Hi,

My name is Ara Tidwell. I'm 24 years old and I have been an RC aircraft enthusiast for more than half my life now. Ever since I was a toddler I've always been fascinated by flying and aircraft. Before I was old enough to drive, I recall getting excited by the fact my parents were going to purchase a pickup truck. Growing up it was the first "brand new" vehicle my parents had purchased. I suppose there would be a lot of reason for a young pre-licensed teenager to get excited about their parents purchasing a new vehicle, but my reason was simply that now that my parents were going to have a pickup truck, I could now have them drive me to the flying field with BIGGER AIRPLANES!!! I believe this was in 1997 making me about 14 years old. I was quick to purchase a Hangar 9 1/4 scale Cap which I flew for some time... and then went on to a Sig 1/4 scale cap.

Finally after much research and many many online posts trying to speculate what my dream airplane would be, I had finally come up with the funds (and inherited pickup truck) for my "dream plane". If I recall correctly, it was fall of 2001. That that time I would have been 18 years old. I was working at a local hobby shop and we had just finally received the long awaited 1/3 scale Hangar 9 Cap 232. I paid the extra price over cost instead of opting for the discount in order to get the first unit available, even though it turned out to be the upcoming spring of 2002 before I could afford the engine.

What engine would I chose? The BME 102 "EVO". I was pretty set on purchasing that engine and I had called BME to inquire. The person I spoke with on the phone was named Kieth in which I would later find of who is actually "Kieth Baker" of "Baker Model Engines". I recall on the phone asking a question by saying something along the lines of "I live here down in Texas, how does the engine handle the Texas heat". I got an answer of something along the lines of "pretty well, we are here in Texas too and this is where all of our testing is done. No issues at all, but I must say with any large gas engine proper cowl ducting, ect is important.." Perhaps more because of the fact I had just learned that BME engines were a product of Texas I became immediately sold. I asked if since the BME location was only an hour away if I could come pay cash and pick up my engine. He said sure... I think I was there the next day.

Now I think it can be safe to say that I am the personality type that can be a bit over fascinated at times by things that I find interest in. Kind of like the little kid that see's you with an RC airplane and will just ask questions for hours. Except I'm not a little kid anymore. I find myself driving about 15 miles out of Waco into the hill country. I seem to recall a very small road that lead to a dirt driveway. One way went to a metal shop about the size of a small airplane hangar, and the other a medium sized house. I meet Keith at his shop, seeing everything from machining equipment to table saws. Keith shakes my hand and precedes to hand me my engine. He commented that he "just finished putting it together". I said something like "So you make them here?" He says something like "let me show you the cleanroom where we actually assemble the engines". I think "cleanroom" was the term he used, I'm not sure it was some 6 years ago, but I'm calling it the "cleanroom". We go to the cleanroom, which for an engine assembly line I expected to be quite large, but infact it was pretty small. I would say maybe a little smaller than a single car garage... Or about half the size of a two car garage. Really not very large. Within I see several rows of crankcases, cylinder heads, ect...

I wind up spending several hours there. He explains to me in some detail the processes of running an engine company and anwsers any question I might have. I ask many questions from logistics to design. I recall him explaining the design, the processes of CNC machining the crankcases and the fact that at that time he was still using Echo cylinders, as some other manufactures did, however it was the only part besides the bearings, carb, and ignition that were not either manufactured by him or designed by him. He said that basically the design and engineering of his crankcases were key to making his engines so light. As Keith hardly knew how to use a computer (that's the truth), he explained some of the difficulties and expenses of getting everything translated to CAD so it could be CNC machined. He said that there was a local woman machinist that did "incredible work" manufacturing the crank cases. He also mentioned, that the new BME 110 was going to be the first engine with the exception of the carb/bearings, to be made of 100% BME designed parts. I do recall him saying something about how the molds costing $40,000ish... and while he had all the crankcases made he was still waiting on the actual cylinders. In retrospect I kind of wonder if this was the beginning of the end, since I do recall him having voiced some issues with that company.

I asked, "so this is a one man operation". "Pretty much" he said. He said that sometimes he had a pilot friend of his whose name I will not mention come help out. At one point the phone rang and he made a comment along the lines "If it is important they will leave a message" I also recall him mentioning that customer support was very difficult... and that some customers could spend hours discussing things that they should be able to figure out on their own. Now I'm not saying that is the way to run a company, but you have to admit.... he is a one man operation producing quite a unique engine, even to the field of gas RC engines. I cannot say what his view would be, but I would be one lucky just to be able to have the opportunity to buy an engine like such... nearly 3 pounds lighter than the competition. I in fact learned that there was actually a waiting list for the engine I had just purchased from Kieth, however he had decided that if I were enthusiastic enough to come pick up the engine myself in person, he would make an exception.

Then came in the wife and kids... Wow, married w/ 3 kids, own your own engine company in which you are the sole operator with no full time employee's... That must be a lot of work. He said it was. He said that he would like to hire someone but because of the special skillsets/knowledge it was quite difficult. I figured in one afternoon I had learned about as much about gas model engines as I could and I went ahead and drove home.

I had several more experiences with Keith. He had for free replaced my propeller hub with a newer lighter CNC machined hub that was being used on the next version of the engine. The new hub in effect lengthened the distance of my prop shaft because I was concerned that there wasn't enough thread going into the crank w/ the rather thick 27/10 Mejzlik. This apparently wasn't really necessary, however Kieth without hesitation replaced it just because I had my own doubt. I at one point had aslo asked about a BME Baseball cap and he just handed me one... I wore that baseball cap almost every day until I suppose I eventually lost it...

I have no idea what really happened to BME and Keith Baker. I have a few theories but I have no idea. He was a good engine builder who to me seemed like a really nice person with genuine care for the product of his business. He somehow managed to squeeze all that between being a father of 3... And while I did not personally know his family, just seeing his kids interact with him, he's a caring father as well.

It is a shame Keith and BME got a bad rep. I kind of saw the customer service thing coming. I'm guessing in the end a series of unfortunate events simply put him out of business.

It is sad Keith can no longer run BME, however I hope that he would have had the judgement to sell the company to one that willl that carry his name to of which equal engineering, design and quality.

Long live the spirit of Keith Baker