Tom Kiesling (Pilot)

Tom is a 38 year old Mechanical Engineer from California. Tom has been modeling for over 20 years. Tom moved to San Diego last year to live with his new wife, Betty and their three cats.

Tom's collaboration with Dr. Drela has resulted in one of the most interesting new entries in the F3J sailplane world, the Supra. While competing with his own design planes, Tom has recorded an extraordinary achievement record placing him in the top echelons of soaring in the USA.

Tom was a member of the 2004 and 2006 US F3J team. Tom has also been a pilot for the 2007 US F3B team and an alternate for 2001 and 2003 teams, multi time National Champion, and a multi time Eastern Soaring League Season Champion.

Tom will be flying the Freestyler 3 at the 2009 World championships controlled with a JR12X. He is looking forward to a fantastic competition in Ivancice.

Mike Smith (Pilot)

Mike is still a licensed civil engineer and continues to be Vice President of BHA, Inc., a civil engineering, planning and land surveying firm in Carlsbad, California. This business specializes in private development for both commercial and residential properties, sewer and waterline plans and public and private street improvement plans. Mike has been in the civil engineering industry for 25 years.

Personally, Mike lives in Scripps Ranch, a community of San Diego, California with his wife Jeannie and her two boxer’s Dallas and Gracie. He has an 11 year old daughter named Carly. He moved to California with his parents back in 1976, and has been a resident of San Diego County ever since.

As far as RC soaring goes, Mike was introduced to it by his father back in 1975. His first model was a single channel (rudder only) Nomad, which he flew often when he accompanied his father to the flying field. He has been involved in competitive RC soaring since about 1978 under the tutelage of Mark Smith. He has won the Nationals twice for Unlimited Soaring, and Once for F3B, and Once for Hand Launch Glider. He won the first ever World Soaring Masters Contest in Muncie in late September, 2006, and placed 4th in 2008. He has won his share of contests over the last 33 years Visalia in 2000, and took top honors for the Western States Triad series in 2001. His favorite event is F3B with handlaunch glider coming in a close second. Mike says F3B challenges both plane and pilot like no other RC soaring event, and it more closely approaches being a true "sport" than other formats. Mike was recently featured in an instructional video from Radio Carbon Art – Soaring Master Class 1, by Paul Naton.

Currently, his favorite gliders include the Aspire by Lubos Pazderka (Czech Republic), the High End (Dieter Perlick - HKM USA), the Target (Hans-Peter Gölz – Germany), the Warp-T and Altus (Dieter Perlick-Germany), the SupersonicR (Aerosport Becker-Germany), the SALpeter (Tud-Modelltechnik-Germany), XP-4 (DLG Polecat Aeroworks). He uses the Airtronics Stylus for guidance on all of his gliders.

Sharon 3.7 Pro Tips by Mike Smith

Mike Lachowski (Pilot)

Mike Lachowski started in RC at age 11. He has been scratch building models for a long time and have experience in all sailplane construction techniques including CAD design of molds and molded construction. He has also built everything needed to support F3B contests from winches to sighting devices and even an automated F3B signaling/timing/counting system to reduce the help required to timing and score F3b contests and minimize errors by officials.

Mike started the Radio Control Soaring Exchange, back in the stoneages of the Internet which served as a great communications channel for the soaring community for many years. He was awarded the LSF Le Grey Award for Outstanding Service to Soaring for his efforts in running RCSE and supporting F3b in the US.

He is the current 2008 National Champion for RES, Unlimited and F3B sailplanes and past National Champion in 2Meter, RES, F3B. Mike was alternate for the 2007 US F3b Soaring Team and a member of the 2003 US F3b Soaring Team.

Radio - JR12X; F3b sailplanes - Tool, Ceres; Unlimited - Supra, Virga; RES - Bubble Dancer; Nostalgia - Mirage; 2M - Aegea 2M; Scale - 1:2.9 Foka 4, 1:3 Salto, 1:4 Pilatus B-4; Lots of slope trash and small electrics for fun flying.

Kyle Paulson (Team Manager)

Kyle Paulson is part owner with his father of Wheel World Bicycles; a multi-channel, highly successful, bicycle retail and mail order operation doing business since 1945. Together they run two retail and two warehouse locations plus a mail order operation and plan to be doing the same for years to come. Kyle is responsible for all day to day operations, advertising, buying, staffing and just about anything else other than doing the books, done by his father.

