Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsAngelo Orona – Modeler of the Year - 1983
Angelo grew up in the San Bernardino area and even as a young boy became infatuated with the airplanes that would take off and land from a local airport near Little Mountain. He built balsa kits and flew chuck gliders, but given he was too young to understand the importance of CG, they didn’t fly all that well. Angelo graduated from Colton High School and then later served in the US Naval Reserve making a trip to South America aboard the USS Wetterberg just about the time that the Korean War began. In 1951, he and a buddy transferred from the Naval Reserves to the US Air Force. Angelo was assigned to a radiology school for training as a medic, graduating in the top third of his class. Fortunately just at the time of his graduation, March AFB in Riverside required six x-ray technicians and Angelo was assigned to one of these six positions as a part of the 15th Air Force. After the war and after fulfilling his service, he went to UC Santa Barbara with an interest in sociology, receiving a Bachelor’s degree. Never one to stray far from aviation, while at Santa Barbara, he worked at the Goleta Airport.
Angelo soon realized a desire to teach and went to graduate school at UCLA to pursue a Master’s degree and then a Ph.D. in anthropology. His dissertation focused on the culture of Venezuelan fishermen, specifically those on Margarita Island. These particular fishermen had a strong bond with the environment and especially the sea. They could read the sea and know where the fish would be. Angelo lived with them for one year as a part of his Ph.D.
After graduating in 1968, Angelo took a teaching position at the University of San Diego in Anthropology in 1973.
In the spring of 1981, he and his wife took a drive up the coast to Carlsbad, coming back to San Diego on Pacific Coast Hwy. There, as they neared Torrey Pines, Angelo saw the hang gliders in the air and he wondered where they could be launching from. They found their way to the gliderport, where Angelo not only saw the hang glider launching and landing area but a group of very friendly RCers. He remembers walking up to the pit area and introducing himself and specifically remembers how friendly and outgoing the modelers were. This tight group of RC pilots reminded him of the Venezuelan fishermen – a group of people who were adapting their culture to the environment, knowing where to fly their models, how to keep them aloft without motors, watching the sea for air currents and wind direction, etc. It was a fascinating combination of anthropology and aviation that had eluded him for most of his life. He was hooked. A year or so later Angelo was a fixture at the cliff.
Angelo’s first RC glider was a 2m Top Flite Metrick. It was an immaculate build - and looked absolutely like the photo on the kit! Even perfect Monokoting and the proper colors. Not only was it a great flier, but it looked great flying!
With this model, Angelo quickly advanced in RC soaring. He next purchased a Hobie Hawk, and followed this with a 2m Precision Model Products Challenger. Once again Angelo produced an absolutely perfect version of the Challenger, complete with the same color scheme as on the box. This guy was a master builder!! At the time, the 2-meter (Class B) RC sailplane class was very popular, especially for thermal contests. The Challenger was a good design and Angelo started flying both slope and thermal with TPG. Within the space of a year, Angelo went from “who is the new guy?” to “go talk to Angelo, he can help you get started” or “go talk to Angelo, he knows how to build anything.” He spent many hours at Torrey enjoying soaring and helping others.
For his service to the club and for being a solid representative of the professional spirit of what membership should mean, Angelo was awarded the Modeler of the Year trophy at the Awards Dinner held in January of 1984 at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse on Harbor Island. (Mark Smith of Mark’s Models who originally donated the trophy itself was the guest speaker that evening!).
Angelo went on to serve as TPG Vice President in 1984, helping the club get through some turbulent times. He later served as TPG President. Angelo Orona still flies RC sailplanes as a member of the Torrey Pines Scale Soaring Society, mainly scale sailplanes at Torrey Pines and other locations in California. He is Emeritus Professor at USD. If you see Angelo at Torrey, be sure to say hi and thanks for all of his efforts for TPG and local RC soaring in general and for his service in the Korean War.
