JAY SMITH: How did you become involved with model aviation?
JOHN MOLL: Where I grew up in the St. Louis, Missouri, area, we lived a very short distance from Lambert International Airport. I would hang out in the terminal and watch the airplanes go in and out. So, I fell in love with airplanes.
When I was approximately 14 years old, around 1966, I got a hold of a Wen-Mac Dauntless dive bomber plastic RTF airplane. That is what I learned to fly Control Line (CL) on. From there, I started to build models from balsa kits.
JS: How has model aviation impacted your life and/or career?
JM: My wife, Lois, and I travel around the country in a motor home and attend several out-of-town contests every year. When we go on long trips, we seek out aviation museums around the country.
I am also a private pilot, and we go airport-hopping and see different airports and what kind of different airplanes are out there. Being a retired toolmaker, I am able to modify internal parts of motors and get just a little bit more power or speed out of them to make them go faster!
JS: What disciplines of modeling do you currently participate in?
JM: Many of the airplanes I now fly are CL Speed, mostly Fox 35 Stunt Speed and Perky Speed. In the past, I have flown in Stunt, Carrier, Racing, Scale, and a little Combat. I did fly RC for a bit years ago, but now I stick with what I started in.
It is fun to take my Ringmaster out and just sport-fly. Lazy Eights, loops, inverted flight—I just go out and play at the circle. With Speed, however, I’m usually running a contest as a contest director (CD) with the timing equipment or flying for myself. After seeing the number of contestants dwindle down at our contest in St. Louis, I came up with the Fox 35 Stunt Speed event. Now it is flown all around in the US and at the Nats. I’m proud of that.
JS: What other hobbies do you have?
JM: I like woodworking. I like making live-edge pieces or wood turning. I make wood trophies for the Fox 35 Speed event at the Nats and made them for the two FAI F2A World Cups that I was the CD of in the St. Louis area.
JS: Who or what has influenced you the most?
JM: Just being around airplanes so much has influenced me. I was in the U.S. Navy for three years and was in an anti-submarine warfare squadron with P-3 Orions. While I was stationed in Japan for a deployment, I went to the hobby shop on base and bought a DC-6 kit and changed the configuration of the airplane to look like a P-3 Orion. I had that airplane for quite a few years. I loved to fly it and enjoyed the sound those four O.S. 25 engines made.
I also enjoy making friends and meeting so many other fliers when I either go to contests or put them on. Plus, my wife likes airplanes too.
JS: What advice do you have for someone who is looking to participate in the Nats for the first time?
JM:Just go have fun and learn from the other fliers. Ask questions; they will help you get the most out of whatever you fly. Make new friends and offer up help wherever you can. You might not win anything, but the friendships will last for years to come, and that’s what is important.
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