WHY THE SENIOR PATTERN ASSOCIATION

I have been asked a thousand times why, and how I started the SPA. I think the best way to answer this question is to give you a little background as to who I am. My name is Mickey Walker, I am a lifetime modeler, I have competed in free flight, control line, RC Pattern, sail planes, helicopters, pylon racing, and most any thing else that flies.

My first pattern contest was in 1953, flying home made radio from a magazine article. From this point on I was hooked on R-C. From 1953 on I used every kind of RC equipment available, single channel reeds and all the early proportional equipment. In 1978 I grew tired of the way pattern was going, too complicated and expensive. In 1979 all my friends had given up pattern for the same reason. So I flew in my last pattern contest in 1979. During the summer of 1990 I began to think about the fun we had in the sixties and seventies flying pattern. I also play golf, so I got the bright idea of why not a Senior Pattern Association, like the Senior golf association. So I started to put things on paper, and it was simple since I had been there, to make a set of rules, by laws etc. In March of 1991 I called a meeting of my old friends and they were very excited about it so we formed the association, in March 1991. The first Masters Championships were held in October 1991.

From this point on we have continued to grow.  We try to keep things as simple as possible, and keep things as they were in the sixties and seventies.