Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsDon Edberg – Co-Modeler of the Year - 1976
Don Edberg came to San Diego in 1974 to attend UC San Diego in pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences. He was also previously aware of the RC gliding at Torrey Pines and it was this interest that made it easy to choose the university as flying RC across the street at the gliderport was appealing. While at UCSD, he also found the UCSD Glider Club that was at the time operating full-scale sailplanes at Torrey Pines along with the Associated Glider Clubs of Southern California. Don began competing regularly with TPG in thermal duration contests at Hourglass Field (now Miramar College) in 1975 and became very proficient rather quickly. For instance at the September SC2 contest held at Dominguez Field in Los Angeles, Edberg placed 9th in a field of 75 pilots.
Edberg also began enjoying other aspects of the club including slope races with “profile” gliders that were U-control designs converted to RC, and scale soaring. He would often place very high in TPG monthly contests both at Torrey and Hourglass. By early-1976, Edberg had connected with the new Airtronics Aquila and with that design he truly was hooked for life. At the famous 1976 SOAR Nationals held at Lewis University in Lockport, Illinois, Edberg came in third place overall flying his Aquila. He was also first in Class B (2 meter) 2-minute precision thermal duration, second in Class B duration, and second in scale flying his Duster. It was a good contest! At the 1976 AMA Nationals, Don placed first in Class B duration. (Recall that Class B (2-meter wingspan) was considered a “brand new” class in 1976.) The TPG held its first 2-meter contest on January 30, 1977. Club member Bob Torres, who was exceedingly dedicated to 2-meter, placed first at that contest. However Don wasn’t far behind coming in 8th out of 19 with his “Buteo.” In August of 1976, Don and nine other Gulls migrated to Santa Rosa to attend the LSF Tournament. Don Edberg placed first with his Aquila, and also a first place in scale with his Duster.
Following his Modeler of the Year trophy in 1976, shared with Frank Cox, Edberg became TPG Treasurer in 1977. In 1978, he served as TPG Contest Coordinator.
In 1978, Edberg became quite interested in FAI events, especially new contest formats with RC sailplanes in mind. On May 28, 1978, he attended an FAI competition at Dominguez Hills and placed second to Rick Pearson, one of several qualifying events he needed to place as top 5 in order to represent the US at a World Championship. Still working on his LSF levels, Don completed his 8-hour slope soaring task, a part of the Level V accomplishments, at Torrey Pines on June 3, 1978.
At the end of August 1978, Don left San Diego to begin his graduate studies at Stanford University. TPG members lamented this as they immediately realized they would have to now fly against him in team contests rather than as a TPG team member. Don’s last contest representing TPG was at the Visalia meet of 1978 where he came in 6th, helping TPG take 2nd place.
But his schooling didn’t deter Edberg from remaining competitive in RC as he became a member of the South Bay Soaring Society. In both 1981 and 1982, he took first place at the first “Two Meter World Cup” organized by the San Fernando Valley Silent Flyers and the South Nevada Soaring Society. Although he didn’t win a qualifying spot on the 1979 USA F3B team, he did in both 1981 and 1983 and also served as Team Manager for the US team in France in 1989. The 1981 F3B World Championships were the first held in the USA (Sacramento). And US team member Dwight Holley took first; the US team came in second.
Don wrote a well-known, long-standing column on RC soaring in RC Modeler magazine in the 1980s and 1990s, perhaps even into the 2000s. He also encouraged other young TPGers to get into the aerospace career, including Aaron Valdes and others. Edberg finally completed all requirements for his LSF Level V on July 8, 1989.
Don Edberg entered a career in aerospace engineering following his graduation from Stanford with a M.S. and Ph.D. (1985). After Stanford he worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1985-1987. In August of 1987 he was hired by AeroVironment, Inc. as a Senior Scientist, working there until 1989. In October of 1989 he joined McDonnell Douglas and remained there for 20 years, becoming a Boeing Technical Fellow and AIAA Associate Fellow. Since 2001, he has taught Aerospace Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona.
In 1987, Edberg also founded his own small business Dynamic Modeling for structural dynamics and UAV design. This included several well-known programming books for the Futaba Super 7 and Futaba 8 transmitters. He flew as a sponsored pilot for Futaba, helping also to write several manuals for these and other Futaba radio systems.
Don Edberg was awarded with the TPG Modeler of the Year trophy in 1976, well before most of his more famous accomplishments. Clearly a good choice! He has three children and when not busy with aerospace, enjoys playing bass trombone in Redlands, California
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Additional information about Don Edberg can be found here:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1846693-Edbergs-modification
https://experts.cpp.edu/member/donald-edberg/