Do you know John Redman? If not he was the guy in the red shirt with the funny hat that was all over Florida Jets helping out a lot of pilots. You might have seen him working on my new to me Bobcat with a P-120 on it. I asked him for a small favor to check over the turbine installation and make sure all was correct but you know what he did? Oh he checked the turbine over alright. That took about two minutes to do. He said, "Yep, it's fine". Then you know what he did? I asked him to check the plane over since I had bought it used and to look at the JR 10X programming set up since I am new to turbines and instead of a two minute turbine check over he spent about two hours making corrections and adjustments and computer radio programming and then he test flew it for me. He can really fly a jet! And best of all....he never complained about it but was happy to be able to help. So if you didn't know who John Redman was before this.....now you do. He is the guy going around and helping pilots.
Thank you John.
Don Livermore

John went out of his way to give me a few pointers for my BV MIG.

Thanks John

Doug

John not only is extremely knowledgeable, but as you discovered, will go way out of his way to assist pilots. One of the "good guys" of this sport.

Nick

This is true Redman style. I've known him since we were both on active duty in NM. He helped me during my first build, a Maverick Pro, and showed me many contruction pointers along the way. He painted it for me and did the maiden honors and never asked for a penny. As I was building my Bandit, I had many questions on the building and set up. I probably emailed him a 100 times and he answered every one of them. By the time I got to my Bobcat, I was finally on my own thanks to all of his mentoring. He has been instrumental in my success with these awesome machines! Oh yea, he's a good stick too when he's not helping others out!

Not only is John a very helpful guy - he's also a true ambassador for our hobby.

At the Woodland Davis jet meet a while back, John was unlucky enough to lose his Scooby-Doo Bobcat when he found out the hard way that the power lines were very close in at that field. As John brought the (pretty much disintegrated) wreckage back to the pit area, a local TV news crew did what news crews do best - immediately pounce on any sign of someone's misfortune and ask those kind of questions where you wanna answer "How the h*ll do you think it makes me feel, you moron!"... but John was all politeness and the consumate professional ; he seemed to very subtly take control of the interview as he calmly emphasized the fact that the loss of a few dollars was to be expected every now & then, and that the main thing to concentrate on was how the method of operation of our models emphasized safety and we always operate such that the risk is to our models, not to any spectators etc., etc ... then for the rest of the day he spent a few minutes dissasembling the wreckage, then off to help someone sort out a startup problem, then another few minutes on the wreckage, then off to help someone program a radio, or test-fly an aircraft, and so on & on all day long. Where many people would have become despondent & just leave, or annoyed at all of the gawking or interuptions etc., John continually and consistently presented a truly professional image regardless of how he may have been feeling on the inside.

We're lucky to have him, and that's a fact.

Gordon

Have to jump on the bandwagon here.........

I had a Roo II at Fresno last year that he helped me with. John being the great guy that he is, not nly checked my 10X programming, throws, complete setup, but did her maiden for me too. Best part about this is.......even though he's a JetCat guy, it didn't matter to him that my bird had a Simjet on it!!!

Next day, I flew her for the first time, and as soon as he saw me taxining out, he stopped what he was doing and came over to spot for me. If you ever need someone in your ear to give you VERY calming instructions, John is your man!!!

Thanks again John for being a great human being!

See you at BITW

Nice Gordon!
Yeah...John's a good egg. He gave my son Corey stick time on his Bobcat when he was only twelve...but more importantly, I think John enjoyed it more than the Cordude.
Man that kid can fly.
My son doesn't fly too bad either.
Because of guys like John, he will always have a love of flight, although the flying object has become a small white dimpled ball with a 1.68" dia.

Thank you sir.
Paul

At that same meet that Gordon is talking about, I asked John to call for me. He was helping during the start-up and mentioned that one of the bearings in my P-120 sounded as if it might be bad...I didn't hear a damn thing. He said it wouldn't be a problem to fly the rest of the day....so I did. Toward the end of the day he came up to me and told me that if it was possible, take the engine and ECU out of my Bobcat and give it to him before I left and he would take it back with him. The engine was 10 months old and under warranty. The jet meet was on Saturday....I had my P-120 with new bearings and an updated ECU on Tuesday.

This is standard Redman fare....he's one of the crown jewels of jet modeling. This is gonna be a very long thread........

