Dear Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that our fellow club member
Richard Utkan passed away. This tragic event occurred Saturday September
21st, 2019. He laid down to take a nap and did not get
up. Richard was a distinguished pilot, builder, US Air Force veteran, and
recipient of the Carl Goldberg vital people award from the AMA. Most of
all Richard was our friend.
He was a member of the UFO
club since records were kept. Richard joined in 1984. A member of the
lawn crew and a club trainer, Richard would help other members and
provide advice, and help both on and off the field. Richard pushed the
envelope with new building techniques and scratch-built designs that were often
very successful.
This truly is a detriment to the RC
community and to our club. Richard was the Vice-President of the EFO, the
electric only spin off of the UFO club that has a field down in Lyon Township
near Ann Arbor. The EFO members include Keith Shaw and Ken Myers editor
of the Ampeer, the oldest electric RC publication. Richard was among the
founding fathers of electric RC, especially modern Electric RC. Among his
peers are the best and most famous pioneers of RC flight.
The link below leads to the official obituary.
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/white-lake-mi/richard-utkan-8865044
