male
scholar-athlete. He was in the school’s
concert and jazz bands, was nominated to
attend Badger Boys State, and was on the
school’s quiz bowl team. He participated
in Student-to-Student, a peer-advising
group that raises funds for needy families,
those in assisted living, and accident
victims.
Carl is most proud of his involvement
in Destination ImagiNation (DI). A
creative problem-solving organization, DI
offers competitions in various areas. His
team competed in the structure problem
where teams design and build a
lightweight structure that is tested for its
weight-bearing ability.
Carl’s team collected four consecutive
state championships and two world
championships. In 2000, Carl’s structure,
built from pasta and glue, weighed a mere
59 grams (roughly 2 ounces) and held 650
pounds. The 2002 entry was built with
balsa and Japanese tissue paper, weighed
6.8 grams, and held 445 pounds.
He participated in Science Olympiad
and the Wright Stuff, building an Indoor
Rubber duration aircraft within prescribed
specifications that won the state title in
2003.
“I have been interested in aviation as
long as I can remember,” wrote Carl.
Following a succession of tissue-and-balsa
airplanes, then Control Line models, he
had a chance to fly a friend’s RC aircraft
and was hooked. He received a Great
Planes ARF for his 12th birthday and had
it ready to go by spring of 1997.
By his third solo flight Carl was ready
to move up. This has meant a Sig Four-
Star 40 and a Sig Hog-Bipe that won
Honorable Mention in a Model Airplane
News color-scheme contest.
Carl has built two Lanier Shrikes and a
Diamond Dust. He has experimented with
rocket assist on the Shrike, creating an
electronic ignition for the rocket engine.
He managed several successful flights
before losing a wing in midair. Carl has
built a number of fun-fly aircraft including
the Scale Aerobatics models Great Planes
Giles 202 and a D&L Edge 40.
“I have built and flown over a dozen
RC aircraft of nearly all types including a
helicopter,” wrote Carl, but an expensive
hobby needs a source of funding. Carl and
a friend started a lawn-care business, The
Lawn Hackers. They started with a
borrowed push mower, a trimmer, and a
single lawn.
The friend moved away and Carl took
over the business and expanded. He
purchased a riding mower and push
mower, built a small trailer for the back of
the riding mower to transport the
equipment and the push mower. When he
got his driver’s license, Carl bought a
trailer so he didn’t have to drive the mower
through town.
“It has been a great experience being
self-employed and owning a business. It
has taught me responsibility, how to
handle income and expenses, as well as
many other things.”
With the exception of Christmas and
birthday presents, Carl has purchased all of
his RC aircraft and equipment himself with
income from the lawn-care business and
working as a youth hockey referee during
the winter months.
Congratulations Carl, and good luck.
Attention AMA
Clubs:
YES Grant Deadline
January 1, 2004
The AMA Youth Education
Stipend (YES) Grant program,
administered by the Education
Committee, awards one-time,
$500 grants to AMA clubs for
the purpose of aiding
introductory modeling
programs.
For the guidelines and an
application, visit
www.buildandfly.com or
contact April Hathaway:
(765) 287-1256, ext. 515;
[email protected].
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:05 pm Page 160
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 157,158,159,160
January 2004 157
Kolby Hoover
Kolby
Hoover, a
graduate of
North Kitsap
High School in
Poulsbo,
Washington, is
the recipient of
a $7,000 award
from the
Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship
fund and a
$4,000 award from the Toledo Weak
Signals. Kolby is enrolled at Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York.
Kolby was named class valedictorian as
well as Outstanding Senior. He was
presented the Joe Shandera award, his
school’s most prestigious athletic award.
Ranked first in a class of 485, Kolby
attended Evergreen Boys State and was
chosen Student of the Year in 1999-2000.
He is a Washington State Scholar and was
awarded the Daughters of the American
Revolution Good Citizenship Award.
Kolby’s athletic accomplishments
include being named Athlete of the Season
by the North Kitsap Herald. He participated
in cross country and diving, and was
nationally ranked in the 300 intermediate
hurdles (IH) in track and field. Kolby
participated in track and field for six years
and holds a school record in 300 IH, and
placed second and third in 300 IH in
various Washington State track
competitions.
A volunteer coach for the Poulsbo
Junior High track team in 2002-03, Kolby
assisted with the sprint team and high
jump.
