Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsTim Traver – Modeler of the Year – 2014
Tim Traver started flying RC gliders in 2009 at the suggestion of a friend. Since then, he’s been one of TPG’s most dedicated pilots to both thermal and slope competition. Despite the annual success of the International Hand Launch Glider Festival, the TPG had lost momentum in developing its own core group of dedicated DLG enthusiasts. In 2013, Tim Traver, John McNeil and Gary Fogel recognized this issue and decided to hold some club DLG contests in the fall of that year to test interest. Everyone seemed to feel it was a useful direction so a full monthly series was proposed for 2014 with Tim serving as DLG Coordinator, and John and Gary also assisting with the effort. The contests were established as both “clinics” and “contests” – the goal of introducing newbies to DLG and getting experts to help mentor and answer any questions. The series of 9 contests in 2014 started in February, avoided May for conflict with IHLGF and avoided December holidays.
John McNeil served as CD for the Feb 2014 meeting, with Tim as CD for the March contest and Gary as CD for April. These three rotated CD duties for much of 2014 (with thanks to Doug Cronkhite who filled in as CD for Gary in October 2014). Having three dedicated people associated with this series really made sure it was going to be a success.
As many know, Tim Traver also helped develop the F3X Vault itself for use by the TPG and the international community. (This amazing level of dedication is its own reason for a Modeler of the Year Award). However, as F3X Vault was taking hold, Tim also made sure the associated scoring and timing system was used at the IHLGF and so getting people practiced with the new approach would be a part of the monthly contest/clinics. The IHLGF 2014 was a considerable success with $2000 raised for the USA F3K Team. At the time this was the largest single donation ever made to the team.
In addition to this service to the DLG community at Poway, in 2014 Tim also attended many slope racing contests associated with the Southern California Slope Races (SCSR) circuit. This included meets at Vincent, Point Ferman, and other locations. He flew in the Team USA F3F contest at the Heaven slope site in Corona. Along with teammates Warren Day and Steve Situm, Tim Traver attended the 2014 FAI F3F World Championships in Donovaly Slovakia placing 20th out of 51 pilots. Team USA F3F placed 6th that year.
Tim was exceptionally energetic for both DLG and slope within TPG throughout this period. He volunteered to serve as DLG Coordinator again in 2015 and continued flying both disciplines. At the 2014 TPG Holiday Dinner on December 9, 2014 at the Automotive Museum in Balboa Park, Tim Traver was awarded the Modeler of the Year trophy as it was hard to think of any other modeler who had done more for both TPG and the international RC soaring community as a whole that year.
Tim Traver has continued flying mainly F3F, F3B, DLG, and F5J since that time. He has participated on four USA teams at FAI World Championships. In addition to the 2014 F3F worlds, he has flown in the 2018 F3F World Championships (13th place), 2022 F3F World Championships (14th place), and most recently the 2023 F3B World Championships (30th place).
Thanks, Tim, for all you do for the soaring community both locally and internationally! Tim’s efforts with F3XVault are now known and being used by modelers around the world.
