Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsRon Scharck – Modeler of the Year – 1996
As a kid growing up in Texas, Ron initially had tried control line models. However, it wasn’t until later that he got involved with a local RC club near Houston, mainly flying powered pattern aircraft. He and a few others in that club started flying RC sailplanes when the pattern flying had ended for the day. He began to enjoy that aspect of the hobby and wondered where it could lead.
Having married and moved to La Jolla in 1993, Ron visited the Torrey Pines Gliderport and eagerly joined the Gulls. Smart guy – he left his pattern stuff in Texas and moved to San Diego armed only with RC sailplanes. While he joined the real estate team at Keller Williams, a job which he would hold for ~20 years, Ron rapidly began flying in a variety of contests with TPG, largely as a Sportsman. His first thermal duration contest was the March, 1993 event where he placed second in sportsman flying an Olympic II, behind Mike Lee who flew an Airtronics Legend. In April he flew a CR Turbo in the 60” slope races at Torrey.
In April, TPG hosted a two-day contest/camp out at Blair Dry Lake near Scissors Crossing. The idea was to have cross country and thermal duration events. Unfortunately for Ron, the lift was so good that he lost sight of his Airtronics Falcon 880 and it proceeded to crash far from the field. But later that same month Ron flew an RnR Genesis in the TD contest and came in second to Don Richmond in Sportsman. Apparently, he managed to find another Falcon 880 or repair the previous one quickly as by May he was flying a Falcon in the TD contest, this time finishing second to Erik Larson. As TPG was just getting into hand launch glider competition at about this same time with one-day HLG events, Ron flew a CR Climmax in the June HLG contest placing 14th out of 25. Of the 25 planes flown, 8 were Climmaxes (Climmaxi?). Those were the days. By May 1993 Ron attended an “aerobatic contest” at Torrey Pines (the brainchild of Mike Lee). There were different classes of aircraft (2-channel vs. open). Participation was just as weak as the winds were fickle, but 10 pilots had fun with Ron winning the 2-channel class, and Steve Neu winning the open division. By October, Ron Scharck was third place year-to-date in the slope races, and first place in sportsman for thermal duration. He finished the year tied for 5th in slope, and second in TD sportsman.
In 1993, the TPG held its meetings at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. The meetings were decently attended, with a speaker and popular “Gull’s Nest” raffle. As Ron made the contest circuit in 1993, he wondered if it wouldn’t be possible to get model manufacturers to pitch in their gear for free to the club and convert what was the “Gull’s Nest” into the “Super Raffle.” In order to achieve this mission, he volunteered to serve as Vice President in 1994. The super raffle would basically be a Gull’s Nest on steroids. At each of the monthly meetings in 1994, Ron arranged for an amazing assortment of goodies – transmitters, kits, “other good stuff” (OGS). And at each monthly meeting someone would win a raffle ticket for the “super raffle” which would be held at the December meeting. This concept worked wonders. Attendance at the monthly meetings in 1993 averaged 80-90 people. Ron was giving away an Airtronics Infinity 600 transmitter each month in addition to many kits.
In 1994 Ron also continued with his interest in contests. He served as a contest director for thermal duration events, and traveled with the “TPG Dream Team” of George Joy, Fred Sage, Don Richmond, Steve Stricklett, Rick Shelby, and Paul Stubb to Lubbock Texas to attend the 1994 AMA Nationals. TPG’s George Joy served as the CD for the NATS RC soaring events. Not only did TPG help run the event so many miles away but out of the 26 plaques awarded, 14 went to TPG pilots. Ron finished 2nd in the 2-meter division, and TPG took the team trophy. He later wrote in the newsletter “In every sense of the word, the Gulls were a team. We worked together, we flew together, we ate together and we had one hell of a time…together! And everyone that came into contact with us knew we were the 1994 NATS Soaring Team of the Torrey Pines Gulls, San Diego, California. And Damn Proud of It!”
