Ralph “Bud” Tenny 1931–2005
Indoor free flight lost one of its giants when Ralph “Bud” Tenny died peacefully in his home on October 7, 2005. Bud was a master craftsman, designer, writer, and tireless supporter of indoor free flight. He leaves behind Jody, his wife of 42 years, two children, one grandchild, and one great-granddaughter.
- Born: 1931, Kansas City, Kansas
- Spouse: Jody (married 42 years)
- Survivors: two children, one grandchild, one great-granddaughter
Biography
Bud attended high school in Iola, Kansas. After graduation in 1949 he joined the Air Force and served as an aircraft engine instructor during the Korean War. After four years of military service, Bud moved to the Dallas, Texas area and studied engineering at Arlington State College and Southern Methodist University. His engineering and technical career spanned four decades, mostly with Rockwell, Texas Instruments, and his own computer company.
Modeling and organizational contributions
Bud’s modeling résumé is vast. At age 17 he was active in C/L Combat and Stunt. He attended his first indoor contest at the Kansas City Memorial Auditorium, where he built a lightened Jetco ROG—his first indoor model—and the rest is history.
By the time the 1960 AMA Nats came to Dallas, Bud was one of indoor’s top supporters. The indoor events were held at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth and generated much publicity. This provided a springboard for Bud to launch the National Indoor Model Airplane Society (NIMAS)—AMA’s first Special Interest Group (SIG).
At this time Bud began publishing Indoor News and Views—the first indoor-only newsletter and the voice of NIMAS. He published it until the mid-1980s when a number of replacement editors offered to step in. Indoor News and Views continues to this day, thanks to the seed Bud planted.
Bud was heavily involved with the F1D indoor team selection program in the early 1960s. He managed three team selection cycles and was Team Manager three times, including for the second-place U.S. team at the 1966 World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.
In the mid-1960s, Bud served as Chairman of the Free Flight Contest Board. When the Indoor Contest Board (ICB) was formed in the late 1970s, AMA immediately approached Bud to chair it and to handpick the district representatives. Under his leadership the ICB membership remained basically unchanged for 25 years.
Bud wrote the “FF Indoor” column for Model Aviation (MA) from its first issue in 1975 through 2004, when his health finally precluded continued contributions. His columns were filled with practical solutions, detailed advice, and excellent photographs. They regularly contained information on indoor sites and contest dates around the country and the world with a list of contact names. Bud’s community-building kept modelers informed and active. “U.S. indoor modeling is held together by Bud Tenny!” proclaimed the National Free Flight Society when Bud was elected to its Hall of Fame in 1979.
Legacy
Bud’s impact on indoor free flight is immeasurable. He was one of the first U.S. observers of the dominant European F1D fliers of the 1960s and brought that intelligence back to U.S. fliers through the pages of Indoor News and Views. The results were astounding: of the 19 F1D World Championships held between 1968 and 2004, U.S. teams won 10 team golds and an incredible 15 individual golds. There was never a year during that period that the U.S. did not have at least one top-three finish.
Indoor free flight had no greater mentor than Bud Tenny. I met him in 1985 as a fidgety and inexperienced 12-year-old attending my first indoor contest in Bedford, Texas. I remember Bud’s beautifully built models and the extreme care he took in handling them. In contrast, my models were crude and overweight, but with Bud’s help we got them to fly. I went on to learn most of what I know about indoor flying from Bud and a handful of other Bedford regulars. Thanks to Bud I continue to enjoy flying indoor to this day, although I will never approach his patience or attention to detail.
Jerry Murphy, one of Bud’s oldest flying friends and currently Chairman of the Free Flight Contest Board, summed up Bud’s contributions this way: “I believe the fact that the U.S.A. has been such a powerful force in indoor FAI competition is a tribute to Bud’s work in building a strong community of indoor fliers.”
A strong community we are, indeed. Thanks, Bud.
—Don DeLoach
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
