I love reading these profiles, guys. Every one of you knows things the rest of
us don't so don't be bashful about telling us about you.
Collectively we are a tremendous resource.
--- In harleysgenie@yahoogroups.com, "dion9146" <dion9146@...> wrote:
>
> Harley, great idea on these intros. We have some impressive members with
equally impressive backgrounds. Mine won't be up there near as good, but here
goes...
>
> My 'real' name is Dion Dunn, 42ish, live with my Wife and 2 wonderful children
ages 7 and 4. Although I have live in Louisville, KY for the past 2 years, I'm
originally from the North Coast of Ohio where I grew up flying around the Lake
Erie islands in an old Piper Cub. I'm employed as a management consultant
specializing in Information Technology strategy. Sometimes my job keeps me on
the road, or has me slamming long hours, so my ability to get immersed in my
hobbies comes and goes with the tide.
>
> Speaking of hobbies, I have two that share time. I've been a car nut my
entire life and have been into Porsche 914's for the better part of 15 years.
My current car is a 1974 914 6 cylinder with a 1986 Carrera engine.
Rediculously fast is one way to describe it. I also used to race formula cars
in SCCA competition, but that passed as my children took center stage. I still
love to turn a wrench and enjoy Summer drives in my 'expensive hobby'.
>
> Of course my other hobby is model airplanes, primarily sailplanes. I was very
active back in the 80's during college when my favorite plane was a full-house
Sagitta 600. But like some of the other stories, graduation from college and
other interests (cars again) took me away from sailplanes. Fast faorward to
vacation in the Fall of 2004 when my Wife bought me a RC Model magazine for
something to read while we were on the plane. Needless to say, that was like
relighting a fire that had gone out for too many years. I was reading and
obsorbing everything I could off of the internet, and completely amazed at how
far the hobby had come since 1987. But, I was also dissappointed at the same
time. Too many moldies, too many ARF's, not enough building or kits available.
>
> This concern eventually led me to searching for buildable designs and I came
across Mark Drella's Allegro design and Harley's Genie line. I opted to build
the Allegro Lite first because I'm good with balsa and I wanted to try the hefty
CF/kevlar wrapped spars. The Allegro is an amazing little ship, and you can
practically stand on the wing.
>
> This past Winter I built a Sagitta 900 and got involved with flying in a club
contest series that I CD'd here for the Louisville Area Soaring Society. Not
only did I wing the series, I also got to fly with some of the best pilots in
the country. Now I'm ready to move on to a full-house ship again, so this
Winter the Genie gets built! I have Harley's kit, about $150 worth of balsa,
ply/spruce sitting in a box, the plans, and the RDS system. I also have the
short kit for the Genie wood wing and SGP fuse, and I'll end up building one
fuselage and two different wings. It should be fun comparing and contrasting
the two very different ships.
>
> I obviously stay connected to this group for infomration, but also to stay
motivated. These intros have done the trick. I can't wait to get started on
the SGP.
>
> Dion
>