Presenting the 2009 US F3C Worlds Team

Curtis Youngblood

Curtis Youngblood has won the World Championships 3 times and the US Nationals 18 times. He is an accomplished 3D pilot and has won numerous awards in that field. Curtis also runs Curtis Youngblood Enterprises which makes products for the RC helicopter industry.

Curtis began his flying career with a “Livewire Champion” trainer airplane over 26 years ago in Bryan, Texas. He followed that with a Schluter Heliboy helicopter and has never looked back. Curtis has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Curtis has a special relationship with his Dad, Dave Youngblood. Together they design and build special hardware and electronics for the helicopter industry.

Curtis will be flying in the 2009 WC with a electric conversion JR Vibe helicopter. Curtis’ current sponsors are: JR Radio, Next D helis, Radix blades, Blurr Batteries, MiniG gyros, and PowerHelis.com.

Wayne Mann

Wayne Mann has been involved in helicopters at a high level for a number of years.  In June of 1992 he went to work for Miniature Aircraft USA in Orlando FL as head pilot, product tester and assistant developer of helicopter related products.  In fact, Wayne, in conjunction with a top engineer at Miniature Aircraft, helped develop and test a rotor head design that eventually went into production.  This rotor head design finished 1st and 3rd in the 1995 World Helicopter Championships in Kasaoka, Japan.  During this time Wayne was also consulting for the Futaba Corp and YS Engineering of Japan.
In January of 1998 he went to work as a Consultant for Kalt helicopters and Sanwa radios of Japan.  Wayne stayed with them until December of 1999.  In January of 2000 he starting consulting for Kyosho helicopters of Japan and also returned to Futaba Corp as a Consultant and has been there ever since.
I have been into Photography since 1982.  I have had several Nikon SLR film cameras and digital cameras over the years.  In 2006 Wayne decided to combine his love of helicopters with his love of digital and video cameras and formed a company to do aerial photography.
Wayne has been flying R/C aircraft since 1972 and helicopters since 1983.  He started competition flying with helicopters in 1986.  Since then Wayne has won over 50 F3C competitions in the US including the US Nationals and has been on every US World Championship Team since 1991. 
As always, Wayne is a valued member of Team USA and will help bring home the gold in 2009!

Dwight Shilling

Dwight Shilling has been flying R/C helicopters since 1983.  His first contest was the US Nationals in 1990 where I finished 19th.  Since then he has been bitten by the helicopter bug and has competed in every Nationals and tried out for the US WC team since 1991.  Dwight made his first US WC Team in 1995 where he finished 5th in the Worlds.  Since that time he has been a member of 6 out of 8 teams as a pilot and 2 times as the alternate member.

Dwight has been fortunate to have Kyosho and Futaba as his main sponsors, as well as, YS and others who have supported him throughout the years which has allowed him to pursue top level competition.

Dwight will be flying a Kyosho Caliber 90 with a Kyosho Swift fuselage.

Mike Goza (Team Manager)

Mike Goza has been flying RC helicopters and aircraft for over 35 years.  He was the Team Manager for Team USA in the 2005 WC held in Zamora, Spain where the team placed second.  He has competed in a number of FAI contests around the US for many years.  Mike was a columnist for Model Helicopter Technique and has written articles for other magazines.  In his spare time he works for the NASA Johnson Space Center in the field of robotics, computer graphics, and simulation.

Mike’s current sponsors are:  Miniature Aircraft, Morgan Fuels, Curtis Youngblood Enterprises, FlightPower, Futaba, YS Engines, and Duralite Batteries.

Mike is looking forward to helping the team bring home the gold in 2009 with Team USA!

Gordie Meade (Alternate)

I started flying glow powered model airplanes when I was 7 years old with a Cox 049 powered Cub control line model. I was actively building and flying rubber powered and glow powered free flight and control line model airplanes until I finished college and started a real job. I got my first RC plane, a Jensen Ugly Stik with an Orbit 4 channel radio at age 22. I have flown pattern, scale, pylon, soaring, and nearly anything else I could find, competitively for many years. I got my first helicopter, a GMP Competitor in 1988 and never looked back. I won Class 2 at the 1994 US Nationals in Lubbock Texas and progressed through AMA Class 3 and into FAI F3C, finishing as high as 4th in F3C at the 2007 US Nationals.

I am currently flying a Hirobo Freya Evo 90 with a YS 91 SR3C and Hatori exhaust. It is controlled by a Futaba 14 MZ on 2.4GHz with brushless digital servos and redundant NiCad batteries. I use Radix 710mm FAI style blades that weigh 208 grams and 95mm Radix tail rotor blades. I teach mathematics at the Laboratory School at Florida State University, my home for the last 29 years. I am married to my wonderful wife, Deborah, and have two step-daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, ages 22 and 18.

Cliff Hiatt (Alternate)

Cliff Hiatt was born on July 9, 1957 in Chitose, JAPAN, and currently resides (since 1978) in Winter Garden, FL.  He is currently employed by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL and serves as a mechanical engineer on the Javelin missile program.  He has been married since 1981 and has a 23 yr. old son and a 19 yr. old daughter.

Cliff began flying control line models in 1964 and R/C airplanes in 1970.  And his interest immediately was captured by competition fixed wing aerobatics and entered his first contest in 1974.  His record includes 1st place Advanced Class at the 1978 NATS, 1st place Expert Class at 1979 NATS and placed 7th at 1981 F3A Team Selection contest.

He became interested in flying R/C helicopters in 1982 and began competition flying soon after.  Cliff placed 3rd in F3C class at 1983 NATS, 1st place in AMA Expert and F3C classes at 1984 NATS and 1st place F3C class in 1988 and 1990 NATS.  He was also a member of the first US F3C team and placed 7th at 1985 F3C World Championships in London, Ontario, Canada. He also served as US Team Manager at the 1989 F3C World Championships in Tidewater, VA.  In 1995 he won the F3C World Championships in Kasaoka, JAPAN, placed 5th at 1997 F3C World Championships in Ankara, TURKEY and 5th at the 2001 F3C World championships in Muncie, IN.

CliffI currently serve as the Contest Board Coordinator for the Academy of Model Aeronautics.

Nob Muraki (Mechanic)

Nob started flying helicopters in 1988.  He started competition flying in 1989.  Nob took first place in the AMA Intermediate class at the 1990 US Nationals and started competing in F3C in 1991.  Nob was a team manager for the USA in the 1995 World Championships held in Japan where the Team captured the individual and team title that year.  He has also been a mechanic in several other World Championships.  I guess you could say that Nob has competition in his blood!

Nob would also like to thank his current sponsors:  Futaba and Morgan Fuels.

Richard Mann (Caller)

Richard Mann has been flying model since 1975.  At the age of 44, Richard has been active in model helicopters and has placed first and second at US Nationals.  As the brother of Wayne Mann, he will be calling for the US Team.