These men comprise the Board of Directors of the Senior Pattern Association.
Click a name to email any of them.
You'll find biographical information for these folks
below the table.
BoD Biographies |
Jeff Owens, President
Aviation has been a part of my life for as long as I
can remember. I started by building plastic models
and then balsawood free flight models. Later came
U-control models which kindled an interest in
precision aerobatics. I started flying RC in 1970.
My instructor flew pattern with a bright red Banshee
and I knew that one day I wanted to fly like he did.
I moved to Tallahassee in 1976, where I am a Physics
Professor at Florida State University. In the late
70s many club members flew pattern and I built a
Cutlass Supreme as my first pattern plane. My first
contest was the 1979 Kirkland Memorial in Fort
Walton Beach. I was hooked! I progressed through the
classes and was flying FAI by 1985. I continued
through the Turnaround transition and flew contests
until 1990. I participated in the 1989 FAI Team
Selection competition in Pensacola.
I have many fond memories of flying in pattern
contests. This led me to join SPA one year at the
Perry, Georgia swap meet. In 2007 I started SPA
competition with a new Cutlass Supreme. Since then I
have flown a Compensator, a Dirty Birdy, and I now
have a Curare. I also have a Kwik Fli III for
Antique contests. And I have a plans-built Deception
that is nearly complete. Plus I have several other
projects in various stages of completion (Daddy
Rabbit, another Deception, a Bootlegger, two
Compensator kits, a Deception kit, and a Dirty Birdy
kit.) When I joined SPA I started in Sportsman,
moved to Expert the next year, and now fly Senior
Expert. I have enjoyed the high level of camaraderie
and friendship that SPA competition provides and I
always look forward to the next contest!
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Frank Cox, Vice President
My
name is Frank Cox and I am a RC hobbyist. I am
retired, will soon be 69 years old and I love
airplanes.
I started flying model airplanes when a Sterling
Ring Master cost $3.95 and a McCoy Red Head cost
$8.95. We didn't have CA glue or Epoxy, but we did
have Ambroid and Elmer's Wood glue. There was no
Monokote, just silk span and dope. There was no
internet to get help from, but we did have a
neighborhood Hobby Shop that had a wealth of
information. The only toy ARF was the Cox .049
plastic P-51 that you did more slinging than flying.
However, the .049 made great tether car engines.
There were no foamy toys at the hobby shop. We
actually had to build an airplane before we crashed
it, not assemble one before we flew it. Did you know
that there is an ARF on the market that DOES NOT
require glue to assemble it? (And I 'm not talking
about a foamy toy.)
I am not a great pilot, but I love to fly
and I love to
build even more. I love going to field and talking
about airplanes. I guess the day of going to the
field and seeing a large variety of different planes
is gone. All you see today is the same ARF and the
guys bragging about how many ARFs they have. What
happen to the day when guys bragged about how they
built their latest creation and the techniques they
devised in building it?
I started flying RC in late 1972 and learned to take
off and land over the course of one weekend. After
that I couldn't wait to get to the field every
chance I could to fly my RC Nobler. I bought a
Jenson Ugly Stik and it took me about a week to
build it and get it into the air.
The club I belonged to, the Fort Worth Thunderbirds,
held a pattern event and of course I volunteered to
help. It was my first event to attend and I was
amazed. Over 60 pilots, three flight lines, and
hundreds of airplanes. After looking at all those
planes with the double taper wings and sleek
fuselages I had to have one. I went to Ed
Alexander's Hobby shop and bought a Kaos, the first
of many. I flew in A-Novice and progressed up to
Sportsman. Then I quit. I got tired of having to go
home each night to repair and or build airplanes. I
got tired of having to go to the field and
practicing. Flying pattern became a third job for
me. I already worked full time, and attended
college. Every spare minute was dedicated to pattern
flying. I decided that I just wanted to enjoy my
hobby. After all, I had been building and flying
since I was 8. I went back to building fun
airplanes, some of which were my own design.
I really enjoy going to a Senior Pattern event. It's
a place you can get lost in looking at old airplanes
and talking to people that actually know airplanes.
It's a great organization with a lot of great guys
and a lot of history.
