District XI
SRAC memorial for Herschel Carter
Snohomish Radio Aero Club (SRAC) lost one of its oldest members on April 14, 2011. Herschel Carter, a 50-plus-year member of AMA and SRAC, was one of the original owners of the SRAC flying field.
He was flying regularly until he had a heart attack shortly before Thanksgiving 2010. He loved to chat by telephone with his friends at SRAC while he was confined in the hospital and at home following his illness.
At the request of Cynthia Carter, Herschel’s wife, Paul Cole — a contemporary member of SRAC and Herschel’s good friend — hosted a memorial fly-in at the SRAC field. Paul asked for and eagerly received the assistance of fellow SRAC members and friends of Herschel:
- Rad Russell
- Chris Christensen
- Jeff Jensen
- Chris Robinson
- Bill Zirbel
A short period of sharing followed, with memories of Herschel’s love of flying his models, including stories of flying with single-channel escapements and tube receivers at Arlington Airport, and stories of him dragging his kids to the SRAC field to get them excited about his passion.
The six pilots then put their airplanes into the air with Herschel’s ashes to spread over the field. Led by Paul Cole, each pilot flew by and made an inverted pass. Everyone at the memorial service considered it a great tribute to the memory of this friend and fellow SRAC member.
After landing their models, the pilots joined family and other SRAC members for a lunch hosted by Paul Cole. The event dramatically demonstrated the camaraderie found among aircraft modelers and SRAC members.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
