Hi Bob,
It's been a long, long time!
West coast speed flier extraordinaire, Luke Roy notified me of your post concerning the control-line fliers of Western New York. After reading your line up of people who built and flew back then, I had to write in with the names of a few others: Warren DuBuke of North Tonawanda comes to mind as a very proficient stunt and combat flier. Wally Krull of NT also fell into that category. Norm Dion, a good friend, helped to promote and sponsor many of the early '60s stunt competitions in our area, including the New York State Stunt Championships. Not a flier himself, Norm was a superb builder, who helped to develop many of our young CL fliers.
Lady Lundy of nearby Lockport, NY was another of control line's founding fathers, right along with one of my mentors, Harold "Pappy" deBolt. Harold Keller, a rival and competitor of deBolt—primarily in speed competition—should also be mentioned in this dissertation. Howie Thomas, a fantastic builder and flier of both CL and RC models, would receive my vote of the most talented of WNY modelers. Not the best flier...but you should have seen his models!
I worked for deBolt during the summers, while attending Buffalo State Teachers College. In between cutting kits, I was privileged to meet some of our sports most exalted personalities, including: Goldberg, Maloney, Kraft, Worth, Winter, Schroeder, Kreihbiel, Dunham and many others. inevitably, Pappy would invite these visitors to the local flying field for impromptu flying sessions. As a 17-21 year old (at the time), I had the opportunity to witness many of the "greats" as they flew their models—both CL and RC—and I also queried them as to their building and finishing techniques...the later of which was invaluable.
There are many more individuals that should be mentioned here...but my recollections are growing dim. Thanks for the opportunity to recall some of my memories, Bob.
Dave Gierke