Kyle lives in Westlake Village, California. He is married to his wife Mary Pat and together they have 4 children; Courtney, Christian, Kyler and Koby. Kyle has been a SoCal resident most of his life and plans to stay for years to come. He and his family love to camp and travel, many times going to locations and events centered around soaring competitions and fly sites. Kyler at 13 years old, the third child, flies and competes with his father Kyle and has been known to “put the hurt on the Old Guys” at times. Kyle and Kyler do most of their flying together and are “two-peas-in-a-pod”, “like father like son”. Look out for Kyler in the years to come!

Competition is the big draw for Kyle in all types of soaring. His specialty has been F3F and he is now branching out to F3B, Thermal Duration and F3K. He flies to compete and does well under pressure. He has been flying RC for 8 years and loves it more than ever. Some of his accomplishments include: 2 time F3F Viking Team member placing 10th in 2006 in Scotland and 5th at the 2008 Viking Race in Slovakia. He is currently the Southern California F3F Point Series Champion, 3 consecutive years in a row, 2006, 2007 and 2008. He also is the Point Series Champion of the 2008 F3F So Cal Cup. Kyle has also held multiple World Records, Dynamic Soaring. His most recent, although no longer the record, was DS’ing at Parker Mtn. at 302mph, caught on film and by radar gun. Kyle says his goals for the coming year are to win both the Southern California F3F Point Series for the 4th time, the So Cal Cup for the 2nd time and also to practice F3B with the goal of making the 2011 US F3B Team. Wish him luck!

Kyle is currently flying the Freestyler, Tanga and the Precious and loves them all for both F3F and F3B. For Thermal Duration he flies the Supra and for F3K, the Aspirin. Again he can’t say enough good things about these models. Kyle’s radio of choice is the Airtronics Stylus.

Kyle says he is honored to be chosen as the 2009 F3B Team Manager and will do his best to help them win at the World Championships!

Craig Greening (Helper)

Craig has been involved in modeling for about 25 years, having been taught to fly by his father while growing up in Sydney, Australia. He moved to the United States in '99 and became involved in soaring in 2001.

He was the alternate pilot for the 2006 USA F3J team and part of both the 2002 and 2006 US F3J teams as a tower and helper. He has flown F3B at club level and was Base A helper for Mike and Aaron at the 2004 Team Select.  In 2007, he was Team Manager for the F3B WC in Switzerland.

Recently, his interests have turned to Giant Scale racing where he is an active pilot and composite kit manufacturer.  He continues to fly thermal duration, and in 2007 was National Champion in Unlimited and 2m Soaring.  Other interests include aerotowing, scale and free flight.

He is an active full size pilot and is currently working on several building projects.

Don Barker (Helper)

Don is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland and has been in and out of model aviation for 50+ years. During his early modeling he dabbled in u-control, free flight gliders, and indoor rubber. In the mid 80’s he got seriously hooked on RC gliders. Don actively participated in the early development of the new composite construction techniques and the control capabilities that the new computer radios brought to glider design.

Adrenaline sports sucked Don away from TD soaring for a while, but in the early 2000’s he discovered the adrenaline rush found in F5B flying. Don naturally drifted towards F3B due to his preference for non-motorized soaring flight. Since then Don has become an enthusiastic F3B flyer. Don has participated in the past two F3B NATs and team selection contests. He has flown in different years as a team mate of US Team Pilots Tom K and Mike L.

Fred Sena (Helper)

Fred was born and still resides in the small town of Nipomo, California. He is 41 years old and has 6 children. Lielani, Dominic, Dylan, Cierra, Faith and Bryce. He is a licensed concrete contractor and specializes in decorative concrete.

Fred has been interested in R/C airplanes since he was about 10 years old. He flew mostly power planes until he was recently introduced to gliders about a little over a year ago. He has since then grown fascinated and has become very interested in learning the art of building and flying R/C sailplanes. He does not fly power planes much anymore since then. He has competed in 3 TD events so far this year and on his second contest he placed 2nd flying in the 2 meter class at the Spring Fling in Sacramento. He also flew in the Grass Mountain MOM unlimited slope event and tried f3f at Pt Fermin for the first time this year.

Fred has taken a deep interest in f3b and has attended several clinic type f3b events. He loves it so much he has helped organize an event In California Valley last summer and is helping to organize another event in '09' on January 24th and 25th.

Planes that he currently is flying are the Ceres, Sharon, Stratos SR-3, Inigma (2 meter), Encore DLG, Photon 2 DLG a few foamies for combat and a JW that he plans to learn how to DS with.