I have a friend and we've been flying together since
our early twenties. We were at the field not long
ago and I got to thinking of a group of men that
came to the field together and flew as a group. They
were called, “The Over The Hill Gang”. I looked at
my friend, who is exactly the same age as I and
asked, “Gary, do you remember back in 73 the Over
the Hill Gang?” He looked at me with a smile on his
face and said, “Yeah! I remember them” I returned
the smile and said, “I think we're the Over the Hill
Gang now. “ We both looked around the field at all
the younger guys, laughed out loud, then went back to
watching the airplanes buzzing around the sky and
talking about airplanes.
As Vice-President I want to continue in being an
asset in it's growth and spread in popularity of
SPA. I think we can make Old Time pattern flying
Great Again. I got tired of spending lots of money
trying to keep up with the big boys of pattern years
ago. I am sure there are many guys flying AMA
pattern right now that feel the same way. Like I
said, I am in this hobby to have a good time, not
spend a lot of money trying to keep up
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Jim Johns - Secretary, Treasurer & Webmaster
I
messed with control line a bit in high school, but
never really got hooked. Much of that can be blamed
on a miserable McCoy 35 that simply refused to
cooperate with me. My mother yelled at me more than
once about the smell of AeroGloss dope rising from
our basement as well as on my clothes.
My first experience
with R/C came in 1970 when I was stationed at
Tachikawa AB, Japan with the U. S. Air Force. I
assembled a Pilot ARF trainer with an Enya 19
and a 4-channel Futaba radio. Back in those
days, Futaba radios were unknown in the States,
as they were sold under the MRC brand.
Unfortunately, the plane only made one flight
due to my not asking for help from an
experienced modeler. It made very firm contact
with Mother Earth and was never rebuilt. All of
my equipment was lost during the return move
from Japan, so I didn't do any more with R/C
until I arrived at Myrtle Beach AFB, SC, in 1973
and joined a local club. I flew a lot during the
next few years, progressing from trainers to low
wing sport ships.
After competing my
service in the USAF in 1975, I attended Kansas State
University and I became a charter member of the
Riley County Fliers while there. In 1977 I moved to Wichita, KS
to work at Beech Aircraft. I didn't fly RC much at
first because I was spending a lot of time and
money learning to fly full scale aircraft. I
eventually completed my training with
commercial, instrument and flight instructor
ratings in single and multi engine aircraft. I
worked full time as a flight instructor for
about a year. I loved teaching others the joy of
flight, and it was one of the best times of my
life. Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately - the
low pay led me to a job at Boeing Aircraft. That
job turned into a 26-year career and I spent my
final 13 years as a Computer Systems Analyst
doing database, web and PC programming.
During
that time I met and married the love of my life,
my sweet and wonderful wife Bobbie. She has
always supported me in all my work and hobby
endeavors and she still goes to every contest
with me. In 2016 she even started being my "call
girl" for the first time ever. She also takes
almost al of the phots at our SPA East contests. She is the light
of my life and I have absolutely no idea how I'd
get along without her.
I joined the
Wichita RC Club on 1977. Wichita local Ken
Krehbiel got me interested in pattern in the
early 1980s, and I began competing in 1982. My
first go round in pattern started in the
"ballistic pattern" days and ended during the
turnaround era following the 2000 AMA pattern
season. I competed in contests
throughout Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and
Nebraska, and I flew in the 1987 AMA Nats in
Lincoln, NE, finishing 14th in Advanced. I CD'd
the Wichita, KS, pattern contest for many years
during the ‘80s and '90s, officiated at several
AMA Nats, judged at the 1997 Masters F3A Team
Selection Tournament and worked at the
1999 FAI F3A World Championships in Pensacola,
FL, with Dennis Hunt.
I
flew a series of great airplanes during those
years, starting with a OS 40 FSR
powered Underdog in Novice and ending with a Bully
(Webra) 120 LS powered 2-meter OMS in Masters
and F3A . I won my
first Sportsman contest at the end of the 1983
season flying the orange and white Bridi
Deception which was powered by a
piped OS 61VF ABC. When we cleaned out our
Wichita home for our move to Alabama, I got rid
of most of my old trophies. I did, however, keep
that one and a few others that have special
significance to me.
Life got in the way of
R/C after the 2000 season and I quit flying
completely. Bobbie & I retired and moved to northeast Alabama in 2011
following our retirement. Bruce Underwood got me
started on my SPA journey in 2013 when he gifted
me with a
wonderful Daddy Rabbit 1. I joined the SPA and
competed for the first time in ages at Knoxville
only 3 days after picking up the DR1 from Bruce.