A musician, Kolby has played French
horn for eight years. He was a member of
the top symphonic band at North Kitsap
High School, and was section leader in the
Kitsap Youth Symphony. He was drum
major in the marching band for two years,
and plays both acoustic and electric bass in
a jazz combo that performs at social
functions and contests. The combo won
recognition at the Columbia Basin Jazz
Festival for its rhythm section.
Kolby played in the state solo and
ensemble as part of a brass quintet two
years and one year as part of a horn trio. He
has studied piano for six years, taking part
in three recitals per year.
Since 1993, he has been a part of a
Norwegian dance group that regularly
performs for retirement home residents,
senior centers, and elementary schools in
Washington State and British Columbia.
Kolby is part of a church worship team that
meets twice a week and a member of the
orchestra playing for school plays.
Kolby’s first Radio Control (RC)
experience came when he was 9. He, his
father, and brother built a 1/2A Bellanca
Cruiser that was “underpowered and we
ended up with a broken plane and about
one second of flying time.”
Undeterred, the three built a Katydid for
Kolby’s brother and had better luck. They
pulled one of his father’s old airplanes, the
Miss Grandin, or the Flying Boat as the
family called it, out from storage, fixed it
up, and the aircraft flew beautifully. The
three joined AMA and the local club, the
Olympic Radio Control Association
(ORCA).
Kolby abandoned the hobby for a while
following the crash of the Flying Boat.
“This was the most traumatizing experience
in my RC career. For months afterward, I
couldn’t stand near a flying airplane or
even next to the pilot.” It took a long time
to get back into flying, but with his father’s
encouragement, Kolby soloed the summer
after seventh grade. His first model was a
Sig Four-Star 40 which he built with help
from his father. Next was his own Flying
Boat, modified to look and operate like a
smaller version of his dad’s.
A member of ORCA designed a
GutterSnipe, made from PVC and foam
insulation. These aircraft are what Kolby
has spent much of his time flying. The club
holds GutterSnipe Pylon and Combat races
and he placed fourth overall last season.
Kolby has flown aerobatic aircraft and
he, his dad, and brother are learning to fly
helicopters. Two projects include building
a Marutaka P-38 Lightning and scratchbuilding
an Aeronca Champion.
Building has given Kolby the thought of
studying engineering or even aerospace
engineering at Cornell. “It has been a great
way to become closer to my dad and my
brother.” He feels aeromodeling will be a
lifelong hobby and will always be
something he enjoys and hopes to have
room in his luggage to pack his Chipmunk
and Thunder Tiger.
Congratulations and good luck, Kolby.
Jeffrey C. Smith
Jeff Smith,
son of Bernie
and Charlene
Smith of
Lincoln,
Nebraska, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson
Grant
Scholarship. A
graduate of
Lincoln High
School, Jeff
AMA News
Academy of Model Aeronautics 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
View from HQ
See page 192
2003 AMA/Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship Winners
SINCE 1970, the Academy of Model Aeronautics has provided scholarships to young men and women seeking to continue their
education in colleges and universities. The primary awards are presented through the Charles Hampson Grant scholarships.
In 2003, four individuals received a portion of the $21,500 Charles Hampson Grant awards. These monies came from a variety of sources
including gifts, memorials, and the AMA general fund. The top winner of the Grant award also receives an award provided by the Toledo
Weak Signals from monies generated from the club’s annual trade show and exposition. This year the Weak Signals contributed $4,000.
An additional scholarship program awarded funds this year. The Sig award, a memorial in honor of the late Glenn Sigafoose, is
presented by Hazel Sig-Hester and Sig Manufacturing Company. Presented to one or more individuals, the award is based upon financial
need and aeromodeling activity. A total of $2,500 was awarded in 2003.
Forty-seven applications were evaluated by a four-member committee. The applicants are rated in several major areas including grade
average, test results, school and community activities, and modeling activities. High achievement in all of the categories is important for
the maximum amount of scholarship awarded to an individual.
Information regarding applications may be obtained from Jack Frost at AMA Headquarters or visit the AMA Education Web site at
www.buildandfly.com.
04jan.qxd 10/23/03 12:04 pm Page 157
158
was 14th in a class of 720. Jeff plans to
major in aircraft systems management, a
professional pilot major, at the University of
Nebraska.
Jeff earned his private pilot’s license last
March and since then has enjoyed giving
rides to family and friends. He has logged
most of his time in a Cessna 152, but has
some time in a Cessna 172.
