I’m originally from Texas. After high school, I enlisted in the Air Force as an Aircraft Avionics Guidance and Control Specialist. After basic training, I reported to Keesler AFB, Mississippi to learn my job. After eight months of tech school, I reported to my first assignment at Dyess AFB, Texas working on C-130H aircraft in the 463d TAW, 773 ALS. Later the 463d was inactiviate and the 7 Wing and the 40th Airlift Squadron stood up. While at Dyess, I participated in OPERATION DESERT STORM, SOUTHERN WATCH and FLOWING PEN.
In 1996, I was reassigned to Robins AFB, Georgia to stand up the new 93rd ACW and the E-8C JSTARS. While at Robins, I deployed to support the first use of JSTARS in a Red Flag exercise and OPERATION DESERT FOCUS.
I left the Air Force in 1999 and returned to Texas to work at Bell Helicopter’s Military Aircraft Assembly Center as a Flightline Electrician on the MV-22B Osprey. During my time as a flight electrician, I delivered nine Low Rate Initial Production, two Engineering Manufacturing and Design-Return to Flight prototypes, 12 Block A MV-22 and the only Additional Test Asset (ATA) CV-22B to the Air Force. During my last four years at Bell, I was a Senior Reliability Engineer on the H-1 Upgrades Program (UH-1Y/AH-1Z). After almost 12 years at Bell Helicopter. I briefly went into flight simulation as a reliability engineer at FlightSafety International. I returned to Bell Helicopter and the H-1 Upgrades Program. I returned to reliability engineering, but an opportunity presented itself in H-1 Upgrades Military Training. Given my unique experience with flight simulators and the aircraft, I was a perfect fit for this position. I feel a lot of pride supporting the warfighter.
I am married to a great woman who understands my passion for this hobby. I have a bachelors degree in business management with a minor in aerospace control systems and a masters degree in computer information systems.
I thought you'd like to see some shots of my current project. Revell's X-Wing fighter kit is the largest injection molded iteration of George Lucas' iconic spaceship. While big is cool, the kit leaves a lot to be desired.
1. It's a snap-tite k[...]
The first aircraft to change the geometry of the wing in flight. This design was taken from the Messerschmidt P.1101 aircraft.
The Revell kit goes back to the 1950s. This kit follows the norm of the time period, like moving wings and control su[...]
Like Monogram, Revell responded to the breakthrough success of Testors' F-19 Stealth Fighter with a "Could Be..." Stealth model of its own. Only in this case, the plane was the long-rumored B-2 Stealth Bomber.
Working from known flying wing [...]
This kit was given to me about 10 years ago from a former club member. I started on it then and it eventually got shelved and shoved back in to the box. Recently, I decided to start building some of my Star Wars kits and this one need to be comp[...]
Last Christmas I received both the X-Wing and the First Order Tie Fighter kits. I'm kind of on a Star Wars building kick at the moment and decided to pull this one out of the stash and get started on it. It is Interesting to note that while this[...]
My son's 7th birthday was recently and he got a Hobby Lobby gift card. When we went to pick something out, he wanted the Revell Snap Tite Max The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon. Overall, it doesn't seem to be too bad of a kit. It looks like the[...]
It's not quite finished, but thought I would post anyway.
I got this model off ebay. It was an estate sale purchase.
I paid way too much for it, but I like the old dogs and it is an original Strombecker kit.
Here is the condition it arrived:
[...]
Here is a in-flight depiction of one the C-130H models (74-1666 -"Damien") that I worked on while I was assigned to the 40th Airlift Squadron, Dyess AFB, Texas. All wing, squadron, nose art and tail numbers were all custom printed by me using th[...]
This is the old Monogram, ex-Aurora, F-111A Swing Wing Fighter kit.
I back dated the kit to represent the first RTD&E aircraft. Backdating the aircraft wasn't that hard. The major modification is the fuel dump area in between the two engin[...]
This is the original 1977 MPC release of Darth Vaders TIE Fighter. The kit, being an original release went together very well! The biggest draw back of this kit is that there is a warp molded into the kit that is really impossible to fix. So wha[...]