My thumbs were very rusty, but I was hooked on
pattern all over again. I flew Novice and
Sportsman in 2013 and was fortunate enough to
capture the East Points Championship in
Sportsman class that year. I wrote an
instruction manual for the PACSS scoring program
used at SPA contests after the 2013 season.
I was appointed the SPA Webmaster in
January, 2015 and assumed the duties of
Secretary/Treasurer in January, 2020. My current
SPA hanger houses 2 Deceptions, a Daddy Rabbit
and a UFO, all powered by OS 65AX engines. All
four of these planes were built for me by Terry
Boston, a true craftsman.
I love SPA because of
all the friendships I've developed. SPA members
are some of the friendliest, most helpful
folks you'll ever meet. I look forward to seeing
my old friends and making many new ones in the
coming years. Stop by an SPA contest and say Hi.
I'm usually easy to find due to my petite build,
plus the fact that I am often sitting at or
around the scoring computer.
|
Terry Boston, Elected East District
My
interest in airplanes started when I was in
elementary school. I had a cousin that flew C/L and
I was fascinated by what he was able to do. My
parents knew I enjoyed watching him so for Christmas
they surprised me with a Cox .049 C/L model. From
then on, I was hooked and continued to fly C/L
whenever I had a chance!
Starting my career as a machinist, getting
married, and raising a family took priority over my
flying interest for a while.
Around 1978 I started flying again and
gained interest in flying R/C. It wasn’t too long
after that a fellow club member and I volunteered to
work at the 1980 NATS on the pattern event. The
following year, I started competing in contests in
Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Michigan. I have
also competed in IMAC and Scale events along with
competing in and judging at a number of NATS.
As I have grown older, I no longer enjoy
flying the bigger models. In 2018, while looking at
airplane model magazines, I happened to find the
site for SPA. After researching the site, I knew I
had found what I was looking for. That's when I
started flying in SPA contests. The SPA fellowships
that are made are one thing that I really enjoy. The
flyers enjoy talking about old airplanes and helping
each other. I aways look forward to the next contest
and seeing everyone again.
Along with flying, I love building all types
of model airplanes; especially models from scratch.
If the weather is not good for flying, you will find
me most days in my workshop!
Being asked to serve as the Elected East
District representative for the SPA board is an
honor. Hopefully I will be an asset to encourage
folks to join and enjoy flying old time airplanes
again as I do.
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Chris Berardi, Elected West District
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Phil Spelt, Appointed At Large
I built my first model airplane in 1942 or ‘43. I
was five years old, had a dime in my pocket, and
walked over the hill to downtown Staunton, VA, to
the “dime store”. I bought a 10-cent
stick-and-tissue model. I already had an Xacto knife
(yes, at age 5!!). I was already a “true man” –
tossed the plans and instructions aside and built a
box fuselage with flat flying surfaces. After
covering them with tissue and putting a glob of clay
on the nose, I went into the back yard and threw the
“plane” up into the air. It “soared” up about 30
feet, flipped over through a perfect uncontrolled
stall turn, and came straight down, shearing a
“wing” off on the wire clothesline. Of course, I was
devastated, so my father bought another kit, this
time of the P-40. We built it together, and covered
the fuse with silver tissue and the wings with Olive
Drab. It actually looked like a P-40, and I was off
on a lifetime of aircraft modeling.
When I was in 8th grade, I assembled an OK Cub 049,
and got it to run. I put it in the nose of a lime
green Minnow racer – screwed (not bolted) directly
to balsa. Needless to say, it never flew. Then,
later on in high school, in Gary, IN, I built a
control line Baby Barnstormer, with that same OK Cub
049 up front. I flew that plane for a couple of
years. In college, a friend and I flew several of
the Sterling Models profile control-liners. At that
time, we were using McCoy and K & B 19’s and 29’s. I
managed to build another Sterling C/L plane (a
Flyin’ Fool bipe) while overseas in the Army, but
never got to fly it.
