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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 8/17/2012 11:02 PM   
Chevelle


 

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From: Fairport, NY,
Status: offline 		Allow me to share some memories of Mike.  Mike and I are the same age and we grew up together in Old Tappan, NJ.  There was a group of about 5 or 6 of us that hung out together but there was a central "troica" made up of Mike ("Pope"), me ("Junc"), and Tom ("Art").  As you can see by his nickname, Mike was the ring leader.  Let's just say that he had a lot more guts than some other attributes so there were lots of adventures far to numerous to describe here.  Besides, I'm not sure about that whole statute of limitations thing.  I will tell you that my childhood would have been far less colorful if I had never known Mike.

I fondly recall spending countless hours at the high school turning in circles with Tom and Mike as we burned gallons of flew in our .049 powered control-line planes.  The three of us would ride our bikes to the hobby shop whenever there were a few more dimes and quarters in our pockets.  It was like we were entering a sacred temple whenever we when over to Mike's house and down into his basement.  There, like in a cave of stalagtites, hung plane after plane after plane.  It was the ol' man's (uh, Mr. Buzzeo's) collection.  To this day, those were the only times in my life when I ever held a Kraft radio.

Tom and I would ride up to to the flying field after stopping off for a quick Sabret hotdog and a soda from the truck and would watch Mr. B and the rest of the club fly.  Mr. B was (still is?) a very highly rated competition pattern flier.  Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed watching the master at work.

On one delightful sunny New Jersey day, the tree of us met again at the high school.  This time, the control-line routine wasn't getting the job done for Mike.  He decided to invent something right there on the spot.  He took the .049 motor off a plane and tied strings to each of the four mounting holes.  The other end of the strings he tied to a hankerchief.  He then proceeded to twist the whole affair up as he explained the theory.

Mike figured that if the string and hankerchief were twisted the right way, when the engine was started and let go, the torque of the motor would keep the whole thing twisted as it rose straight up.  Once the fuel ran out, the hankerchief would untwist and form a parachute.  Everything would float gracefully back to earth.

Now of course, the first thing that had to happen is that we had to start this thing.  Trust me.  I do not recommend that anyone attempt to start any engine, even an .049, by holding it in your bare hands.  Luckily, no digits well lost and we did manage to get this thing started.  We then flung it into the air expecting this thing to follow a straight up trajectory that NASA would be proud of. 

It was not to be.  That damned thing went everywhere except two places; straight up or into the ground.  It literally chased us all over that high school field.  I ran behind the baseball backstop as it chased me.  I figured it would just slam into the fencing.  Nope.  It got within a few feet and then veered up and headed in another direction.  It was amazing, terrifying, exhilerating, and exhausting.  Needless to say, we did it over and over again until it was too dark to see.  The Pope aptly named his invention "The Killer Copter."

That is just one of many many adventures we had as kids, and not the most risky.

After college, Tom and I drove out to California.  He to go to law school, me to start my engineering career at Hughes Aircraft.  That is when I finally had enough income to get into R/C  (1977).  As it turned out, Mike was in San Diego.  (I can't recall if he was still in or had just gotten out of the Navy.)  We got together from time to time.  I'll plead the fifth commandment here and just say that our get togethers had nothing to do with flying.

We drifted apart after that and lost touch.  I settled down and got married.  The kids started showing up soon after and so the R/C stuff went idle.  (So did the motorcycle, scuba stuff, ... )  Twenty five years later, the kids were (mostly) out of college and it was time for me to get back into R/C.  (I did not get back into the motorcycle but I'll give you one guess as to what other hobby is that I have.)  

The hobby had changed dramatically in my absence.  There was no Internet then and certainly no RCU.  Image my jubilation when I finally realized that Minnflyer was "The Pope".  (That post is somewhere back in the past on here.)

Sorry if I rambled on but I hope you can see that Mike touched a lot of lives in a lot of different ways.

Farewell my friend.




