Welcome to Eliminator Props
I started stated flying in the early 70's with my brother Jeff and my Dad's help. I can remember watching dad in his basement workshop in NJ. My brother and I each picked out a 1/2A plane for our first model. Mine was a Sterling 1/2 A Ringmaster bi-plane. That was my start to control line. For many years I was just a sport flier occasionally entering a local contest. But I admired and looked up to several of my club members, Dan Domina, Bill Staback, Henry Orzak, Larry Scarinzi and of coarse my dad. It was until we moved back to the Minnesota before I really started flying competitively. Combat was what I really wanted fly, after a bunch of Voo Doo's, Mongoose's, Firefly's and Lil Snip's I became pretty good and start to design my own combat planes called the Eliminator. I teamed up with my good friend Dave Fischer and we flew combat as a team. I was winning contests on a regular basis and peaked in 1991 by winning the Duke Fox Memorial, Fast Combat at the Chicopee Nat's, runner up in 1/2A and ranked #2 in the country by MACA. Then the next year I became a dad and Ashley came into our lives. I took a couple years off then can came back flying combat and some racing with my good friend Dave Fischer. We had been flying combat together for several years and saw Racing as a new challenge.
At first we had some great success but then it was Dave's turn to start a family and he dropped out for awhile. But Dad was there to step in as my contest buddy. We tried Racing together but that wasn't working well so we started to fly some speed. Dad could start them and I could fly them. Then Ashley started to tag along not to fly at first but to hang out with Dad & I. I always had a plane for he to fly but at time she would rather hang out with a new friend she meet, but that was OK. Then one summer she caught the bug. She could could fly a slow combat and do a few loop and was gaining confidence fast. That summer we got to the Nat's she flew my 21 SS and she was hooked. She set her first speed record with a 21 Proto which we worked on together and she flew the maiden flight and set the Junior record. Since then she has records in 1/2A Speed & 1/2A Proto and a few others along the way.
Then I gave Dave a call and he came back to the pilots circle. We started flying some more racing and combat. Then we decided to give F2C a try, and with a lot of practice and hard work we made the 2010 USA F2C team.
But none of this would be possible without an understanding and supportive wife. Becky has been that and more. Not only is she there to cheer us on but she has helped at tabulating and keeping score at the speed circle, my combat pit-woman, pilot of a Perky and eager to start and launch her Sport Jet.
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