My first successful R/C plane (in 1977) was called a
Paper Cub. It was white with red trim Mylar bonded
to corrugated cardboard, looking a bit like a
Tri-Pacer. I had built several standard trainers in
’77, but they never lasted more than a few seconds
in the air. The great thing about the Paper Cub was
that, after a crash, I could just push the cardboard
back in place and tape it up as needed. The engine
was a Fox .45. In the late winter of 1976-77, I had
built a 3-channel Heathkit single-stick R/C system –
the first of 3 Heathkit’s I eventually built. Since
many of the Heathkit parts came from Kraft, I
graduated to Kraft after that. Through the summer of
1977, I taught myself to fly, with no instructor and
no simulator. Thank heavens for that durable Paper
Cub!
I still have 3 Kraft systems, one of which is his
Signature Series, 1983 vintage. I had gotten it
narrow-banded in the late 1980’s, I believe; then in
2016, I sent it to Cal Orr to have it converted to
2.4GHz. It is now a Kraft (Spektrum) 7-channel
spread spectrum system. My first real pattern plane
was a 40-sized ship (forgotten the name) which used
an OS 40 or 46. It had Kraft retracts in
tail-dragger configuration, and used that 1983 Kraft
radio. I now have one of Dennis Hunt’s Capri 40
kits, which is a shrunken version of the
Compensator. I will use the Kraft SS system in that
plane, along with the Kraft retracts, to recreate my
first pattern plane. In addition to pattern, my R/C
interests are scale, giant scale, and float planes.
The Good Lord put me on this earth to build a
certain number of airplanes. Right now, I have so
many that I will live forever…
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Duane Wilson, Newsletter Editor
As
newsletter editor I am honored to be a member of
your SPA Board of Directors. Feel free to contact me
anytime about anything.
As a bit of background into my R/C modeling
"career", my family moved close to the site of the
Radio Control Club of Detroit, (RCCD) when I was a
teenager. My Dad joined the club and we both got
involved. The RCCD held a "Tournament of
Champions"--type event each year called the Great
Lakes Invitational that drew the very best in
pattern pilots. This was the mid 60's when pattern
was just coming in to its own. As an impressionable
kid, I saw all the pioneering greats of RC compete,
and it left a lasting impression.
Later in the mid-80s when I flew AMA NOVICE, all of
the planes I flew eventually turned out to be
"vintage" pattern planes, (designed before 1-1-76).
I had a mentor, and he'd serve as my teacher.
Eventually we'd travel to contests in the
Michigan/Chicago area. I finally won a single NOVICE
contest before relocating to Asheville, NC in 1986.
I had a baby son back then, and ended up dropping
out of modeling for 17 years, until I eventually
"rediscovered" R/C through a friend. I naturally
gravitated back to the same planes I enjoyed flying
earlier. As I mentioned earlier, by now these planes
were all vintage "classics". SPA was exactly what I
was looking for--a low-key, yet competitive outlet,
(that was fun with great guys flying), where I could
fly with like-minded people. Each time I flew I
would work on the maneuvers, (giving purpose to each
flight), and I really enjoyed the spirit of
camaraderie I found in SPA.
To me there is nothing more beautiful to watch than
a well executed aerobatic maneuver. I can't even fly
a trainer without wanting to do aerobatics, so I
guess I'm in the right R/C niche. I've been a part
of SPA since my first contest flying a Taurus back
in 2005. After five years in NOVICE, I moved on to
SPORTSMAN, which is where I feel comfortable, and
where I'll most likely stay. I don't have the
greatest hand to eye coordination in the world, nor
am I the greatest pilot, (nor am I ever likely to
be), but I enjoy the "SPA Experience".
When
I joined SPA I wanted to tell others about the great
time I was having, so I wrote an article for Model
Aviation magazine which appeared in May 2006. Since
then I've written four more for MA, most dealing
with SPA or some other facet of vintage R/C, and the
planes and people that made vintage R/C modeling
what it is now. One such article was on Ed
Kazmirski's Simla.
Click
here to read it.
I was also instrumental in the re-introduction of
the World Models "Intruder" ARF--a couple of us in
SPA worked with the manufacturer over a period of
several months to produce a "new and improved"
Intruder--still a very good and reasonably priced
entry into vintage pattern that is a quick
alternative to building. Since then there have been
several other SPA-legal ARFs introduced, so things
have never been easier for the new SPA pilot.
As newsletter editor I try to bring to the
membership (six times a year), the best newsletter I
can produce, and something that will hopefully be
both entertaining and informative. I am always
looking for articles and ideas from the membership,
so feel free to suggest a topic or write an
article--I would be more than happy to work with
you.
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