Summer online classes are officially over for me! What does this mean? I have completed my degree at Embry-Riddle! Once all the paper work goes in and is completed I hope to receive my diploma in a few weeks! It’s hard to believe how fast these four years have gone by. Four years ago around this time I was loading up the truck about to head down to move into the dorm rooms for my freshman year. In fact many of the freshman that year remembers that move in! We got to experience a tropical storm first thing!
Well, since I have finally completed my degree I have been applying for various flying jobs in the Atlanta area. I currently do not have my CFI yet and if I don’t get selected for this Fall’s panel for Air Traffic Control I plan on getting my CFI so I can instruct. So basically now I am playing the waiting game that many Air Traffic Major/Minor graduates know about!
The end of July I took a road trip to Woodruff, SC, where the 2012 Youth Masters took place.
I competed in this event back in 2005 and 2006 and since then I have helped out supporting our youth in aviation. This year was one of our biggest years having close to 30 pilots show up! These kids knew how to fly R/C very well for their age. The youngest pilot was just 8 years old and he finished 2nd in the Advanced class that was offered. We had a great time and I even let the kids fly my own competition plane during the contest. We provide the planes and everyone flies the same plane per round. To see the smiles on the kids faces flying these aircraft are priceless! Several of the older kids came up to express their interest in Embry-Riddle and hope to one day go there. Luckily I still had a few more brochures about the University and I handed them out to the future students.
After the Youth Masters I went straight to the lake with my grandparents. We are apart of a boat club at Lake Jackson in Georgia where we can bring our motor home there and camp for as long as we want. We also have a ski boat we bring down and a jet ski. It was nice to relax for a week at the lake! It’s something I have not done in a long time!
This is about it for this month! I plan on going to a few more R/C competitions in my region the next few months but other than that it’s basically time for me to settle down and get a big boy job! Again if anyone has any questions feel free to email me!
BTW! I use to be the kicker for my high school football team and one of my former teammates is now playing for the Baltimore Ravens! The coolest thing about it is his first game is against the Atlanta Falcons. Good luck Bobby Rainey for this year’s season!
Summer has been flying by it feels like! Over the past month I have traveled through 5 different states! We celebrated the 4th of July at Jackson Lake that is located in Jackson, GA. My family and I are members of a boat club where we bring our motor home and boat and stay for a week. We had a blast, but I couldn’t stay and watch fireworks due to I had to get home so I could leave the next day to Dayton, OH to start my trip for the 2012 Aerobatic Nationals.
I woke up around 8 AM to begin my trip to Dayton, Ohio. The 2012 Aerobatic Nationals took place July 9th thru 12th in Muncie, IN. but I ended up leaving on the 5th to go up and practice where one of my main sponsors are located. 
After practicing for two days and spending time with my sponsors I loaded up and headed to Muncie, IN, where the 2012 Aerobatic Nationals was taken place. The AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) is the host of this event. AMA is the main organization of R/C Flying. The site was just an hour and half away from Dayton. When I arrived to the field on July 8, I was lucky enough to get one practice flight in before it started raining. After the flight I loaded up and headed off to the hotel where I was staying with other friends from the Southeast Region.
On July 9th it’s rough waking up at 5:30 AM to get ready for the start of the event! The flying started at 8 AM sharp and my class was the first to go! I was competing against 15 other competitors in the unlimited class and it was difficult! I am going against the best of the best! At the end of day 1 and 2 I maintained 10th place, which is not bad considering it was my first Nationals. At the end of the third day I jumped to 9th place!
At the end of the third day the annual banquet took place at the AMA headquarters building. We had an outstanding dinner! At the end of the dinner the President of the International Miniature Aerobatic Club gave his speech. In his speech he announced a new event that will happen in 2014. The 2014 Aerobatic Worlds. The Worlds will consist of different pilots representing their countries. As of now the qualification process to be apart of Team USA has not been announced, but I hope to have a shot to represent the USA in the 2014 Aerobatic Worlds!
What a busy few weeks it has been for me! To start out, right before I graduated from Embry-Riddle I participated in yet another IMAC competition. The competition took place in Jacksonville, Florida during the first weekend in May after finals! I had no practice going into this event mainly due to finals were the week before. I went to the contest just to have fun and ended up placing in second place! I was very surprise and happy with how well I ended up doing.
After returning back to Daytona after the competition I had to clean up and start packing up my apartment before graduation. My parents and family came down the Thursday before graduation to help me pack up. They ended up renting a U-Haul to take all of the furniture back to Georgia where I live. Graduation day was a very big day for me considering I am one of the first in my family to graduate with a college degree. My brother just finished his a few months ago. I had to end up doing degree complete considering I still have two more classes to take, but I am currently taking them at home through the Worldwide campus.
When graduation was over, we all finished packing up and hit the road. My family ended up driving back home while I went up to South Carolina for the whole week to attend the 30th Annual Joe Nall Fly-In. This fly-in is one of the biggest radio control air shows in the world. There are around 1,200 registered pilots with thousands of spectators. This event takes place in Woodruff, South Carolina, which is in the middle of nowhere! I had a blast for the whole week even though I ended up crashing three of my planes! One was my fault, but the other two had mechanical problems causing them to crash. Luckily, now I have replacements and have been busy building planes this past week!