Jeff first became involved in RC when
his parents bought him a used Hobbico
Superstar 40 trainer for his 13th birthday. He
and his father joined AMA, and the Lincoln
Sky Knights RC where club members taught
him to fly. The Superstar 40 crashed shortly
after Jeff soloed, but since then he and his
father have flown several other aircraft
including a Sig Hog biplane.
Active in the Lincoln Sky Knights’
activities, Jeff helped raise funds for the club
by helping fly a blimp at a Lincoln Stars
hockey game.
Jeff and his father have begun
participating in RC Combat. “We
engineered our own original scale design—a
Japanese Jill torpedo bomber—with the help
of other Combat fliers.”
A member of the Radio Control Combat
Association (RCCA), Jeff has flown
competitively against nationally ranked
fliers. He has done well in the National
Point Standings but feels his greatest
accomplishment was a second-place finish
in Scale at the Waverly, Nebraska, Midwest
Nationals. Jeff was asked to be the RCCA
representative from Nebraska.
Jeff ran junior varsity and varsity track in
high school, competing in the 800-meter,
one-mile, and two-mile events. He ran junior
varsity cross country and helped raise
money to support both teams by working in
the concession stands during other school
sports events.
Jeff was nominated by his teachers to be
one of the first students to serve on the
March of Dimes Chain Reaction Leadership
Council, a group formed to promote the
March of Dimes and provide an opportunity
for youth leadership.
Last year, Jeff’s Differentiated
Physics/Pre-Calculus class took advantage
of a grant to go to the Worlds of Fun
amusement park. There the class used its
knowledge to scientifically investigate rides
and collect data.
Math and science are Jeff’s favorite
subjects. He has been on the honor roll since
his freshman year of high school and has
earned academic letters.
A member of the National Honor
Society, Jeff is active in the First Plymouth
Church youth group. The youth group
donates time in a local soup kitchen as well
as going on annual mission trips that include
helping at community job sites. Jeff
volunteered at Camp Friendship, a camp for
disabled people of all ages. “It was one of
the most rewarding experiences I have had
in my life,” he wrote.
Jeff was involved in the Civil Air Patrol
where he practiced drill and ceremony,
learned about aerospace science, learned
leadership skills, and was trained to work in
search-and-rescue and disaster-relief
missions.
Hobbytown USA in Lincoln is where
Jeff works part time as a sales associate,
primarily in the RC department, helping
Richard “Dick” Obarski, a charter
member and secretary of the Chicago
Aeronuts, died September 24, 2003. Born
in 1918, Dick received his noncommercial
glider license at age 16, and went to
Purdue University in Indiana to pursue a
degree in engineering. He was a member
of the Purdue University glider club and
helped organize the Purdue Aeromodelers
Club in 1937-38.
“The Chicago Aeronuts president was
Carl Goldberg,” Dick wrote, “who also
operated Model Research Lab and sold
supplies. Carl was our mentor and infused
us with learning and effort and enthusiasm
at our monthly meetings.”
In 1937-38, Dick had four plans
published in the Zaic yearbook, including
the Curtiss Robin, Indoor Glider, Tandem
Outdoor Fuselage, and Helicopter. His
first “gassie” was a prototype Zipper
which he wrote about in a 1990 article in
the National Free Flight Society (NFFS)
Symposium. Dick’s flight with the Zipper
at the Midwestern States meet in Chicago
was the first of many wins for this Carl
Goldberg design.
Dick started working as an engineer at
Goodyear Aircraft Corporation in January
of 1942. During this time he was involved
in a number of contests as a contest
director, including meets with 200-300
contestants. He served as an assistant
squadron leader in the Air Scouts for
Goodyear and taught modeling and
conducted contests. The Air Scouts were
organized by Paul Litchfield, chairman of
the board of Goodyear.
Dick started a model manufacturing
company, Hely-Arc Model Equipment
Company, in 1945, which catered to the
then-booming Control Line market with
streamlined rubber wheels with aluminum
hubs.
Active in Indoor and Outdoor Free
Flight, Dick held records in Indoor
Autogyro and Indoor Helicopter in 1938
and Outdoor Class C Cabin in 1942.
Following a 20-year hiatus to raise his six
children, Dick set records in Indoor
Helicopter in 1978 and the Indoor
Intermediate Stick category in 1987.
