He guys,
I have been lurking here a while (I made myself a promise not to
spend time posting here until I got caught up with some of my other
duties such as getting a USIC CD and getting the National Cup points
results completed), so anyway now I can finally say hello.
I have been following the glider stuff, and Kurt I like your
methods. Using the car as a wind tunnel ala-Macready, good stuff!
Do you have any video? Also your advice of build a bit stiffer than
you need, lighten till it blows up, then go back one step is spot
on.
Anyway, as most of you know I am primarily a glider chucker like
Kurt. I also fly scale and duration, and have flown F1D,
Intermediate Stick, EZB, LPP etc etc. I got my competitive start at
the 1987 USIC in Johnson City with a rather impressive class
of "rookies" long before the Science Olympiad craze. Don Slusarczyk,
Don Deloach and I all competed as youngsters at USIC in Tennessee and
the Lincoln Nats in Nebraska that same year.
I was introduced to indoor by a man named Ed Burke, Lord rest his
soul. If you ever met Ed you know that few finer individuals have
ever come along. Ed was the very first Pilot US-Air ever employed,
and it was his retirement in the mid 80-s that brought him back to
Indoor.
I graduated from Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics in 1993 with an
Airframe and Powerplant License from the FAA. I went right back to
school after that thanks to a slumping airline business and got a
bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering. I am now employed at
Norse Dairy Systems in Columbus Ohio, where I design Ice Cream
novelty manufacturing equipment. Ice cream is a much sweeter' gig
than the aerospace field for job stability.
Lately I have been roped into doing more paperwork for model flying
than building as the Indoor Committee chairman for the National Free
Flight Society. It is not at all my favorite part of the hobby, but
something that gives me some satisfaction (and some frustration)
trying to help the hobby that has helped me so much.
Outside of work and modeling the biggest news is that I will be a
father sometime in early February, as we are expecting our first
baby. This is without doubt exciting news for my wife Sharla and I.
We do not know what we are having, but I am sure I will try to sneak
in an 'off topic' post or picture about it. I know Mark, I will do
it on the 'Yahoos' list:)
I also enjoy working on old Fords. I am currently trying
(desperately before February!) to finish up a four-year front-end
restoration on a 71 Boss 351 Mustang. I have replaced everything
(including half of the sheetmetal) in front of the firewall. My
father was a bodyman by trade and model builder for fun, so I have
inherited his interests. In talking with Jim Lewis recently we both
realized that most glider guys seem to also enjoy refinishing wood or
cars. It must be some sort of gene disorder that makes us want to run
after stuff with a block of sandpaper in our hand in a magical never-
ending quest for perfection.
Oh well enough for now. Keep the glider talk going, as I hear there
is a Category II glider throwdown in Kent this spring. Rumor has
Deloach and Romash making the trip in from Colorado...
~Jim Buxton
~Columbus Ohio
Received on Tue Dec 20 2005 - 13:48:43 CET
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:44 CET