Special recognition and thanks are due Les Hamilton. He worked hard at the important jobs of chief United States official and AMA CD, and he contributed hundreds of hours to helping with flight tests, telemetry, and data analysis. Les also served as the secretary of STAR and has put many hours into communications to the members.
Joe Foster made a major contribution by designing the electronics and writing all of the software codes for the navigation portion of the autopilot. His work on the codes was massive and technically brilliant. He was also the pilot during many arduous hours of flight-testing the autopilot and airplane performance.
Dave Brown’s time is normally consumed by the position of AMA president. He is a skilled RC pilot, and I am grateful that he responded to my request for him to go to Ireland to land the model.
Cyrus Abdollahi, the third member of the TAM crew in Saint John’s, is a 2003 graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring. Cyrus helped build and test some of the five models we took to Newfoundland. His patient and enthusiastic study of hundreds of incoming E-mails in Newfoundland at all hours of the day and night was a valuable help in achieving the record.
My wife Gay was the fourth member of the Newfoundland TAM crew. In addition to being a comforting confidant and counselor, she drove our son-in-law’s van more than 80 hours to transport the models and the legally blind builder of the model to Newfoundland and back.
Paul Howey designed and built the ARGOS transmitters, which were necessary for achieving our goals. He and Ted Rollins designed and wrote the software codes for the stability- and servo-control section of the autopilot. With his son Russell, Paul generated the artwork for the circuit boards and assembled the electronics and harnesses of the autopilots used in 2002. In the 2002 attempts, he also recruited the amateur radio enthusiasts. Although Paul could not go to Ireland for the 2003 attempt, the project has been fortunate that his ham friends came anyway.
The TAM team included a number of other people here in Washington DC and in Ireland. Ron Bozzonetti and Roy Day helped as pilots during four years of testing. Roy served as CD in 2002. Julian “Tweed” Cottrell helped with engine testing, machining, and autopilot assembly. Art Kresse machined some parts for the engines and made technical drawings of the model. Charlie Calvert helped with the design and fabrication of fuel pumps and flexible alternator couplings.
Bob Yount gathered weather data for months in advance of the attempts and provided advice while we were in Newfoundland. Bill Savage has been a steady help as the editor and producer of 14 newsletters in the past three years. John Patton, who has served many times as CD for earlier records, could not go to Newfoundland. However, he has served faithfully as the treasurer of STAR.
Laytonsville Landscaping owner Doug Lechlider allowed us to use his sod farms for the last two years of testing. This kindness reduced the number of broken propellers and fuselages that we were experiencing on the rougher terrain at Butts’ Farm.
In spite of the overly friendly horses and the hazardous mounds they left behind, the use of Beecher Butts’ pasture was valuable to our early flight tests. Beecher’s vitality and enthusiastic spirit inspired optimism to counter my advanced age and its handicaps.
In Canada, Nelson Sherren arranged for our housing and an operations center. Carl Layden, Craig Trickett, and John Shortall of the Saint John’s Aeromodelers Club were eager to fill gaps and solve problems that cropped up.
In Ireland, Joe Dible, John Molloy, and Noel Barrett deserve special thanks for making long journeys from Dublin and Cork to be present as official observers. From the landing crew in Ireland, radio amateur Ronan Coyne set up the Web site that TAM used. Ronan also played a key role in setting up the downlink telemetry. Other Irish crewmembers were Enda Broderick, David Glynn, Aengus Cullinane, and Tom Frawley. Sally Brown’s joyful enthusiasm crossed the ocean on her cell phone during the landing. Her communication was a vital contribution.
I am grateful for all of the help that came from these wonderful friends.
Maynard Hill
2001 Norvale Rd.
Silver Spring MD 20906