Friday's Fabulous Flyer
C.J. of Parker Jets
Last week we met a
Planespotter, today we will meet another kind of aviation enthusiast that
started out as a hobby, and morphed into a business—ParkerJets.
But first the man behind the
mission…
CJ: I
suppose my interest in flight, which has translated into small scale radio
controlled hobby, was no doubt planted by my father. He was in the U.S.
Air Force for something like 28 years as an instructor pilot and continues to
train pilots as a simulator instructor on an Air Force base. So growing
up, we lived around military jets, sonic booms and flight suits. As a
kid, you certainly take that lifestyle for granted. Like any child, you
just think your father's job is just normal but of course my father's a job let
him fly jets around, all over the country at the speed of sound.
Now as an adult, I have a
great appreciation for what he accomplished in his career. He served in
Vietnam, flew over 100 combat missions, and trained countless pilots and loved
every minute of it. That doesn't even take into account the pride I have
in his service. So I grew up in that Air Force culture, squadron parties,
and flight patches. For a long time I couldn't tell the difference
between a Buick and Toyota, but I could name every plane in the sky as it
zoomed overhead.
That's where an appreciation
and interest in flight started.
C.J. with Dad
As a kid, we had the
opportunity to fly with my dad when he could get a plane rented or got some
flight time in a small commuter type airplane like a Cessna. I can remember
climbing in this small airplane, a little nervous of course, but my father is
the pilot so you have to trust he knows what he is doing. After all, he
flies jets for a living. Well, I will never forget getting in that
co-pilot seat and as we are rolling on the tarmac, he is reading the flight
checklist, knee on the stick, looking up and down, and making sure he is
pushing and pulling all the right levers and buttons. He was so casual
about the whole thing, but my anxiety level was climbing faster than we were. Of
course looking back on that experience, I never appreciated a couple of things;
his level of experience and the simple principles of flight.
So to fast forward a bit, a
few years ago, I started working on my website, ParkerJets
and started going to a few radio controlled (RC) flight events around the
Southwest and really started to get inspired to be a hub for the RC flight
community.
C.J.'s Dad T-38
One thing really stands out
if you get around a bunch of people and their RC planes; they love flying. Now
many of them are pilots in the real sense of the word, but many are not, but
they experience some level of freedom and wonder that pilots of real airplanes
experience, all while having their feet on the ground. I think that's one
of the foundations of the hobby, having a wonder for flight. Now if you
are not familiar with RC airplanes, you might be thinking, "those are just
toys" and in some ways you are right, but in others ways, you might be
amazed at the direction the hobby has moved in the last few years and the
similarities the hobby has with real aviation.
While ParkerJets focuses on small scale and pretty
inexpensive end of the RC hobby, one segment of the hobby deals exclusively
with actual turbine engines. These RC airplanes are huge, complete with
retractable gear, jet fuel, and trailers for transport. Listening to them
fly around the field, you would swear you are at a real air show. More
traditional RC airplanes rely on propellers and are stapled firmly in the exact
same principles of real flight. Thrust to weight ratios, wing loading,
lift, stall speed, flaps, and just about everything else you can think about
how a real plane flies applies to their smaller counterparts. Hobbyists
set up their control surfaces the exact same way and perform the same stunts
and maneuvers as pilots do everyday. The one main difference is that when
something goes wrong you don't have to bail out. You just have to watch
as your plane noses into the ground.
For your readers, they might
be surprised to know that just like aspiring pilots, new RC pilots often start
out on simulators, specifically designed for radio controlled flight. You
can even change the type of plane in the simulator to give you different
experience and change the weather, just like a real simulator the military
uses. You might be wondering why you have to have a specific simulator
just for RC, well, its simple really, when the plane is flying away from you,
the controls are intuitive, but when that plane is coming at you, right is left
and left is right and getting your brain to switch back and forth takes some
training.
One really exciting
development in the RC world is bringing a whole new excitement to RC flying. While
many RC pilots get a lot of joy in watching their plane fly around a field, the
view from the ground is nothing like a real pilot experiences. But now, with HD
cameras becoming small, and virtual reality glasses coming into the mainstream,
some RC pilots are hooking up an HD camera, controlled by a swivel servo, and
then streaming the live video feed right back to a set of virtual reality
glasses so the pilot on the ground feels like they are right on board. Right
now those set ups are expensive and bulky and don't always work as advertised,
but give it a few years and those RC pilots, will experience the views and
thrill of flying right on the ground!
Unlike a lot of real pilots,
you get to be your own production line, mechanic, and pilot. That's one
thing that ParkerJets really lets
people do, download and get plans to build your own airplane. Not to
sound like a broken record, but much of the building process is very similar to
the real thing. Bulkheads, firewalls, outer skins and paint. It's
all basically the same thing, just on a smaller scale and with different
materials.” C.J.
C.J.’s passion flies off the
page with his excitement, and I’m thinking for all you aviation enthusiasts…
this might be the next best thing to flying inside a plane.
Thank you C.J. May your
success continue to soar!
Enjoy the journey!
OX Karlene
That's so neat that RC pilots often start out on simulators! I didn't know that. How cool that C.J. takes his passion for planes to completely different levels. I love it!
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty cool. I think we could start our own airline. :)
DeleteThank you for the comment!
Karlene, his products are great! I really did like them! And his story is inspiring. It shows the passion for aviation in a different gamma. And I laughed on your reply to Heather's comment!
ReplyDeleteHe totally shows that we can all love flight and aviation, sometimes in a different way. The spirit of flight is what counts.Thank you so much for your comment!
Delete