Gary Knapp – Modeler of the Year - 1987

Gary Knapp had served in the US Air Force and joined the TPG sometime in the mid-1980s, a very friendly man willing to help anyone at any time. He frequented the slope at Torrey Pines, honing his skills on a variety of aircraft. At the February 1987 meeting it was announced that then-current club Vice President, Steve Growchowski, resigned unexpectedly for reasons not having to do with the club. Seeing this hole in management, and wanting to help the club, Gary Knapp immediately volunteered to serve as his replacement and was approved by vote of the members attending the meeting.

Gary Knapp – 1987 Modeler of the Year

At the July 1987 thermal fun fly held at Bay Terraces City Park, Gary Knapp and his good friend and fellow TPGer Jerry Miller helped run the registration booth. They were fantastically efficient and served in this role often at larger club events. As VP, Gary Knapp also started building a tremendous “Gulls Nest” including glider kits monthly and an occasional transmitter. He really helped build up the Gulls Nest into a major attraction for the club, resulting in attendance at the meetings and a growing membership. He also started arranging for monthly speakers in 1987 including Bob Renaud of Airtronics, or Curt Stevens of Model Research Laboratories. He also took it upon himself to arrange for the Awards Banquet for February 6, 1988 at the Papagayo restaurant in Seaport Village with Don Edberg as the guest speaker. The executive board meetings were even held at Gary Knapp’s home and office. In short, during 1987, Gary Knapp worked tirelessly on behalf of all aspects of TPG.

At the Awards Banquet, the previous Modeler of the Year winner Steven O’Leary presented the 1987 award to Gary – he stepped up to fill a hole at an important time and then performed with exemplary service throughout the year. The newsletter reported that Knapp was “an outstanding positive influence on the success of the club last year.”

The board of directors changed again in 1988 with Robert Morlock taking Gary’s place at VP and Larry Fogel serving as President. However, Gary’s service to the club was just starting. Throughout 1988, he donated his time as one of four club volunteers to help beginner pilots learn how to fly. The Board meetings were still held at Gary’s house throughout 1988. And despite no longer being VP, Gary continued to help raise awareness and donations for the growing monthly Gulls Nest. For instance, at the October 1988 meeting, he arranged for Bob Renaud of Airtronics to donate six Oly 650 kits and a discount on another six kits to members at the meeting, this in addition to the many other prizes. Gary Knapp (and Jerry Miller) became a driving force for the meetings, even making sure there were ample cookies, drinks, speakers, and raffle prizes for attendees. At the 1988 awards banquet (held in February 1989), the club gave Gary a special plaque as an “honorary board member” for continuing to allow the board to use his office. At the time the club was also very active in finding and using three thermal fields: Hourglass Field at Miramar College in Mira Mesa, Bay Terraces Park near Chula Vista, and a new field at Montgomery-Waller Park in south bay.

An unknown modeler (left \- possibly Roger Taylor?) on final approach with his Aquila for the tape marker at a thermal duration contest at Hourglass Field in Mira Mesa. Note: no houses yet on the hills in the background\!

At the December 1988 meeting, Gary Knapp was elected as President for 1989. He served as a high-quality leader during that year, helping to inspire a large 3-day scale fun fly at Torrey Pines for Thanksgiving weekend. The planning for that meeting started as early as February 1989. Through his arrangement the Gulls also had a display at the Miramar Air Show that year. The Thanksgiving scale fun fly was an amazing success, led by Gary Knapp with a team of ~20 pilots helping to coordinate a whopping 80 pilots, 100+ planes (yes, that’s correct!), and 200+ spectators, including a massive transmitter impound (in the days when 72MHz was still the way to fly). At the December 1989 club meeting at the Aerospace Museum, Gary CD’ed the paper airplane contest, with competitors having to fly their planes through two hoops or make a spot landing. 29 entrants!

The pit area for one of the thermal duration contests in the 1980s at Hourglass. Note Bob Peck in the wheelchair in the background – Bob was a famous long-time free flight modeler and operator of the free flight kit manufacturer Peck Polymers with his wife Sandy. Bob also used to enjoy flying RC as a member of the Gulls.

In January 1990, when Gary became Past-President, and Angelo Orona became president, the location of the board meetings was moved to Tecolote Park. Gary continued flying with the Gulls and helping the club for several additional years, before moving to Utah in the mid/late 1990s. There he continued to help the local RC glider club with its large Soar Utah event at Point of the Mountain. Gary Knapp passed away in 2005.