Your Host - John (W) Reynoldson

Who is the shadowy figure behind the sinister Aerial Pursuits organisation? What are his plans for world conquest? Can he be stopped? As they used to say say in the Mandrake comic strip ... Now Read On!

[ Who I am | What I fly| My Resume' ]

Who is this John (W*) Reynoldson person, anyhow?

Well, if your browser displays my photo nicely, you'll see that I'm a red-headed spotted person. (Be aware that  the facial hair (and upper hairline) is subject to variation without notice!) 

This particular faded-red-headed spotty lives in the Bayside suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  I have two rather noisy teenage children*, representatives of both popular sexes.  (*my daughter officially became an adult in Jan 2006).   

Apart from flying, of course, my background is in electronics and computing, hence the primary thrust of Aerial Pursuits/Raptor Designs. 

Interests outside immediate family things include flying, (of course), reading, Mexican food, cycling (in a bent) and some other stuff you probably don't really want to know about. 

My philosophy: I firmly believe that everyone has a right to a long and happy childhood. I'm still working on mine.

So, (obsessions first!) what does he fly?

I've been flying things since mid 1975, in my final year at university when a friend showed me some plans for a standard Rogallo hang glider he'd acquired and suggested I might like to build one too. From such small beginnings, obsessions begin! 

Unable to afford one myself, we formed the Melbourne Uni Hang Gliding Society and elicited a grant from the Uni, with which we built a Wings Condor hang glider. My first flight was at Cowrie Bay on Phillip Island, and after subsequent ground-skimming at the Barrabool Hills and Yan Yean, I finally soared at Flowerdale the next year. 

Since then, I've owned several hang gliders. My Condor I modified, first with a keel pocket, then, more drastically, I used the sailcloth and rebuilt it into a 120 degree nose, 9 ft keel wing with roach tips and pre-formed battens, which flew very well for a 1976 kite, thank you very much. (There was also a 50% double-surface version, which wasn't quite so successful, but that's another story). Then a Wings Lynx A (modded to B later). The EF5 rigid wing looked nice, so I built one of those in '79 and flew it for 3 years, including the 1980 Owens Valley XC Open competition, where I came 5th. I also managed 7th in the Australian Championships in '81, and won the Victorian championships (Class II) in 1980.

Next was a Swift (yet another comet clone), followed by a Moyes GT170. In 1996, I decided to update, and bought a nice, clean Airborne Shark 144, which may not be exactly state of the art in these days of Exxtacy's and topless wings, but was certainly a lovely glider to fly. There's also a nice Fun 190 Skyfloater, which is my glider of choice for light days on the coast (well, actually, most days) and which I have also used on my homebuilt Thistledown soaring trike   although I now use a Shark 156 to get a bit more glide.   In 2003 I purchased a second hand ATOS rigid wing hang glider and it's the wing I use when I want some awesome performance flying.

Along the way, I in 1981 I also designed and constructed a double-surfaced rigid wing along the general lines of the Fledgling/Voyager, with a 35 ft span.  While it flew successfully, it was a background project that was basically obsolete by the time I got around to finishing and test flying it.

Unfortunately my XC activities were severely curtailed by the arrival of family (Damn this s.n.a.g. ethic!). I do fly regularly, but often coastal for convenience.  The Thistledown trike has, however, been providing me with regular thermal soaring fixes lately. 

In '83, I built one of the first trikes in Victoria, based on an EF5 hang glider. The whole aircraft, including undercarriage and engine, weighed only 130lb. (the engine was a 9hp modified motor mower engine with a direct drive prop). If you want to know just how crude it was, you can read about its first flight.

This was subsequently migrated to a Robin 250 engine and the wing later changed to a Swift hang glider. In late 1989, I purchased a Chaser-S trike from the UK.

My home base is Tyabb airstrip on the Mornington Peninsula, a marvelous strip with a very civilised clubroom. My favourite flying is XC, and I have put in flights of up to 450 miles in a day. 

I have recently built a lightweight soaring trike, called the Thistledown. You can read more about it here

In about '82, I did a sailplane course at SportAvia at Tocumwal, soloed and did most of the stuff for a Silver 'C' in two weeks. However, the stuffing about waiting & carrying planes about for the "guns" and expense was not for me, so I did not continue. (I'm told things are better at many clubs these days, so please don't let my experience put you off giving gliding a go. It's great fun!) 

I also acquired a "restricted" Private Pilots licence (GFPT), and occasionally have taken a Cessna 172 for a burn (to test my intercom products of course!) 

I'm a past President of the Victorian Hang Gliding Association, and a was also a Safety Director of the Australian Hang Gliding Association for a bit. I was also a board member of the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia for some years. 

What has he done?

(in case you want to offer me an obscenely well-paying job) 

OK, here's a summary of my main employment history: 

• 1975: Degree in Electronic Engineering, Melbourne University
• 1976-1978: Electronic Engineer, Australian Soccerpools (2 years)
• 1978-1980: Customer service engineer, Sperry Univac (2 years)
• 1981-2000: Systems Engineer, IBM - Full time 14 years, part time 5 years. Resigned in 2000 to pursue this business.
• At present  - Director/designer/artist/engineer/programmer/test-pilot/JOAT, Raptor Designs,

*Why the W?

It's a family thing. My dad's name is John. His dads name was John. My son is John. I even had a Great-Great-Great uncle named John who had 11 (yes, eleven) sons and named them all John. We generally have different second names though. Mine's William, hence the W. My son is John Otto. Maybe we're all hoping one of us will do something to make the name famous, then we can all bask in their reflected fame?