Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsJohn Menard – Modeler of the Year - 1984
John Menard came to the Torrey Pines Gulls in the late 1970s. He served for many years as a Judge in San Diego County in the 1970s-1980s and lived in Bonita. On the weekends, however, he enjoyed flying first at Torrey, and then over time more and more into thermal soaring. Thermal soaring became his passion
John was also an exceptional builder. His planes were all self-designed and then scratch built in his garage. He would build a model, fly it in contests, then think of ways to improve it with modification, redesign, build another, fly and repeat this process over and over. Literally many tens or even over a hundred different models came from his mind and garage, and of course as he went through these, they were either sold to other modelers, or suffered some terrible other fate.
In 1979 the TPG hosted a contest that was one part thermal (in the morning), one part slope (that same afternoon). For this particular contest, the same aircraft had to be flown in both parts by the same pilot! Quite a challenge. Menard set off to design a model specific to meet the challenge. The resulting plane had ailerons like most slopers but was built incredibly light. And the design also included the opportunity for plenty of ballast for the slope if the wind allowed. The 74” span, 10” chord provided lots of lift, and (as was the case with John) he used his own special Menard 202 airfoil (a modified Eppler 202) for the aircraft.
In the early 1980s, the burgeoning 2-meter wingspan class (Class B) grew in popularity and Menard latched on to this as a way of rapidly prototyping new models and then testing them in competition. He flew in many contests in 1982 for instance, placing 4th overall for the year in 2-meter behind Ken Raymond, Bob Anderson, and Al Doig. In March of 1983 a new field was identified by the TPG; a grass field off the South Bay Freeway (Hwy 54) at Bay Terraces Community Park east of Paradise Hills. This field was also near John’s house in Bonita, so even more interest in flying there for thermal soaring. The first contest was held there in May 1983, and John flew in both the open and 2-meter classes. Club contests were held primarily at Hourglass Field in Mira Mesa but on occasion at this new Bay Terraces site.
John became very interested in helping out with the TPG, so in 1984 he volunteered and was elected as club President. At the South Bay field, he CD’ed the first thermal contest of that year, what was termed the “1st Gotcha Contest”. In the end John took first place in 2-meter. John, Rick Schrameck, and Dave Hice attended the Two Meter World Cup in Modesto in 1984 and returned to San Diego convinced that zoom launches were key and then the wing spars had to be made much stronger. More design, build, and testing ensued.
In roughly 1983/1984 a separate sister RC soaring club formed in North San Diego County – the North County Clouds. They flew at a field in San Marcos. The TPG and NCC held joint contests at various locations at times during 1984. By late 1984 John Menard had figured out that flaps were a good idea for landing tasks. He wrote in the November, 1984 TPG newsletter “recently the last six gliders I have tried using flaps…some pilots love them and would not fly without flaps, others feel they are more trouble than they are worth…From my experience I fell they are another function that when used properly can be an advantage; however they do require practice.” John ended up finishing the year first in 2-meter and placed second to Bob Anderson in open class by a mere 78 points out of 5000.
For all of his efforts to help keep the club on an even keel and get people interested in the hobby, the club honored John with the Modeler of the Year trophy at its annual banquet in February 1985. John also received a then “traditional” additional plaque for his service as a President. Somewhat ironically, that plaque included a gavel, something not all that unfamiliar to a Judge.
John continued on as club winchmaster in 1985. Later he helped form the Thermal Pilots Association, an offshoot AMA club from the TPG that focused on competitive thermal soaring in the south bay. John helped work with the City of San Diego to secure use of the grass field at Montgomery-Waller Park for TPA’s use on the weekends. It was nice to have RC gliders represented at a facility honoring John Montgomery’s pioneering efforts in gliding. The TPA continued for many years, finally disbanding sometime in the 2000s.