I Am the AMA
Dub Jett
Owner of Jett Engineering, Pylon Racer, AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame member
by Jay Smith
Jay Smith: How did you get involved with model aviation?
Dub Jett: I lived in the country. There were three men (famous in the 1950s and ’60s by the name of Grogan) who started a hobby shop in their house. I could often hear the engines running and finally convinced my parents to take me to watch. I got my first model for my seventh birthday. It was an F&B trainer with a Fox .25. The kit cost $1.25.
JS: How has model aviation impacted your life and/or career?
DJ: I have both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering. I was telling people I was going to be an aeronautical engineer before I knew what it was. When we had career days at school, I was always frustrated because they never had that category.
Life has many turns, and in my case so many of them were influenced by my love of models. When I made the switch from aeronautics to working in the oilfield, I remember telling the boss, “This is what I do for fun.” It’s all the same: You think about it, design it, make it, and test it. I would not have had it any other way. Because of those skills, I was able to do very well in business.
Work in the oilfield crashed and burned in the early 1990s and I took that same passion and skill into the model engine building business. It is not a great business from a profit standpoint, but the rewards are much greater than money. Again, I would not have it any other way.
JS: What disciplines of modeling do you currently participate in?
DJ: RC Pylon Racing, but before that I flew Free Flight and Control Line (CL).
JS: What are your other hobbies?
DJ: Surely, you jest.
JS: Who (or what) has influenced you the most?
DJ: In model airplanes, it was Duke Fox, Ed Rankin, and my friend and caller, John Shannon. Duke was sort of a hero who appeared, driving his Rolls Royce, at many of the CL meets. I visited his factory several times, which fired a passion for building engines.
Ed was an aerospace engineer who flew Speed, then Pylon. Early on, he was my role model for what I wanted to be after I got out of school. I met John when we were both [competing as] Juniors, and that fueled an intense competition and friendship that has lasted more than 50 years.
Of course, I can’t leave out my wife, Donna, who has tolerated all this, and all of my very good friends who also tolerate me.
JS: What advice would you give someone looking to get started in Pylon Racing?
DJ: Besides buying a Jett? First, it is important to know that flying is more important than what’s under the hood. Even the experts often forget that. Having a good, straight model (weight is also secondary), trimmed correctly, and then knowing where you are on the course comes with experience.
Someone told me when I switched from CL to Pylon, “Be prepared for it to take five years.” I won my first major contest, then the national point’s championship in my fifth year.
Second, engines are important, but how you operate them is more important. Buy a test stand. Use it. You can break your engines in while testing propellers, and at the same time learn the characteristics of each engine. They are like children, all different. Learn the difference between rich and lean!
Go to races. My favorite bad excuse is, “I didn’t come to the race because I have not had time to practice.” One lap at a race is worth 10 laps in practice.
