personal profiles

Here's CRAIG TRICKETT

Craig has made several great contributions to ModelFlight over recent weeks and there are some more pictures that he has sent on the photo gallery page this time; now we get the chance to get to know a bit more about him. Sorry about the picture, though - I took it off one of Craig's model photos and is the best I could do; just stand back a few feet and it looks better!

Craig is 32 years old and comes from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. He's married to TINA and his kids all have wings and live on the wall of his recreation room! If he gets mad with one, he can either crash it or sell it, he says, adding "Try that with a kid"! Better not, though, you're not supposed to deal harshly with 'em these days!

Craig's modelling interests lie solely in fixed wing. He tried helicopters last summer, but found that it took too much time away from his first love of planes.

Craig owns and flies a fleet of five models right now, with a sixth on the building board. Here they are:

	GREAT PLANES BIG STICK 60 - 68-inch wing and (over)powered by a Super Tiger 90. Craig uses it on wheels, floats and skis in the winter.
	DIRECT CONNECTION TSUNAMI - 62-inch wing, powered by a ST51; great flying plane.
	LANIED SHRIKE 40 AND 20, 43 and 35-inch wings and powered by a YS45 and OS25FP respectively. Both very fast and 'a blast to fly'.
	GANDER MK I. This is a twin-engine plane designed and built by Chris Knott in 1988. First of 3 versions, it has a 72-inch wing and is powered by two OS40 FP's.
	GREAT PLANES GIANT AEROMASTER. This is Craig's current project and his first giant plane. It has a 73-inch wingspan and it will be powered by a G62. Craig hopes to have it in the air next season.

This man has been in the hobby for six years now and is, as we know, a member of St. John's R/C Flyers model flying club, Newfoundland. If you want to make a virtual visit to the club, the website URL is http://rcflyers.nfld.net - it's the club site that was featured on ModelFlight #14.

Here's a bit more from Craig:

I was born and raised in a small mining town in central Newfoundland called Buchans. Ever since the first time I saw the company Beaver fly over our house, I have been in love with aviation.

I moved to St. John's in 1987 to attend school. I also love full-scale flying and I hold a commercial pilot license. I have approximately 400 hours of flying in single and light engine planes. I also have done some aerobatic training in a Decathlon.

In the winter, when I am not flying I can usually be found on a frozen lake somewhere in Central Newfoundland on my snowmobile.

I joined the St. John's R/C Flyers in 1994 and became club President in 1996. I remained President for three years and took one year off and I am now back in the Chair again - I guess I must be a sucker for punishment or something!

I will be returning to school this coming September to do a 2-year IT course. Up 'til now I have been working in the air cargo business but since the take-over of Canadian by Air Canada here in Newfoundland the work has become rather limited, so I decided to go in another direction.

craig@roadrunner.nf.net

Many thanks, Craig, and all the very best as you shortly take up your studies. Here's hoping you'll keep us posted on that Aeromaster.

Join in the fun, send ModelFlight an e-mail and tell us about yourself, your family, hobbies and interests, what you do for a living, how long you've been model-making, what club you belong to, if any - in fact as much or as little as you see fit. Include a picture of yourself if you can.

Your e-mail address will be shown unless you specifically ask for it not to appear. Picture files ideally need to be in JPG format for best colour reproduction and to minimise time on-line.

If you want to send me pictures by conventional mail, my address is

Reg Heath, 60 South View Gardens, Andover, Hants, SP10 2AQ, UK

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