Jim is a former automotive engineer, turned pastor and financial adviser, with a love of aviation. He was born and raised in Michigan, then as a young adult moved to Australia with his young family, engaged in a church planting mission.
During his time in university, Jim took flying lessons and passed his written test for a private pilot’s licence. He flew a Citabra, Piper Cherokee, Cessna 150 and a Piper Super Cub during those years, but didn’t go far enough to complete his licence.
As his boys got old enough, Jim began to build and fly control line planes with them. This was a revival of an earlier interest, as Jim built and flew a control line plane when he was a kid. Their favourites were Great Planes Ringmasters. They also had a go with a combat flying wing.
Around the time that the kids were approaching teenage years, Jim bought a Great Planes Trainer 40 kit, and built it. It was powered by an OS Max FX46. Soon he added a Aerobat 40. Both of those are still flying today, some 25 years or so later, and have a home in Jim’s garage.
But, there was also a big gap in Jim’s model plane flying. In 2004 Jim and his wife moved from Melbourne to Lake Macquarie, NSW. The boys had moved on, one to pursue a professional career in aviation, and the other in university, studying business. And, being near a beautiful lake, and having come from Michigan, a state surrounded by and filled with lakes, Jim focused on the water for a number of years, involving sailing and other water sports.
But, as Jim was approaching retirement, Jim thought of those planes still hanging in his garage, and decided to get back into the sport. That was in 2022. As his old planes were nitro powered, and the engines were a bit gummed up, he decided to follow the recommendation of the club that he was joining, and purchased an electric powered 1800 FMS Ranger.
Since then, Jim has purchased a number of additional models. Along the way he has managed to crash several of them, and all but one he has fixed and he is still flying them today. He loves to learn, and what he learns he loves to share. That’s the focus of his YouTube channel, @rcjim.
See more details about Jim’s story at: https://rcjim.com/2024/12/15/jims-story/
RC Jim 