Techinstein can’t remember a time when he wasn’t playing with radio-controlled vehicles. He got his start on the ground, with R/C cars. At age 12, he began to compete – often beating drivers more than twice his age. He had his first experience with R/C flying in the popular simulator, RealFlight. Tired of watching him circle the virtual field, Lucidity bought him a Park Zone Decathalon for Christmas.
When he isn’t building, flying or repairing an aircraft, or scouring Hobby King as a platinum-level customer, he works in the information technology field in Beaverton, Oregon. For eight years he was on air in nearby Portland, providing computer tech support on a phone-in radio show called “Computer Time.” He studied electronics at Delta College in Michigan, where he grew up.
A veritable virtuoso with a soldering iron in his hands, he always knows which wire to cut. He can weld, he can tear down an engine and put it back together again, and he doesn’t even know what the inside of a Jiffy Lube looks like.
Lucidity possesses the same degree of technical acumen and mechanical talent as half a ton of igneous rock. The only thing he could do with a soldering iron is hurt himself. When it’s time to repair a crashed bird – usually his own – he stands back shouting encouragement and rummaging through cardboard boxes looking for spare parts while Techinstein does all the work.
Having narrowly escaped a job as newspaper reporter and photographer, he now works in strategic communications for a regional public safety organization. A certified private pilot and master scuba instructor, he holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Southern California in sociology and English, as well as an MBA from Willamette University.
Although he has precious little experience, he sees FPV R/C aviation as an intriguing development with far-reaching implications. It is an international community that has spawned a global supply network of dedicated individuals who have come together to solve complex technical issues and deliver high-quality products at absurdly low costs. It puts powerful tools in the hands of individuals and small groups – manifesting the power of the Internet in the real world.