On the way to what was likely the International Modelers Show in Pasadena, California, Ron rode up in a car with other TPGers. Hand launch glider contests were growing and there was clearly interest in having a large TPG event. Ron came up with the idea of advertising a truly “International” event and making it a two-day affair to try to attract people from around the world to come fly with TPG. Given the success that Team TPG had at helping to run the NATS, running a 2-day HLG contest seemed like an achievable goal. 10 rounds, two days, in late October, 1994, complete with t-shirts, Tony Roma’s BBQ, and plaques to the top five pilots plus the top club represented at the meet. The International Hand Launch Glider Contest was born with Steven Stricklett serving as the first Contest Director. Ron participated in this first contest, finishing 21st out of 26 pilots. For many years to come Ron would become the spokesperson for the IHLGF, helping to market it to the world, and helping to make it a success.
Ron wasn’t done yet for 1994. His Super Raffle was coming together nicely. Nine lucky winners of the Super Raffle tickets from each month would be at the December meeting with the chance to win the following list of amazing prizes:
- Airtronics Vision PCM Transmitter
- Clerx Aeronautics Make Unlimited sailplane
- JR X-388S transmitter
- Airtronics Peregrine unlimited sailplane
- Futaba Super 7UGFS transmitter
- Saturn 2.9T unlimited sailplane
- Levoe Super Vee 2-meter sailplane
- Shadow 2-meter sailplane
- Supreme Competition Sailplane Flight pack from Hitec RCD
- CR Contender 2-meter slope sailplane
- $150 gift certificate from RnR products
Ron also arranged for club t-shirts. He even had local restaurants pitching in with gift certificates for the monthly raffles. Man on a mission indeed! Oh, and lest we forget that the TPG Christmas party that year also included a “Galaxy Championship of Miniature Hand Toss Gliders” because well, for a club that just started an international contest, we really wanted to step up our game further.
Ron continued as VP in 1995 and carried forth with the Super Raffle concept. He and other Gulls helped source “the best” equipment and products available. These were then advertised in the newsletter and added to the regular monthly Gull’s Nest and Super Raffle for the end of the year. The monthly attendance at the meetings started to grow. Ron was also a regular at the TD contests that year, winning first place overall for the year in the Advanced class. His total score of 11302 for the year was actually second even in the Expert category, right behind Fred Sage. In 1995 Ron also arranged to have a donation of $1,000 by the TPG to the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation of San Diego. The super raffle that year was another big hit; transmitters, a Mako, RnR Genesis, Airtronics Legend, etc. – a total of 19 amazing prizes all coordinated by the tireless efforts of Ron Scharck. 170 members attended that meeting, and yes, once again there was a “Galaxy championship” for indoor free flight planes. (Arthur Markiewicz was the Galaxy champion that year – how cool it must be to be champion of an entire Galaxy! Ask Arthur next time you see him). The December Christmas party also included ~30 “door prizes” of other kits that composed the basis of the regular Gulls Nest. It was an amazing night.
One perhaps would have thought by now that Ron would have won the Modeler of the Year trophy in 1994 or 1995 but those awards went to Larry Fogel and Jerry Fry respectively for their other laudable efforts. In 1996, Ron took a break and no longer served as Vice President. But the Super Raffle continued under his leadership through 1996. Even Ron Scharck himself won one of the super raffle tickets at the March 1996 club meeting. Go figure. At the December 1996 Super Raffle, 47 winners were awarded an amazing amount of stuff. Ron also gathered raffle prizes for the IHLGF. Was Santa somehow doubling as Ron? Only Ron knows the truth. At the 1996 Christmas Party, finally, the Modeler of the Year trophy was bestowed upon Ron Scharck. Should we change the name on the plaque to Santa? Perhaps not.
As if he didn’t already have enough to do, armed with this new large piece of hardware, Ron volunteered to fill in as newsletter editor in 1997. With >200 members that meant taking a file to a print shop to bring the newsletters in bulk. Then they had to be folded and taped for mailing. Address labels added. Then a trip to the main post office for special bulk mailing. This chore was repeated 12 times a year, largely without much fanfare from the masses. Many unsung heroes filled this role. Ron did a great job and continued to fly with the TPG through the 1990s into the 2010s. He and Don Richmond formed a formidable contest duo, attending many NATS together over that time, even bringing some trophies home for TPG. At Ron’s request Don Richmond also served as the CD for many of the early IHLGFs. However, for Ron an unfortunate boating accident in 2014 left him with the need to move back to Texas to be closer to family. He still enjoys flying RC every now and then and is pleased to see the IHLGF and the club doing so well after so many years.