< Message edited by Chevelle -- 8/18/2012 12:35 PM >


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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 8/18/2012 2:29 AM   
tailskid



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Status: offline 		I really enjoyed reading this...I knew Mike 95% from online and had met him only once (in Toledo)....I miss him too.

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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 9/24/2012 8:12 AM   
WB6JGD


 

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From: Modesto, CA, USA
Status: offline 		Rest in peace Mike.

- Allan B


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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 9/24/2012 6:06 PM   
Scar



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Status: online 		Junc,

And here I thought I'd enjoyed my last story of Minnflyer. Thank you for sharing.

By the way, I'm stealing your phrase. Next time I describe a long weekend or summer of flying, I will speak of "Gallons of Flew".

Again, thanks for sharing the memories.
Dave Olson

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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 9/24/2012 6:07 PM   
Chevelle


 

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From: Fairport, NY,
Status: offline 		HA!  It was a typo (fuel) but it works just the same!!!!



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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 10/13/2012 8:56 PM   
SwampFlier-RCU



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From: Guayaquil, FL, ECUADOR
Status: offline 		This thread is not what I expcted to find after months of not coming on RCU....
Please pass along my best regards to MinnFlyer's family, when I was starting on rc-models, his advice was always welcome...

Regards,
Patrick Gutierrez (ECuador)


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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 10/14/2012 3:05 PM   
hairy46


 

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From: Sinclair, WY, USA
Status: offline 		Wonderful storys thanks for sharing them!



Award winning caller

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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 12/5/2012 4:58 PM   
Stickbuilder



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From: Wildwood, FL, USA
Status: offline 		I was going through some pictures this morning, and came across a couple of Mike. Thought this would be the best place for them.

Bill, Waco Brother #1

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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 12/6/2012 2:44 AM   
DGUY



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Status: offline 		I just found this out what sad news this is.... He passed on a lot of good will and knowledge. he will be missed.
Derrick

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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 12/13/2012 5:34 PM   
AMA 74894



Posts: 136
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From: Spicer, MN, USA
Status: offline 		'Junc' ... as in Bob Juncosa? (sorry for the mis-spelling!) PM me if I got that wrong!
you MAY remember Mikey's little brother Jimmy.... ( Me :-) ... my Avitar photo was taken in 1977 at 'THE' Flying field in Orangeburg )
I remember the Killer Copter well, of course... as well as a couple of construction paper and music wire .049 powered contraptions...
a .35 sized CL P-51 mustang... with an Enya 60 in the front... too many experiments to name.

although my Dad isn't flying competitively anymore, he DOES still fly (everyday he can) ..
in fact, two years ago when Mike was reviewing the Hangar9 Pheonix7, He let 'Gramps' (at age 90!) fly it while Mike shot the video..

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=1332

we ALL still miss Mike very much, but I can't tell you how heart touching it is that I'm not the only person who knows he was more than a great guy

quote:

ORIGINAL: Chevelle

Allow me to share some memories of Mike.  Mike and I are the same age and we grew up together in Old Tappan, NJ.  There was a group of about 5 or 6 of us that hung out together but there was a central ''troica'' made up of Mike (''Pope''), me (''Junc''), and Tom (''Art'').  As you can see by his nickname, Mike was the ring leader.  Let's just say that he had a lot more guts than some other attributes so there were lots of adventures far to numerous to describe here.  Besides, I'm not sure about that whole statute of limitations thing.  I will tell you that my childhood would have been far less colorful if I had never known Mike.






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RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed... - 12/14/2012 4:01 AM   
Chevelle


 

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From: Fairport, NY,
Status: offline 		Jimmy!  Yep.  It's me.  (The spelling is correct.)

Great to hear about your Dad.  Give him my best.  He certainly was someone that we looked up at in awe at that field in Orangeburg.  (I suppose it's long gone now.)  What great memories of Tom Auth and I riding up to the field, stopping off first at the truck for a couple of Sabrets.



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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> The Clubhouse >> RE: Minnflyer (AKA Mike Buzzeo) has unexpectedly passed away
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