Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsMarty Dine – Modeler of the Year – 2012
Marty was born in Amityville, New York. His father was in the US Air Force working largely on radar systems and as a result the family moved around every two years or so from one base to the next both stateside and also overseas. He wasn’t really exposed to model aircraft until the family relocated to Robbins AFB outside of Marietta, Georgia. There, at the age of about 7 or 8, Marty got into control line (with the Cox PT-19 that many of us knew as kids). Robbins AFB was also home to a group from the Strategic Air Command and several of Marty’s friends were B-52 pilots. Turned out those pilots were also into control line and they taught Marty all about how to fly the PT-19 and then also do control line combat with the models. Not every kid grows up flying combat with B-52 pilots.
Several moves later, the family relocated again to Ridgecrest, California for his father’s work at NAS China Lake. Given his upbringing surrounded by aircraft and the Air Force it was natural that Marty wanted to pursue a career as an Air Force pilot. He worked as a line helper at Inyokern Airport at the age of ~15 and soloed for his private pilot’s license on his 16th birthday. Two days later he failed his driver’s test. Not everyone is perfect, but at least he could fly. During high school in the late 1970s Marty played a lot of tennis and golf and enjoyed driving to Edwards AFB to watch various space shuttle landings in the early 1980s. His days with control line were in the past.
Continuing with his desire to be an Air Force pilot, he was nominated to attend the Air Force Academy but his slot ended up going to another person instead. He pursued his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and computer science instead at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (1979-1984). Several of his high school buddies were going there and it seemed like a logical place to go. He continued to build flight hours in private aircraft out of San Luis Obispo Airport just to the south of campus and played on the college tennis team. Halfway through school he determined that he was 1 inch too tall for the pilot requirements established by the Air Force. This was quite a blow to a kid who had dreamt of being in the Air Force most of his life. He switched to pursuing the Navy instead but determined that they too had height restrictions and he was over them.
Despite these issues, Marty excelled in college. His parents moved to San Diego and after graduating Marty was recruited by SAIC in La Jolla and started work there in 1984. He decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Astrodynamics at Caltech and an internship at NASA JPL while continuing to work for SAIC in La Jolla. Those were some long commutes. However, having finished his Ph.D. in 1987 his role in the company immediately changed from hands-on engineering to project management. He was placed in charge of technical marketing and management of projects associated with the Space Defense Initiative (SDI). This continued until 1992 when SAIC decided to move in directions away from the SDI program. During this same period, in about 1989 Marty purchased a Goldberg Gentle Lady and started flying it at Instant Lift, a slope near what is now the I-5/I-805 merge. Marty had tried a bit of powered RC at one point, but RC soaring had a certain freedom about it, especially the freedom to that slope lift can provide. Aware of the Torrey Pines Gliderport and the TPG’s activities there, Marty eventually found his way to the cliff. TPGers were always very nice and encouraging and could answer as many questions as Marty could come up with.
Soon thereafter, Marty took a break from RC soaring as life and work took priority. He married in 1992, and the change in direction at SAIC about that same time meant that Marty had the opportunity to try a different career path. He started a renewable energy / wind farm company in Palm Springs for several years, then had the opportunity to buy the leases on several golf courses and served as a golf course manager.
One day he learned that a neighbor of his on Mt. Soledad in La Jolla also owned some RC gliders. He convinced Marty it was time to dust off the planes and try it all again. They went back to Instant Lift to get the bugs ironed out and then started going to Torrey on a regular basis. There Marty met Mark Canfield who shared an interest in slope racing and aerobatics. Mark helped Marty get an F3F Acacia II speed ship and the hook was set. They both started getting heavily into F3F slope racing, traveling to contests throughout California. Marty also flew many other local slope sites like Dave’s Beach and others. At that time Mark Canfield became TPG Vice President. When it was Mark’s time to serve as President, he encouraged Marty to serve as VP with the goal of re-energizing the club together with more slope soaring in mind, along with others like Mark Wood, Ray Pili and Jim Scott. Once Mark’s term was completed, Marty then served as TPG President. This was during a time of other types of transitions for the club – in person monthly club meetings at the Aerospace Museum moved to the nearby Automotive Museum. The Torrey Pines Soaring Council needed a Chair and for a time Marty took on that responsibility too. He helped to improve relationships for everyone at the cliff.
Shortly after this, Marty obtained another job – as Manager of the Low-Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) at Lindbergh Field. This required considerable time, and as a result he took another break from flying RC. However, recently he has re-emerged and enjoys flying at Torrey on a regular basis. He has a collection of Espada slopers, a Big Ceres, Ahi, PSS planes, and even still has his original Gentle Lady. His main focus however is slope aerobatics. If you see Marty flying on the slope, chances are his aircraft will not be right-side-up for very long. During his tenure on the TPG Board he also attended several monthly thermal duration contests – it wasn’t all about sloping, although that was the primary interest.
Marty has long felt that the TPG is a special group of very interesting and diverse people. Contributing back to this club through volunteerism is a very satisfying thing as you immediately realize how much you are helping others to enjoy the hobby even more and how much that exposure to other creative people can help increase your own skills. He hopes that others will step up to volunteer and steer the TPG forward.
Marty was recognized for his many efforts as TPG Vice President with the Modeler of the Year Award in 2012. He went on to serve as TPG President in 2013 and 2014 and was succeeded by Dan Cummins (another Modeler of the Year that we’ll learn about soon). Marty is also a great photographer and published some really nice photos in the TPG newsletters.
