MIKE WELSHANS
FAC Vice President
By Jay Smith | jays@modelaircraft.org
JAY SMITH: How did you become involved in model aviation?
MIKE WELSHANS: I was born in 1947 and was always obsessed with airplanes. I think this was because I had a large Hawker Hurricane model that my dad had built hanging in my bedroom over my crib and later in my room when growing up. It was one of my first memories.
My dad, a retired Royal Canadian Air Force pilot officer, and mom moved to the Detroit area from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, just weeks before I was born. Dad had built a few models when I was small—mostly early sheet-balsa rubber models that a 3- or 4-year-old couldn’t damage too much.
As I got a little older, my grandma would get me the odd 10¢ or 15¢ Comet sheet wood kits that were available in the early 1950s. I was addicted! After my marriage, I started building and flying Control Line (CL) and Free Flight (FF)—mostly scale stuff. I have built models most of my life and flown models most of my adult life.
JS: How has model aviation impacted your life and/or career?
MW: I spent 37 years working in the retail world. I realized that if you are not in upper management, it didn’t offer much in the way of fulfillment other than a decent paycheck. After I started building and flying CL and FF Scale and my models started appearing in national magazines, it gave me a great sense of self-worth. I have tried to encourage fellow modelers throughout the last 47 years the same way that the hobby did for me.
JS: In what disciplines of modeling do you currently participate in?
MW: I currently build and fly FF Scale and Sport models these days, mostly for the many Flying Aces Club (FAC) events.
JS: What other hobbies do you have?
MW: Today, model aircraft and my family, both blood-related and chosen, are my hobbies. I’m involved with several areas of FF, including the FAC, National Free Flight Society, and National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA). I mostly work with the FAC these days, but I help out wherever I can when needed.
JS: Who or what has influenced you the most?
MW: At my first Cloudbusters Model Airplane Club meeting in 1976, I was a very shy person, and when I walked into the room with 40 or so club members, Paul Bradley walked up, introduced himself, and made me feel very comfortable and welcome. Paul became a lifelong friend.
Another is Stan Alexander, with whom I worked running the AMA Nats Scale events for many years. Together, we ran the RC and CL Scale events back in the 1990s. Bob Underwood was also a huge help as the contest director (CD) at my first AMA Nats in 1982 and became a lifelong friend.
John Guenther, former NASA president, put me to work as a Scale judge in 1987 at the Nats. He also remained a close friend. Sadly, Bob and John are no longer with us. There are so many other people who influenced my modeling life that I can’t possibly mention them all. I have done my best over the years to promote other modelers the same way that they and others have encouraged and promoted me.
JS: Looking back over your time in the hobby, what are you most proud of?
MW: I have had opportunities to work with and promote AMA, including being the CL Scale event director (ED) for most Nats during the ’90s, and then being the FAC ED during the Nats from 2012-2020.
I was the F4B CD during the ’90s when the team selections were held during the Nats and the F4B and F4C CD in 2003 when the US Team Selection was held.
To me, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale events are important because modelers who compete in the world championships are where much of the technology used in today’s models, including FF, CL, and RC, has been developed.
In serving others, you do not get to fly as much, but it is very rewarding and supports this great hobby.
