Written by JB (11/1983); Submitted by JB (2004); Transcribed by JS (07/2009)
Robert Johannes Davenport, Iowa, March 12, 1934 to St. Charles, Missouri, June 30, 2004
At age six, Bob Johannes was building model airplanes from kits purchased at the local five and dime. His dad provided some assistance in helping read instructions. Bob continued building and flying into his teen years. In 1953, he met Marilyn Ganschow, another student at the University of Illinois. He was in the engineering school and the Air Force ROTC, and she was in the education department. After graduating in Electronic Engineering with a commission of Second Lieutenant in the Air Force, Bob and Marilyn were married on June 9, 1956. A few weeks later, Bob began building models again on a card table in their apartment. Marilyn said, “I never heard the words ‘model airplane’ before this.”
Bob became a member of the Air Training Command Team at the 1959 Air Force Championships at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. He set two AMA gas records. Marilyn and Bob’s two children were born, David in 1959 and Lorraine in 1960. Bob flew Radio Control in the Air Force when Free Flight sites were not available. In his aeromodeling career, he flew Microfilm Indoor Stick, AMA Gas, FAI Power, Radio Control Pattern, and Radio Control Soaring. He later concentrated on Free Flight Power.
In 1982, Bob and Marilyn moved to St. Louis. By then, their kids were out of college. Bob joined the Thermaleers, an AMA chartered club. Bob later became club president and a contest director. He was a proponent of “Bunt” VIT for Category III Power. Three of his designs were selected NFFS Models of the Year. In 1997, he won AMA Large Gas, in 1999 FIC, and in 2000 F1J. Bob was the AMA Gas Champion at the 1998 National Meet. He holds three of the five National Records for Category II Power Free Flight. He made five instructional video tapes, starting in 1992, two on hand launch and catapult gliders and three on construction of Free Flight Power. Bob’s paper on “Bunt” appeared in the March 1994 issue of Free Flight Digest. He wrote a two-part article for Model Aviation on trimming and adjusting Free Flight Power models, printed in March and May of 1997. Bob was chair of an ad hoc group within NFFS to assist youth and other new builders in FAI designing, building, and flying multi-function VIT. Bob was a member of the Soaring Society of America. He was a glider instructor pilot and had over 600 hours flying gliders in the 1970s. He earned the Gold Soaring Badge with one Diamond, earned for the goal task of a 200 mile out and return flight.
Bob’s professional career was in aerospace engineering. In addition to the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois, he received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering with a concentration on Guidance and Control of Aerospace Vehicles from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Programs that Bob worked on and led as project director were: 1. Self Adaptive Control Systems for Fighter Aircraft, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Armstrong.
2. X-15 Control System, jointly with NASA working with another builder, Neil Armstrong. The design change enabled the X-15 to reenter the atmosphere at a much higher altitude. An international altitude record for winged aircraft was set. 3. Load Alleviation and Mode Stabilization (LAMS) Program. Using a B-52, the program demonstrated that proper use of automatic control system could reduce the effect of gusts and increase the fatigue life of large flexible aircraft. An earlier accident where the vertical find of a B-52 was torn off by a gust while flying at low altitude led to the need for this program. The technology was applied to the C-5 transport aircraft during the early development.
4. Pioneered the concept of Control Configured Vehicles (CCV), where traditional structural and aerodynamic design constraints for aircraft could be relaxed allowing weight savings and better performance. Test programs with an F-16 and a B-52 were conducted to prove the feasibility.
Bob received the Wright Brothers Medal in 1972 for “meritorious contribution in aeronautic engineering” because of his work on CCV. The technology has been used in many military and civilian aircraft. He was Deputy Director of Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base from 1979 until 1981.
At McDonnell Douglas, he managed the Highly Integrated Digital Control (HIDEC) program where the electronic flight control system was integrated with the engine control system improving fuel economy and performance. He developed the NASA F-18 High Angle of Attack Research Vehicle (HARV) giving capability for an eighty-degree angle of attack. Bob authored and co-authored twenty-six papers on flight control systems. Marilyn and Bob are the grandparents of Brendon, 15, Emillee, 13, and Padraic, 8.
Bob Johannes’ Aeromodeling Highlights
1940: At age six, begins building dime model kits with help from dad.
1959: Sets two AMA Gas records at the Air Force Championships at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois.
1960: Builds Radio Control airplanes at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Flys Radio
Control Pattern and Sailplanes
1982: Joins Thermaleers, an AMA club, and concentrates on Free Flight Power 1990: Serves as club president and contest director
1992: Prepares five instructional video tapes from hand launch and catapult glider to construction of Power Free Flight
1994: Writes article for Free Flight Digest on Bunt design 1997: Writes articles on Free Flight trim and adjusting for Model Aviation in the March and May issues
1996: Sets National Record in Class B, Category III Power 1998: Set National Records in Class 1/2A and Class D, Category III Power. Also, wins National Free Flight Power championship in Muncie, Indiana.
1997, 1998, and 2000: Three designs win Model of the Year, AM Power, F1C, and F1J Introduces son Dave to F1C and he becomes a successful competitor
Major Contest Firsts Date 1992 1992 1992 1992 1994 October 7, 1995 October 6, 1996 October 6, 1996 October 4, 1997 October 4, 1998 October 4, 1998 October 5, 1998 1998 1999 1999 2000 2001 2003 1998
Place 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st High Point 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd
Location Lawrenceville AMA USOC/Nats, Muncie SAM Champs Lawrenceville Lawrenceville Mid-America Free Flight Champs Mid-America Free Flight Champs Mid-America Free Flight Champs Mid-America Free Flight Champs Mid-America Free Flight Champs Mid-America Free Flight Champs Mid-America Free Flight Champs 38th Invitational FAI Meet 25th Annual CA FAI Invitational 50th Inter-Cities FAI Meet 51st inter-Cities FAI Meet 52nd Inter-Cities FAI Meet 54th Inter-Cities FAI Contest 55th Midwestern States Champs
National Records Date July 22, 1996 August 30, 1998 September 19, 1998
Record Type Free Flight B Gas Free Flight D Gas Free Flight 1/2A Gas
Flight Time 90 minutes 60 minutes 29 minutes
National Free Flight Society Awards
Contest Type Old Timer Combined D Gas Class C Pylon A Nostalgia Gas A Gas B Gas 1/2 A Gas Power A Gas A Gas B Gas C/D Gas F1J F1J F1C F1J F1C Team F1C Catapult Glider Date 1997 1999 2000
Award Model of the Year Award Model of the Year Award Model of the Year Award (Joint Award)
Model Name Rotator 620 Warrior 820 Odyssey
Model Type Large Power Power F1J
(Left to right: Bob, Marilyn, and Dave Johannes)
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