RADIO CONTROL AEROBATICS - 2001/05

thIS Month’S column is dedicated to
the US F3A team interviews. The group will
be in Ireland this summer, ready to take on
the world at the F3A World Championships.
Dave Guerin is the team manager.
Here are their answers to my questions.
eric henderson:Who are the US team
members?
Dave guerin: The team is Chip Hyde,
Sean McMurtry, and Jason Shulman. The
backup pilot, should anyone not be
available, is Kirk Gray. Kirk was a member
of the World Championships team at the
last World Championships.

RADIO CONTROL AEROBATICS - 2001/04

As A yOung man, I played a gentle English sport called rugby. As
that same young man, I tried to build a jet turbine (and failed
disastrously). Undeterred, I built Jetex gliders once my father had
forgiven me for almost burning down his workshop.
Within budget constraints, I then dallied in diesel engines and
really got into glow engines. These engines took me from Free Flight
to Control Line (CL) Combat, and eventually into the wonderful
world of Radio Control (RC) flying.
As a much older man with seven children, I had hoped that one or
two of them would follow in my footsteps. “Be careful what you wish
for,” as the old Chinese saying goes.
My eldest daughter is playing rugby for her college in
Massachusetts. How the times have changed! I’m very proud of
her efforts, but I can’t bring myself to share my old rugby
“shanties” with her!

RADIO CONTROL HELICOPTERS - 2001/03

March 2001 113
iT’S aNoThEr great month to enjoy the
hobby of RC (Radio Control) helicopters! I
want to thank all the helicopter pilots—and
prospective pilots—who have written me
about this column. Your input is appreciated.
This column would be even more
enjoyable if you would send me photographs
of your helicopter projects!
Do not send digital files, because Model
Aviation does not accept them yet, and don’t
send a printout; the typical “ink-spitter”
printers output photos that are not
acceptable for publishing.
(Editor’s note: Stay tuned for near-future
changes to this policy.)
Instead, log onto the Internet and send
your files to one of the new vendors that
output continuous-tone photographic prints
from your files. If your original photo is
good, the output will be good.
You might want to order duplicates too,
so your favorite digital photograph can be
saved for a long time. (Inkjet printers are
generally very poor for archival use—the ink
fades very quickly.)

RADIO CONTROL AEROBATICS - 2001/03

IN My FIrst column, I made a brief
reference to the Senior Pattern Association
(SPA). Well, now I know that not only do the
members read this column, but they are very
active in Radio Control (RC) Precision
Aerobatics competitions of their own.
I received a letter from Mickey Walker,
who is a mover and shaker in the world of
SPA. We exchanged a few very enjoyable
phone calls, which resulted in the primary
content for this month’s column.
Mickey wrote:
“I have just finished reading your article in
Model Aviation. I think that maybe you are not
familiar with the Senior Pattern Association. I
am the founder and current president. I have
asked our secretary to send you our regular
new member mail-out. It tells you what we are
all about. I think you will find we cover most
of what you mention in your article.
“We are 10 years old now and have up to
10 contests a year. We have just held our Masters contest in Knoxville;
we had 37 contestants with 12 Novice fliers. At our Atlanta contest this
year, we had 38 contestants with 14 Novice fliers.
“Look over what we send, and if you need any thing else let me
know. I can send you some pictures if you like. We are having a ball
with it. If I can help further just let me know.”
Thank you, Mickey. There is nothing a columnist likes more than
someone writing in. Even more fun is when the person supplies really
good column material.

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