His awards and trophies in the 1970s
and 1980s are too numerous to list. As an
aside, Dick obtained six patents, some for
aircraft tire testers and dynamometers,
one for a granular dispensing device, and
one for a Dead Bolt Key Restricting
Device.
Dick Obarski was a member of the
Model Aviation Hall of Fame, the NFFS
Hall of Fame, and received an AMA
Pioneer award in 1998.
Dick is survived by his wife,
Genevieve; six children: Jerry, Steve,
David, Tina, Jenny, and Louise; and 12
grandchildren.
Dick Obarski and the prototype
Zipper at the 1938 Midwestern
States meet. This was the first
major contest won by a Zipper.
Dick shown after a successful
flight at MacDill Air Force Base in
Florida.
Richard W. Obarski
1918-2003
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January 2004 159
customers and answering questions about
RC aircraft, boats, and cars. Calling upon his
own experience, Jeff was able to advise
customers new to the hobbies about
everything from fuel to propellers to radios.
The money he earned from the part-time
job paid for Jeff’s full-scale flying lessons
and his employee discount was appreciated
when it came time to buy his own hobby
essentials!
Now attending the University of
Nebraska, Jeff joined the Platte River RC
Model Club and is thrilled to have a place to
fly while away from home.
We wish you well at the University of
Nebraska, Jeff!
Colin D. Stuart
Colin
Stuart, who is
enrolled at
Texas A&M
University, was
awarded a
$5,000 Charles
Hampson Grant
scholarship.
From
Friendswood,
Texas, he plans
to major in
chemical
engineering. He has been accepted into the
honors program and resides in the honors
dormitory. He must maintain a 3.0 gradepoint
average in order to remain in the
honors facility.
Colin was a 2003 National Merit
Scholarship finalist in 2003, a semifinalist in
2002, and was the third-place finisher in the
Voice of Democracy speech contest. He was
a finalist in the 1999 Scripps Howard
National Spelling Bee, finishing 52nd out of
248 in Washington DC, and received an
award for Outstanding Engineering Project
at the South Texas Regional Science Fair.
Colin was active in the Boy Scouts of
America, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout
in 2000. With the Scouts, he participated in
blood drives, public hiking trail
reconstruction, National Forest
conservation, and beach cleanups. Through
the Boy Scouts, Colin participated in
Venture Crew, an organization with
activities that included book drives, historic
building restoration, camp facilities
improvement, community services, and
fundraisers.
Colin participated in Young Life, a
church youth group, and did volunteer work
with the Northgate Christian Fellowship.
A four-year 4-H participant, Colin raised
show lambs and volunteered as a guide for
livestock shows, ushering school children
through the exhibits. His other community
activities included working as a volunteer
for Habitat for Humanity and tutoring math
and grammar at a Boys and Girls Club.
Athletically, Colin was involved in
tennis, cycling, water polo, and swimming.
Part-time employment included working
as a caterer’s assistant and as a waiter at
Perry’s Grill and Steakhouse in
Friendswood.
Colin described his entry into
aeromodeling by writing, “I first got into RC
aircraft because a friend of mine was very
much into it. He had about 20 planes!”
In 1998 he received a Goldberg Eagle II
kit for Christmas. Buying his own radio and
engine, Colin built the trainer and after
improving his skills, used a buddy box to
teach his father and brother to fly. The three
continued to build and fly. Other aircraft
include a Tiger II, a Great Planes Giles G-
202, a Sig Somethin’ Extra, and a Great
Planes Extra 300. “I did a wonderful Texas
flag scheme on the wings,” Colin wrote,
“and I really enjoy flying this plane.”
Colin has shared most of his
aeromodeling experience with his family.
He wrote, “Most of my modeling experience
I have shared with my family. We work on
projects together and have just as much fun
building planes as flying them. Modeling
has brought my family closer together and
provided me with years of enjoyment.”
Best of luck at Texas A&M, Colin.
Jordan
Wysong
Jordan
Wysong was
the recipient
of a Charles
Hampson
Grant
scholarship in
the amount of
$4,500. He is
attending
Rose-Hulman
Institute of
Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, and
plans to study aeronautical or biomedical
engineering.
