Greg Edmunds
12-31-2014, 11:46 PM
#1
Greg Edmunds
I must say when I had a message on fb this morning from Stu Mac, the last thing I thought it could be about was the loss of yet another great man.
It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating our first and only Q40 championship race win. That was the 1995 season and this year will be the 20th anniversery.
Shortly after that event, I packed up everything and moved back to Upper Marlboro and went to work for Greg. It was an amazing time for me and even though I didn't really care for the DC area I learned so much from him I wouldn't trade that time for the world.
Steve Baker has already touched on a few of the things that Greg came up with but I do not think even his closest friends know what I am about to tell you.
The first part of this story isn't modeling related but very important none the less. When I was working back there we actually only worked on the hobby stuff after hours and on weekends. So when a order for 500 coin feeders would come in they would typically go to me because they weren't real intricate and if I messed up we could normally fix them. Most of the time the material used was 1/8th inch aluminum and it was fairly easy to bend weld and slot.
One day Greg came out and said we needed to make them again but this time out of 16th 2024 aluminum. I thought ok , piece of cake. The first step was to shear a 4 x8 sheet into 4 inch squares. Once that was done I punch all the slots in them and then move back to the welding area.
This is where It all went sideways. I hadn't welded that thin of aluminium before and every time I struck a bead I proceeded to blow a hole into every part I had. Needless to say I was convinced Greg was messing with me and it was an impossible task. Shortly there after, Greg came back to see how I was doing and I knew immediately he was underwhelmed with my progress.
I said it was impossible and Greg said if I thought that was tough I would never be able to weld to pieces of aluminum foil together.
Thats all he had to say to me and he new it. I insisted on seeing him do that along with a friendly wager that he also new I would insist upon.
Greg laid the tin foil out and butted the to edges together. Dropped his mask down and made the most beautiful bead from one end to the other. I carried that around with me for a long time in my wallet as it was such a perfect weld.
Ok that was 96, so fast forward 6 years and there was a group of us preparing for the little contest held in Vegas. The 2002 TOC. Normally it was a ton of work to get ready for but since the stakes were larger we decided to go all in for this one and that meant all new planes, new servos, batteries, and of course a new untested engine.
This was when DA was just beginning to dominate the big engine market and they only had the DA100 and DA150. I wanted a 4 cylinder more then anything and we designed the new planes around it. From the beginning we all new it had to be, because running a 150 was not an option.
Well Kevin and Rocco came through with the airframe sometime in August and we actually test flew the first one with a 150 because the engine wasn't ready. It flew but that was about it.
Meanwhile Dave and Brian were working around the clock building motors that were twisting the crank just on the pop from being choked. After each failure tolerances were adjusted and they would do it again. Then finally Dave called one day and said we just can't do it, and I needed to just go with the 150.
We hung up the phone and I was destroyed. I new I had a 3rd to 5th place plane that way and was just about to bow out of the contest. That's when I remembered Greg talking about welding the cranks on the Harleys he used to race. So I called him up and all it took was me saying the word 4 cylinder and he knew what the problem was right down to which crank was slipping and explained to me why it was doing it.
I asked him if he could fix it and he said he would try. Of course that meant DA had to assemble and jig up the motor and then ship it across country to a guy Dave had never heard of.
Well that's when that aluminum foil story paid off and they shipped one out a day or two later. Greg worked his magic and sent it back. But that wasn't all he did. He called me up and not knowing anything about the big planes he said Do Not run this motor on a test stand or it will twist again. He said even if it doesn't twist it's going to fracture and weaken the welds. He said we needed to soft mount it somehow or it would fail again. Thats when I called my dad and he made the mount and got it to us in record time.
It was a pain in the butt doing everything on the plane in the parking lot of Daves old shop. Hotter then all get out. Finally we got everything ready and Brian gave it a couple flips and it fired on all 4 for the first time. We test flew it that day and I left for vegas. The rest is history.
So you can understand why I admired and looked up to him so much. He truly was the man behind all of us that made winning the last TOC with the only Biplane and only 4 cylinder engine possible. The cool part was to Greg it was just another day at the office.
We have all remained friends over the years and I am so glad I was able to spend some time with him a few years ago when I had some time in DC. The funniest thing was my record prop was still sitting in the spot I left it after the last time we raced together in 2001 in bowie
I tried call the shop this morning hoping to get Aaron or Monica but the number has been disconnected. If any of you guys see them please let them know I am thinking about them.
Well its just a few minutes before midnight and I dug out a couple of mortars just for you Greg. I test fired one about 7 and all you could hear were car alarms going off, dogs barking, and one of the neighbor kids crying. This next one is for you Mr. Ed. LOVE YA
It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating our first and only Q40 championship race win. That was the 1995 season and this year will be the 20th anniversery.
Shortly after that event, I packed up everything and moved back to Upper Marlboro and went to work for Greg. It was an amazing time for me and even though I didn't really care for the DC area I learned so much from him I wouldn't trade that time for the world.
