Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsJim Haldy - Modeler of the Year - 1971
The Torrey Pines Gulls began to take form in the late 1960s. RC sailplane activities at Torrey began as early as the early-mid 1950s by amateur radio operators, but these activities were sparse and there was no formal club. In addition, regular full-scale sailplane activities could sometimes pose a crowded situation. By the late 1960s an increasing number of pilots used the gliderport for RC. Members of the newly formed Harbor Slope Soaring Society in Orange County (the first AMA club solely dedicated to RC soaring) would come down to Torrey on occasion. By about 1969, a group of locals thought it was time to form their own AMA club, called the Torrey Pines Gulls. Chief in this effort were Jim and Kelly Pike, a father-son team that spent many hours soaring at Torrey together (more on the Pikes in another story). Jim Haldy was another pilot who helped the club through its formation.
Jim served as one of the first Contest Directors for the club and also helped to spearhead the formation of the newsletter as the club’s official "Communications Officer". He flew in both slope and thermal contests, and also regional contests representing the Gulls. For instance, in those days there used to be an annual "North/South Meet" between the clubs from northern California and southern California. The contest had several components to it, and Jim came in tenth overall, as the third best TPG pilot at the meet (93 pilots total). Despite the contest being held in Bakersfield, TPG was the main organizing club with members Jim Haldy and Irv Stafford doing a lot of the work.
In appreciation of his many efforts on behalf of the club in its early formation, Jim was given a special plaque of thanks by the club president Buck Faure in February of 1973. In 1973, Jim helped acquire a new thermal field for the TPG referred to as the "Palomar Field" for bi-monthly thermal contests. This field was located in San Marcos on Rancho Santa Fe Road (I believe the North County Clouds later used the same field for thermalling.) But unfortunately for TPG for reasons unknown, by June of 1974 Jim moved to Idaho. He left some rather large shoes to fill by other club members. The June 1974 newsletter featured a "going out of town sale!" - most of Jim's RC glider fleet. This included a Windward (according to Jim, the "winner of more TPG contests than any other Windward") for $35 without the radio, an orange and white Foamy 1-26 for $25, and an unnamed "super ship" which Jim used to place 8th overall at the 1973 League of Silent Flight "Soarlympics" for $80. Jim Haldy was honored as the inaugural winner of the Modeler of the Year award for his many efforts to help get the club started and show the joy of RC soaring to so many others.