Attending high school in Pana, Illinois,
Jordan was the class valedictorian. He held
a 5.23 grade-point average on a scale of 5.0
and was an Illinois State Scholar, a member
of the National Honor Society, a student
council member, and was listed in Who’s
Who Among High School Students. Jordan
was a section leader in jazz band, marching
band, and pep band, and played in the
Prairie Winds Ensemble.
Jordan participated in the Bradley
Bridge Pal contest and the C.C.I.S. Bridge
Building contest. He placed first in regional
and sectional competition in the Worldwide
Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE)
Challenge and was a state finalist in 2002
and 2003.
An Illinois State Scholar and member of
the United States Mathematics Association,
Jordan also participated in school plays and
rans the sound systems for most high
school, junior high, and community
activities.
Jordan’s interest in aeromodeling began
in 1997 when he and his father bought an
Almost Ready-to-Fly (ARF) Easy Fly 40.
Early on, he and his father agreed to split
the cost of their airplanes equally. Jordan
completed his solo flight and moved up to a
Four-Star 60.
Jordan competed in several fun-fly
events with the Four-Star 60 then moved to
larger scale aircraft. He purchased a 27%
Midwest Giles G-202 and began practicing
for International Miniature Aerobatics Club
(IMAC) competition.
Club activities Jordan has been involved
in include fun-flys, a club swap meet, and
the planning and construction of a pavilion
for the club’s flying site.
Jordan designed a memorial that will be
built at his high school, commemorating the
Pana Township High School that burned
down several years ago. The project is
awaiting funding.
Jordan’s interest in engineering
developed early. He became interested in
architecture in seventh grade when he
helped his father design houses. “Once I
entered high school, I enrolled in drafting
classes and learned that I liked the
mechanical relationship to engineering
rather than the architectural relationship,”
he wrote.
At Rose-Hulman, Jordan wants to
pursue internships with engineering firms to
broaden his knowledge of engineering and
manufacturing and create a network of
contacts to benefit his career. He plans to
pursue his engineering studies and hopes to
find employment in aerospace engineering.
Jordan wrote, “Upon completion of college
I plan to seek employment with NASA or
an aerospace firm that may be developing
contracts with NASA. I feel this is a
realistic goal because the design project for
the new space shuttle is planned to take
place approximately the same time I
graduate from college.”
From all of us at AMA, good luck
Jordan.
Krystal
King
Krystal
King, daughter
of Larry and
Jeanine King,
graduated from
Arkadelphia
High School in
Arkadelphia,
Arkansas.
Krystal
received a Sig
award in the
amount of $1,000. She is attending the
University of Arkansas, majoring in
mechanical engineering.
Krystal ranked 24th in her class of 169
and was active in swimming, cross country,
volleyball, basketball, soccer, and golf. She
was a member of the Future Business
Leaders of America (FBLA) and the
Family, Career and Community Leaders of
America (FCCLA) where she served as
state secretary. Krystal was a member of the
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student council, Beta Club, was listed in
Who’s Who Among American High School
Students, and was in the All American
Scholars Program.
Krystal worked summers as a swimming
coach and instructor, working with all age
groups. Part of her job included teaching 5-
and 6-year-olds swimming and water safety.
“This is the most rewarding job anyone
could have,” she wrote. “It is a great feeling
to watch the children grow and become
confident in themselves. Last year one of
my students won the high-points award at
the championship. He could not swim at the
beginning of the year. Coaching does have
its rewards.”
A Control Line pilot since she was 9
years old, Krystal has finished first 14 times
and second 15 times at the National
Aeromodeling Championships (Nats) in
addition to numerous other national titles. A
two-time F2A team member, “although my
passion has always been for Combat,” says
Krystal, she finished third at the 2000
Control Line World Championships (WC)
in Landres, France, and fifth at the 2002
WC in Sebnitz, Germany.
Referring to the championships in
Landres, Krystal wrote, “I proudly stood on
the podium at a World Championship
competition and had the American flag
raised over my head as I was presented with
a third-place Bronze Medal. This had to be
the proudest moment of my life. To
represent the Academy of Model
Aeronautics and the United States of
America is something that not everyone has
had the pleasure or opportunity to do. For
me, it was a heart-pounding, unforgettable
experience.”
Krystal is the current US record holder
for F2A Junior/Senior Speed, a two-time
North American Speed Society (NASS)
Overall Junior/Senior Champion, and
received a Distinguished Performance
Award for International Competition. She
was ranked 12th in 1998 and sixth in 2001
in the Miniature Aircraft Combat
Association’s (MACA) Top 20 and was the
Control Line Overall Category Champion in
1998.