Well now I am finally moved back home in Georgia with my parents. I plan on living with my parents until I can afford to build a house myself. We live on 76 acres and I plan to build my house next door to keep the land in the family. I am hoping to be picked up my FAA for Air Traffic Control in Atlanta this October. As for now I will be working on my CFI rating along with working at one of the local airports as a customer service rep. A few weeks ago I ended up meeting a few of my friends from Embry-Riddle at Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was very nice to see them again. We attended one of Stone Mountain’s Laser Shows. They will graduate this fall.
This month I have two competitions to attend with one being June 9-10 and the other on June 30 – July 1. Both are in Georgia and require just a two-hour drive to attend! So keep a look out for updates on how I do at these competitions! If all goes well I maybe attending the US Nationals Competition in Muncie, Indiana this July!
Winter break has come and gone. It felt like yesterday I finished my last final for the Fall 2011 Semester and I was heading home for Christmas Break. Now I am back at school starting my last semester of college! If all goes well I will be graduating this May!
The first week of classes went very well. I have two classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which don’t start till 1 PM. This means I can catch up on some sleep! Tuesday and Thursdays I start early at 8:15 and have three classes. So far I am enjoying my schedule and hopefully it does not get too busy during the semester!
On January 14-15 I went down to Port St. Lucie, FL for the Season Opener Aerobatic Contest. The Aerobatic Season has officially started with this contest. There were a total of 28 pilots at this competition. This year I have moved up to the Unlimited class, which is the highest class in Aerobatic Competition besides the Invitational Class. Considering I had NO practice going into this contest I did very well! I ended up placing 4th place for my first Unlimited Contest. I am using the same airplane as I used last season except with a different setup and transmitter. Weather was a little cold, but for the most part it was a great relaxing weekend.
The last weekend of January we will be going to Jacksonville, Florida for the annual Aerobatic Judging School. We will learn the new rules for the 2012 season along with discussing how to become a better judge and pilot at these competitions. After this event we will be heading to Miami, Florida during February 18th for the 2012 AMPs Aerobatic Challenge.
It is now crunch time for the Fall Semester. Finals are coming up and my free time is fading away! Luckily I only have two finals this year. After my last final on Tuesday December 13th I am hitting the road north to Georgia to spend some quality time with my family for Christmas. We finally moved into our new home over the Thanksgiving break. The house is looking great and I am very thankful for everything the Lord has done to help my family and I get through these rough times. Homes can be replaced, but a family can’t.
Lately I have not had much time to do any R/C Flying due to the lack of time I have these days. School and work is keeping me extremely busy. The first week of November we went to Jacksonville for the 2011 Regionals Competition. As I mentioned before this is the last contest of the year and the top ten pilots from each class was invited to the contest. I ended up finishing in 2nd place for the Advanced Class and 1st place in the Freestyle Class. I had some minor plane issues throughout the contest, but ended up finishing very well. The 2012 season is quickly approaching and the first competition is January 14-15. In Port St. Lucie, FL. I will be competing in the Unlimited class, which is the highest of the 5 classes offered.
Well, that is about it for this month. School and work has been keeping me very busy, and it feels like I never stop! I go from 8 AM in the morning till 10 o ‘ clock at night every day! Hopefully once the Fall Semester ends things will slow down for me and I can enjoy flying R/C Aircraft and manned aircraft. I hope over the winter break to complete my CFI training so I can begin working as a Flight Instructor for Spring Semester of college.
Six months ago, on April 28 at 12:30 AM, I received a phone call from my Mother saying that a tornado had come through at 12:15 AM. I was sound asleep when I received this phone call because the next day was the last day of my junior year at ERAU. My home, my Grandparents, and Aunt/Uncle’s home were destroyed. Luckily no one was injured and everyone is still with us today.
The end of the 2011 Aerobatic Competition is coming to the end and it all ends at the Southeast Regional’s, which is in Jacksonville, FL. This event is where the top 10 pilots from each of the five classes get invited to compete to see who is the best in the Southeast Region. I ended up finishing 5 th in the Region for the points race, so I was invited to compete against the top pilots in the region. School is still keeping me busy, but I have been able to sneak in a few practice rounds after class!
Today I am a commercial-rated pilot with instrument privileges and currently sponsored by some of the top Radio Control Aircraft companies in the world. I travel throughout the southeast region competing in precision aerobatic flying, or known as IMAC. (
The R/C Club at ERAU currently has 49 members involved in the organization. Many members have no experience flying R/C Aircraft so we assign instructors to teach them to fly. We have been busy the past month teaching new members to fly, which a few of them will use these skills in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Having R/C Experience is great to have on your resume if you plan to go into the Unmanned world!
That is about it for this month. Check back next month for results on how we do at the Ocala Aerobatic Competition. The R/C Club and I will be heading over to compete as usual and we always have a great time!