I ditto all that has been said. But, if you really want to know John Redman, it is a must to hand him a microphone. What a ham! After the awards banquet at Florida Jets, we all headed down stairs to the karaoke bar and were all entertained by John's rendition of the "Banana Boat song"..................day-oh!, daaaaayyyyy--oh! He definitely stole the show. Forget the American Express. Leaving for a jet rally, make sure you don't forget your John Redman. An awesome guy.

Don't forget about....

"She's lost that lovin feeling"

Thanks "Goose" (John R), that was alot of fun! I know Patty enjoyed it. Mrs. V thought it was pretty funny when I told her about what we had done.

Later

And to think some people actually questioned me for recommending him to be added to Team JR. John is 1st rate on all counts.

In case anyone's interested, here's the news crews report from Woodland 2003.........

[link=http://www.sacredbarons.com/Multimedia/Woodland.wmv]Woodland 2003[/link]

Great job, John! You definately get my vote for ambassador!

That was great Mark...thanks for posting.
Paul

I first saw the Scooby Jet fly at Lubbock a couple years ago, sorry to see its demise. I have to agree with everyone, I follow his paint procedures, and know when I get an engine back from him, it's gonna be a "good one". He's da bomb. Guys on the west coast make sure he's eatin healthy, keep him around longer

I have said it before too... John is the MAN!

John's also a good storyteller. You should hear about his exploits when he was an F-117 crew chief, going around to display the bird at various airshows. He'll have you splitting your sides in no time. Two stories you really have to hear first-hand from John:

1) Explaining to "the uninformed" (with a perfectly straight face, mind you) that the F-117 is powered by Twin Ion Engines...

2) Explaining about the girl who wanted his signature in a "cheeky" location...

And another thing about John. He is certainly brand-loyal and has fairly strong opinions about what "the good stuff" is, but even though I purchased a Brand X turbine, he's still offered to give me a hand setting it up and getting me turbine-qualified.

Stand-up guy and a good friend.

Flanker

I have met a lot of great individuals in the model jet business, but John is, by far, the most exceptional...

Mike Danchak

I second all the above comments, John and I were put on the BVM team about the same time. I told him they left out the el in his name!
Nice job brother keep up the good work!





Tim Redelman

John is an asset to the jet modeling community, and we are lucky to have him. He is also an asset to Jetcat; I hope they appreciate his talent, because we would sure like to have him doing the same thing for AMT.

Joe Grice
AMT USA REP

Well, let me say this. John has cost me thousands of dollars! I had been in RC for 30 years when he showed up here in New Mexico with a Bobcat. As soon as I smelled that smell and heard that sound, I knew I had to have one. He helped me get the waiver, test flew one jet for me, and in general just helped me a bunch. Darn guy, I could have had a new Vette! Bob

LOL...this guy sounds like a really great guy...wow... Give him a medal or something , sounds like he deserves one ... Is he an RCU member?

As I sit and read this thread It blows me away. There are a very large number of guys out there that do the same thing. I truly enjoy working with guys and helping them along the way. I know I received a bunch of help years ago to bring success in my flying.

This thread is quite humbling, I am truly speachless. And for those that do know me, they know that doesn't happen very often.

Thank you guy for the very kind words and lets just hook up at the next jet rally and push em' in the air and then hit the restaurant's for some good old model-talk and friendly times.

Hey Justin, it seems I think Patty will have the lovin' feeling for a while now, but who knows, she just might loose it next year at FL Jets 06'. Goose out.

Once again, thanks guys.

Hey John I figured they were talking about some other "John Redman" ;-)

BTW When do you guys leave for Top Gun? Is Bob (not Wilcox) going to drive with you?

Do I know John Redman? YOU BET I DO. John Redman is one of those rare individuals who leads by personal example!! He is an extremely talented guy who sincerely loves helping others suceed in this great sport. John will not only help other flyers solve their problems but will even offer his most up-to-date technique or set-up. When John is not working on jet engines, rigging planes or flying his planes you'll find him doing the "family stuff" or coaching a softball team. He is the quintessential MENTOR and I am proud and honored to call him my friend. He is truly a special guy.

Ad Clark (the old guy)

John Redman is the one reason that I am involved with jets. I know John over 10 years and he has been a big help to me over the years, he has built a few BVM jets for me, teaching me to fly them, and always flew with me when i asked him. John always has time to answer any questions I have for him and always has the right answer. One of the best guys to know if you fly jets. Thanks John

Joe Castelao