Steve Baker has already touched on a few of the things that Greg came up with but I do not think even his closest friends know what I am about to tell you.
The first part of this story isn't modeling related but very important none the less. When I was working back there we actually only worked on the hobby stuff after hours and on weekends. So when a order for 500 coin feeders would come in they would typically go to me because they weren't real intricate and if I messed up we could normally fix them. Most of the time the material used was 1/8th inch aluminum and it was fairly easy to bend weld and slot.
One day Greg came out and said we needed to make them again but this time out of 16th 2024 aluminum. I thought ok , piece of cake. The first step was to shear a 4 x8 sheet into 4 inch squares. Once that was done I punch all the slots in them and then move back to the welding area.
This is where It all went sideways. I hadn't welded that thin of aluminium before and every time I struck a bead I proceeded to blow a hole into every part I had. Needless to say I was convinced Greg was messing with me and it was an impossible task. Shortly there after, Greg came back to see how I was doing and I knew immediately he was underwhelmed with my progress.
I said it was impossible and Greg said if I thought that was tough I would never be able to weld to pieces of aluminum foil together.
Thats all he had to say to me and he new it. I insisted on seeing him do that along with a friendly wager that he also new I would insist upon.
Greg laid the tin foil out and butted the to edges together. Dropped his mask down and made the most beautiful bead from one end to the other. I carried that around with me for a long time in my wallet as it was such a perfect weld.
Ok that was 96, so fast forward 6 years and there was a group of us preparing for the little contest held in Vegas. The 2002 TOC. Normally it was a ton of work to get ready for but since the stakes were larger we decided to go all in for this one and that meant all new planes, new servos, batteries, and of course a new untested engine.
This was when DA was just beginning to dominate the big engine market and they only had the DA100 and DA150. I wanted a 4 cylinder more then anything and we designed the new planes around it. From the beginning we all new it had to be, because running a 150 was not an option.
Well Kevin and Rocco came through with the airframe sometime in August and we actually test flew the first one with a 150 because the engine wasn't ready. It flew but that was about it.
Meanwhile Dave and Brian were working around the clock building motors that were twisting the crank just on the pop from being choked. After each failure tolerances were adjusted and they would do it again. Then finally Dave called one day and said we just can't do it, and I needed to just go with the 150.
We hung up the phone and I was destroyed. I new I had a 3rd to 5th place plane that way and was just about to bow out of the contest. That's when I remembered Greg talking about welding the cranks on the Harleys he used to race. So I called him up and all it took was me saying the word 4 cylinder and he knew what the problem was right down to which crank was slipping and explained to me why it was doing it.
I asked him if he could fix it and he said he would try. Of course that meant DA had to assemble and jig up the motor and then ship it across country to a guy Dave had never heard of.
Well that's when that aluminum foil story paid off and they shipped one out a day or two later. Greg worked his magic and sent it back. But that wasn't all he did. He called me up and not knowing anything about the big planes he said Do Not run this motor on a test stand or it will twist again. He said even if it doesn't twist it's going to fracture and weaken the welds. He said we needed to soft mount it somehow or it would fail again. Thats when I called my dad and he made the mount and got it to us in record time.
It was a pain in the butt doing everything on the plane in the parking lot of Daves old shop. Hotter then all get out. Finally we got everything ready and Brian gave it a couple flips and it fired on all 4 for the first time. We test flew it that day and I left for vegas. The rest is history.
So you can understand why I admired and looked up to him so much. He truly was the man behind all of us that made winning the last TOC with the only Biplane and only 4 cylinder engine possible. The cool part was to Greg it was just another day at the office.
We have all remained friends over the years and I am so glad I was able to spend some time with him a few years ago when I had some time in DC. The funniest thing was my record prop was still sitting in the spot I left it after the last time we raced together in 2001 in bowie
I tried call the shop this morning hoping to get Aaron or Monica but the number has been disconnected. If any of you guys see them please let them know I am thinking about them.
Well its just a few minutes before midnight and I dug out a couple of mortars just for you Greg. I test fired one about 7 and all you could hear were car alarms going off, dogs barking, and one of the neighbor kids crying. This next one is for you Mr. Ed. LOVE YA
05-06-2015, 05:03 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: alexandria, VA
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I spoke to Rick Moreland this past Sunday and passed on your regards and condolences to the Edmunds family. Rick said the business was sold, IIRC.
Terry
(who was introduced to you back in 95-96. We shot pool on a Sat. night during a Toledo- quarter midget race. I drove up with Rick. I had to buy you beer, as you didn't have your ID. You had a Latsha modified Rivets.)
Terry
(who was introduced to you back in 95-96. We shot pool on a Sat. night during a Toledo- quarter midget race. I drove up with Rick. I had to buy you beer, as you didn't have your ID. You had a Latsha modified Rivets.)
Last edited by TerryTill; 05-06-2015 at 05:38 PM.
