Dixie's Dawn Patrol

Chino Air Museum

This Corsair is the real deal!

 

 

 

Craig, Shawn and Dave visited the Chino Air Museum in January, 2015 to check out the planes and watch the real Corsair fly.  What a thrill!!

Southern Utah Scale Squadron Membership Application 2015

 

 

 

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2013 Christmas Party

“If you were born without wings, 

do nothing to prevent them from growing.” - Coco Chanel

Southern Utah Scale Squadron 

2013 Annual Christmas Party

and 

A THANK YOU! 

To all of our Family & Friends that have 

done nothing to prevent our wings from growing

Thank you "Cougar Jack" for the pictures!

"Cougar Jack" Flying in the Snow

 "Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while".  ~Kin Hubbard

And Jack has given us something to talk about! 

Tried a little cross-country work on skis after the BIG SNOW.  

Had a little trouble taking off, but oh, that glide!

 

Jack McLellan "Cougar Jack"

Like many of us, a 5-cent balsa glider was my first airplane.  After paper planes, Comet kits, and Cox .049 free flight, at age 12 I bought an O&R .23 glo engine and built a Piper Vagabond, my first control line plane.  An O&R .29 and many kits and plans-built models followed, all covered with silkspan and coat after coat of dope.  (I still have the O&R. 23 and .29 and two Cox .049 engines from 1948-1949.)

We moved to a farm when I was 14, and work, girls and cars overshadowed airplanes.  Fast forward through Univ. of Colo., Army, gold mining, Tech Writing Dir., M.S. and M/NLP degrees, HR Dir. of two health groups, and 26 years with Intermountain Health Care.  I retired in 2001 as an Asst. Administrator.

Over the years I was involved in a number of outdoor activities, including sky diving, white water kayaking, professional river running, advanced scuba diving (search & rescue certified), and motorcycling (300,000+ miles on BMW bikes).  I was a mountaineering instructor for 10 years and a charter member of the Salt Lake Alpine Rescue Group.

I am a private pilot and owned a Cessna l72, two C-150s and a C-182.  My last plane was a Van's RV-4, an all-metal sports aerobatic home-built beauty.  Other planes I have flown include a Bonanza, Citabria 7ECA, Stearman, Mooney M-20, Van's RV-6, Zenith 701 and Fisher Dakota Hawk.  I also have about 40 hours aerobatic training in a Super Decathalon, Mudro Cap-10, and a Great Lakes Biplane.  Last Spring I got to take the stick on an AT-6.  (Oh, and two hours in an F-16 3-axis simulator at Hill AFB!.)

Glaucoma in my right eye took me out of full-scale flying a few years ago.  I moped around awhile, but soon drifted back into building and flying model airplanes --- after only a 60-year break.  I found a few changes had taken place.  Radio control was just a dream in 1949.  I flew and crashed and rebuilt until I got the basics down.  I'm still learning and crashing, but having lot of fun.

My favorite planes right now are an electric powered 1/4-scale RV-4, and a clipped-wing Taylorcraft, 80-in. wingspan, powered by a Zenoah ZP26 gas engine.  Current projects include a plans-built 6-ft. wingspan powered glider and rebuilding my Rhapsody Biplane.  Christmas will bring me a DLE-35 engine, and later something in a very large box to put it on.

While we all love our warbirds, I hope we will also continue to embrace the great variety of scale civilian planes -- especially those classics from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Many thanks to my wife Eva for her enduring support, and to all of you in the Squadron, especially Walt, for your assistance and help.  I feel fortunate to be a part of our group.

Dave Thompson "Goose"

Gee Bee R-2

Dave Thompson “Goose”

I’ve always loved airplanes.  As a small boy I would build balsa gliders and plastic model planes of all types. 

The Gee Bee R-2 has long been my favorite.  I was introduced to Radio Control flying by my best friend.  I started building and flying R C in 1987.  Started with a Butterfly kit and moved to the Scat Cat racing plane.  Sport planes are fine, but I found that “Scale Birds” really excited me.  The research, then the build is great fun.  Flying R C has completed the circle for me.  I finally was able to build and fly my most favorite airplane.

My love of wings in the air has been passed on to my children and now my grandchildren.

I am the father of four daughters.  Some thought I’d learn to shop the “Barbie” aisle at the store, but I raised them at the flying field.  Thank God for porta-potties.