personal profiles

Rob Sherratt I started with my first r/c heli 2 years ago - a Baron GS Alpha with a Kalt 22cc petrol engine. That was a sluggish beast to fly but I struggled through and only crashed a few times - the worst was when the old Kalt engine shed its contact breaker assembly which then smashed through the crankcase, splitting the engine. Quite a spectacular crash and a pile of bits which I exported to another GS Alpha owner in the USA who was glad for them. Anyway, it inspired me to get a better engine and helicopter and that's when I bought the Youngblood Futura SE. I converted it to take a gas/petrol engine - this time the Hanson Zenoah 23cc 3.0 HP engine. Dave Brian (writer for BMFA) helped me with lots of hints and advice since he'd done this before. Needed a few different gears and pulleys (all supplied by Robbe) to get the engine speed right, but now it's great. There's a lot more information on this Futura Gasser conversion which Mark Kiner kindly published for me - take a look at the pages "Gear Ratio Calculation" and the two "Futura Gasser" sections on http://rcplanet.com/rotorhead/. It flies like it's rocket-engine-powered. Probably would be a show winner heli if I could fly it better than I do! Rob then provided details of his current heli project, which I've put on the picture gallery page. He continues: I'm a bit of an eccentric really - I play keyboards in a church rock band as my other "hobby", and this and the helicopters give me an "escape" from the stresses of managing software development projects in my day job. I'm married to Carole and have three children - Sarah (9) who's learning to fly r/c aeroplanes (sad isn't it?) and Ian (12) and Paul (15). I enjoy attending helicopter fly-ins and usually try to make a fool of myself in front of the experts, but they love me really! If anyone wants to get in touch any time, maybe come down for the Felixstowe Show each summer, or just call in for a friendly fly together, please drop me a mail to; rob.sherratt@lineone.net.	Jim Webb I am a few years older than Reg (which means Jim is in excess of 62!) and also retired. I'm coming up on my 3rd wedding anniversary with my wife Joan of my third marriage. My previous two wives are deceased, Jean at 14 years and Betty at 24 years. Between Betty and I we had five children, three survive, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. I consider myself a lucky individual. During the Korean war, I served alongside the 1st British Commonwealth in South Korea along with some chaps of the 3rd British Commandos. I started out in my engineering career at Piasecki Helicopter and worked on the H-16, 21, HUP, CH-46 and 47 and the V-22. I was called back to Boeing Helicopters a year ago to work on documentation on the RAF CH-47 contract. I am a member of the Valley Forge Signal Seekers r/c club that has been in existence for over forty years and flies at Valley Forge Park near Philadelphia - new rules, all new engines cannot exceed 95db. My forte is scratch- building antique models of the 30s era. I have 2 Quaker Flashes, wingspan 54" and 84", Lanzo Bomber, Cabin Playboy, 2 Piper Cubs and assorted oddball aircraft. I fly both electric and gas. My home is opposite a public park where I can so far fly my electric Lazy Bee. I still build rubber-powered models but no freeflights - too built-up to risk losing a model. Since my retirement, I'm more productive than ever - no more reports or dog and pony shows to put on. JWebb71561@aol.com
Sounds a real nice chap, doesn't he? And Rob, how about sending us a picture of young Sarah in action with her r/c 'plane?	Jim also sent some interesting information about his flying club - it's on the new club scene page.
I received an e-mail from a gent signing himself EeTwoDeeYah, asking about my PC-made decals (all questions answered on the plane talk page). Since he asked me if "Reg" was really my name, I dared to ask him about his and invited him to send in a profile so we could get to know more about him. So, meet EeTwoDeeYah, otherwise known as
Joey Anderson I am not from your neck of the woods (i.e., the UK) but I did grow up near you across the North Sea. I was born in Indonesia and came to Holland in 1950, left for USA in 1960, lived and worked in the US, Germany and Switzerland. Now trying to "settle down" in Utah, where I have all the space I want to fly r/c planes. Literally miles and miles of Salt Flats (around salt Lake City) without one crummy "balsa eating" tree. Once an AeroSpace engineer, working with NASA and also with the commercial aerospace industry, but now just "moving columns" - I am a systems programmer now. Not much aerospace activity here. EeTwoDeeYah, when phonetically pronounced, makes it a word for "That is it" in the Malayan language. It is the name I gave my Consulting business. My e-mail name of Amerindo comes from American Indonesian. amerindo@worldnet.att.net

Rob Sherratt

Jim Webb

Joey Anderson