In addition to active competition,
Krystal is caught up in the AMA History
Program, an effort to gather and publish
biographies of aeromodelers to preserve
their history for future generations.
It’s not all been work and competition.
Krystal and her father once tried to build an
airplane using a water bottle just to see if it
would fly. “It was a lot of fun trying to
figure out what needed to be done so that it
would fly in a straight line and not do
continuous figure eights. At least I didn’t
have to worry about getting dizzy.”
We at AMA wish you the best at the
University of Arkansas.
Carl Johann Engel
Carl Engle, from Clear Lake,
Wisconsin, is the recipient of a $1,000 Sig
award. At the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology he plans to major in aerospace
engineering and possibly add a second
major in mechanical engineering.
Carl was the valedictorian of his class
and was named Outstanding Student at
Clear Lake High School. Carl was named
one of five
Northwest
Educators’
Outstanding
Students.
Active in
athletics, Carl
was the varsity
football
captain his
junior and
senior years,
lettered in
hockey and
baseball, and
was named his school’s Wisconsin
Interscholastic Athletic Association’s male
scholar-athlete. He was in the school’s
concert and jazz bands, was nominated to
attend Badger Boys State, and was on the
school’s quiz bowl team. He participated
in Student-to-Student, a peer-advising
group that raises funds for needy families,
those in assisted living, and accident
victims.
Carl is most proud of his involvement
in Destination ImagiNation (DI). A
creative problem-solving organization, DI
offers competitions in various areas. His
team competed in the structure problem
where teams design and build a
lightweight structure that is tested for its
weight-bearing ability.
Carl’s team collected four consecutive
state championships and two world
championships. In 2000, Carl’s structure,
built from pasta and glue, weighed a mere
59 grams (roughly 2 ounces) and held 650
pounds. The 2002 entry was built with
balsa and Japanese tissue paper, weighed
6.8 grams, and held 445 pounds.
He participated in Science Olympiad
and the Wright Stuff, building an Indoor
Rubber duration aircraft within prescribed
specifications that won the state title in
2003.
“I have been interested in aviation as
long as I can remember,” wrote Carl.
Following a succession of tissue-and-balsa
airplanes, then Control Line models, he
had a chance to fly a friend’s RC aircraft
and was hooked. He received a Great
Planes ARF for his 12th birthday and had
it ready to go by spring of 1997.
By his third solo flight Carl was ready
to move up. This has meant a Sig Four-
Star 40 and a Sig Hog-Bipe that won
Honorable Mention in a Model Airplane
News color-scheme contest.
Carl has built two Lanier Shrikes and a
Diamond Dust. He has experimented with
rocket assist on the Shrike, creating an
electronic ignition for the rocket engine.
He managed several successful flights
before losing a wing in midair. Carl has
built a number of fun-fly aircraft including
the Scale Aerobatics models Great Planes
Giles 202 and a D&L Edge 40.
“I have built and flown over a dozen
RC aircraft of nearly all types including a
helicopter,” wrote Carl, but an expensive
hobby needs a source of funding. Carl and
a friend started a lawn-care business, The
Lawn Hackers. They started with a
borrowed push mower, a trimmer, and a
single lawn.
The friend moved away and Carl took
over the business and expanded. He
purchased a riding mower and push
mower, built a small trailer for the back of
the riding mower to transport the
equipment and the push mower. When he
got his driver’s license, Carl bought a
trailer so he didn’t have to drive the mower
through town.
“It has been a great experience being
self-employed and owning a business. It
has taught me responsibility, how to
handle income and expenses, as well as
many other things.”
With the exception of Christmas and
birthday presents, Carl has purchased all of
his RC aircraft and equipment himself with
income from the lawn-care business and
working as a youth hockey referee during
the winter months.
Congratulations Carl, and good luck.
Attention AMA
Clubs:
YES Grant Deadline
January 1, 2004
The AMA Youth Education
Stipend (YES) Grant program,
administered by the Education
Committee, awards one-time,
$500 grants to AMA clubs for
the purpose of aiding
introductory modeling
programs.
For the guidelines and an
application, visit
www.buildandfly.com or
contact April Hathaway:
(765) 287-1256, ext. 515;
[email protected].
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