11/16/08

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Forensics II Fall 08

 

 

I have been a RC modeler for approximately 25 years.  In that period of time, I have built more than 30 RC planes of various types.  A portion of these planes, and brief descriptions can be found in my photo gallery.

I was in the Air Force from August of 1975 until my retirement in July 1998.  My assignments included:

Minot, North Dakota 1976-79

Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson Arizona 1979-80

Andersen AFB, Guam 1980-83

Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota 1983-84

Langley AFB, Hampton, Virginia  1984-86

Seoul, Korea 1986-87

Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio 1987-89

Tempelhof Central Airport, Berlin, Germany 1990-93

Bolling AFB, Washington, DC 1993-97

Andrews AFB, Maryland 1997-98

Retired from U.S. Air Force 1 July 1998.

 I currently work for the United States Department of Commerce.

Here is a historical look at my RC modeling experience dating back to the summer of 1979.

 Here the fledgling RC modeler poses with his first RC plane.  This was the Goldberg Falcon 56 MK II.  It was flown with a Futaba FP6FN Radio and had a K&B .40 for power.  This was a great first airplane and I learned to fly in about a month with the assistance of an instructor pilot.  All was well, right up to the point when this plane was "shot down" by a guy in the club turning on his radio on my frequency while I was in the air.  Here are the results.

As you can see with the remains of this plane in my trunk, there was not much left.

So I moved on to the Goldberg Skylark 56, also with a K&B 40 for power.  Great flying plane!

Here I am outside the house posing with the Skylark.  Both the Falcon and the Skylark were originally built and flown while I was assigned to Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona.

In  June of 1980, I was transferred to Andersen AFB on the island of Guam.  What a wonderful place to fly RC aircraft!  Imagine 88 degrees average year round!  Here is an unidentified trainer I had in Guam.

The Great Planes Sportster 40 is a great flying plane!  Here is my Sportster with an OS .40 FSR for power.  Fantastic performance.

Here is the Sportster on takeoff.  Notice those concrete telephone poles in the background!  Hurricane prevention.

I flew at two fields in Guam.  The one where the Sportster was photographed was the main club field.  Here I am with the Sr. Falcon at Northwest Field.  This was an abandoned WW II B-29 base.  Lots of hard surface to fly from!

 

Here's what happens when your radio quits working.  This was a rather spectacular crash, high altitude straight down into the runway.  It was some sort of radio failure, never figured out of if was a battery failure or a receiver failure.

 

I picked up a Pica 1/6 Waco that had been crashed and repaired an flew it.  OS 60FSR for power, great flying plane!

Here is the Waco in flight.

I built (but did not fly) the JEMCO .60 F6F Hellcat in Guam.  Here is the finished plane ready for a mission. Supertigre .60 power.

In 1983 I was transferred to South Dakota then in 1984 to Virginia.  I did not do any building in South Dakota, but in Virginia I built the Great Planes CAP 21 .40.  Interesting plane to land, needed lots of speed!

Here is the Sig Smith Miniplane that I built in Virginia in 1985.  This photograph was taken in Maryland in 1999.  Enya .46 4c for power.  Not enough power for this plane.

 

After a 9 year break from RC (assignment in Berlin then a rather ugly divorce, for stories of some of the crazy things she did click here) I got back into RC.  Here is a Lanier 17% Giles 202, OS .25 FX for power. I moved to Maryland in 1993 and have been here since.  I retired from the Air Force in 1998 and settled in Waldorf, Maryland. September 2000.

 

Here is my first ARF plane, the Kyosho P-51.  OS .46FX power and a fantastic flyer.  June 2000

I also built the Goldberg Sr. Falcon again.  This time with a Magnum .65 FSR ABC for power.  June 2000

The Great Planes Super Sportster .60 was a great build.  Supertigre .60, spring air retracts.  June 2000

A guy at the club crashed this Hanger 9 Superstick.  I rebuilt it and put it back in the air.  July 2000

 

I enjoyed the Pica Waco from Guam so much I rebuilt it in 2002.  Here is the updated Waco, laser cut kit from Pica.  Saito 100 power.  August 2001

 

Here the Waco is on a takeoff at the club field in Brandywine, Maryland.  August 2001


This is a photograph of my shop in Waldorf.  No the shop does not always look like this, I cleaned it up for the photo.

This is the normal state of the shop.  At any given time, I have 2 or 3 projects in the works.  Don't you?

 

I have built the Skyshark F6F to practice techniques for the Jerry bates build.  This plane has been fiber glassed and was painted with Nelson's paints.   May 2003

   Here is my Ultra Stick 120.  G-26 power.  October 2005

 

      89 inch span PT-19.  18 pounds 15 ounces, G-38 power.  May 2006.

 

 

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This site was last updated 11/16/08