2022 PAMPA Hall of Fame (HOF) Inductees !

[Mark Weiss]

It is my honor to announce the names of these four gentlemen who have been voted into our PAMPA Hall of Fame!

      Bob McDonald
      Dave Gierke
      Gerry Phelps
      Tom Dixon

On July 9, 2023, we will honor these newest members at our 50th Anniversary Banquet in Muncie, Merry Phelps will be there to accept Gerry's plaque
while Dave, Bob, and Tom will be handed theirs as well.

Tickets for this very special evening are still available at the PAMPA website:

      www.pampacl.org

[Crist Rigotti]

What a great group of guys.  My congratulations go to each one.  Well done fellas!  Looking forward to the banquet!

[John Paris]

Congratulations to the inductees.  Just a reminder that you can also sign up for the banquet when you register for the Nats.
John

[Mark Weiss]

I am surprised there are not more comments and congratulations. Being nominated and voted into the PAMPA Hall of Fame is our highest honor. It is reserved for those individuals, who for many years, made and in some cases still make significant and lasting contributions to the CL stunt community.

We would not have what we have today without these special individuals.

[Leonard Bourel]

Many thanks to all the new inductees You have all brought much to the world of stunt and I have been lucky enough to know 3 of the four newest inductees and have learned things from them Congratulations guys

[EricV]

Tom Dixon is someone I have known since I was a kid and Eddy R took me to my first contest... probably one of the KOI, but I saw a lot of Tom at all the local contests that he regularly supported like the Southeast Stunt Championships, the Rebel Rally, and eventually as of late, Tom would even make the haul all the way down to Manatee County for our club contests .. there used to be a lot of contests in the southeast and Tom was/is a fixture at most of them.

The first thing I remember Tom Flying was his big Merco powered Tbird 60. To an impressionable kid, it seemed just perfect... put putting along seemingly so slow and on rails, making these abrupt yet clean turns, and the sound of that Merco was to me what Sparky probably hears when a good running Harley goes by. It was music to my ears and eye candy to my eyes.

When I did my time as a PAMPA District V VP Tom never let our longstanding acquaintance get in the way of him setting me straight with one of his famous, lengthy, sometimes painfully to the point hand written missives. LOL! But that is OK... I get Tom, and understand his motivation, his sometimes painful honesty, and his cut through the mustard and lets just get stuff done attitude. You come to actually appreciate that over time and you never have to guess where you stand with him. Tom has a ton of enthusiasm and was a driving factor in keeping contests going in the southeast during the doldrums of CL before its first comeback. Congrats Tom, you earned it!

I know Bob M and have flown and hung out with him in Muncie a little bit. He has been at this a long time and has contributed a lot to CL over the years. Congrats to you as well Bob!

I wish I could say I knew the others as well, but it is only by reputation, which makes this seem like an obvious no brainer and are well chosen.

As the knight in the Indiana Jones movie said, You have chosen wisely. 

EricV

[Dennis Adamisin]

It has been my pleasure to know and fly with all of the this years class.  Collectively they represent the best of us with respect to competitive excellence, technical innovation, designs published and service to the Stunt Community and PAMPA at large.


Also, kudos to Mark Weiss & Keith Trostle for reinvigorating the Hall of Fame process.
 

[Robert Zambelli]

I'd like to add some comments. mostly from my own experiences.

Bob McDonald: Heard of him, never met him.

Dave Gierke: I've known Dave since the late 50s. We kinda learned how to fly together when I lived in the Buffalo/Tonawanda area.
I moved to Syracuse in the early 60s and we lost touch.
We hooked up again in the late 60s and when I visited him I was totally amazed at his building, finishing and detail skills. He actually inspired me to re-enter model aviation and I built my first Euclid based on his NOVI III numbers. It was a great flying plane.
He's published a number of books, some of which I've had the pleasure to read.
In my opinion, he is the absolute best model aviation craftsman I've ever known.
He truly deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Gerry Phelps: Met him at one of the earliest Brodak Fly-Ins. World class builder and flyer and a really nice guy. He and Merry made a great team. Hall of Fame - OF COURSE!

Tom Dixon: A really fine contributor to our sport. He's helped me and others on numerous occasions. One of the most dedicated builder/flyers I've ever met. I wish I had his enthusiasm and skill for building. He builds more planes than anyone I've ever known - and, they ALL seem to fly well.
A definite and well deserved addition to the Hall of Fame.

Bob Z.