Rising IMAC / Freestyle star. (And all around Good Guy.)

[Wayne]

Near the end of the 2005 IMAC season I had the opportunity to meet 14 year old Seth Arnold at a local competition. He was there with his dad Tom. This was their first IMAC competition.

I remember them having radio trouble throughout the weekend and the thing that sticks in my mind was that Seth was not whining or acting like a kid who wanted his dad to fix his plane at any cost. He seemed very mature to me. Seth came in second to last in Sportsman that weekend (He says the guy who came in last didnt finish the contest.. LOL)
At this time in his flying he was mainly a 3D pilot who was getting into IMAC to fly in the Freestyle competitions. Like so many of us, he got hooked on the straight line flying almost immediately.

Throughout the 2006 IMAC season I saw Seth and Tom at pretty much every competition I went to. Seth says he has done close to 15 competitions so far including two trips to the Youth Masters. The first time in 2005 and last year where he won the Advanced class and the Foamy Freestyle.

We opened our season in the North Central Region last week and I had the chance to watch Seth fly his new Quique Somenzini 102" Yak 54. Seth has now moved up to the Intermediate class and is showing a lot of maturity in his flying. Its really great to watch someone so young who can fly that well. He is very deliberate with his flying while maintaining utter smoothness. It really is a lot of fun to watch.
He handled our extremely strong cross winds that Sunday better than some guys in the upper classes. Impressive to say the least.
Seth wound up starting this season off with wins in both the Intermediate class and the Freestyle competition.
I get the feeling he is liking his new Yak!

His approach to his flying is very methodical and has gained a lot of knowledge from David Scott of 1st US RC Flight School. Seth told me most of his success has come from working with David.
http://www.rcflightschool.com/
I think he could be competitive in Advanced or Unlimited right now but, he is taking the slow approach and learning as much as he can each year prior to moving up.
Seth is planning on competing locally in the NC region, the 2007 Nationals and the Tucson Shootout if he can qualify.

Seth is always looking to improve himself. He watches everyone and asks a lot of questions.
He is not looking for Sponsors or free rides. He says he is in it for the fun.
He says the best part is the fellowship with the other competitors and most importantly, hanging out with his dad.
Tom flies also and Seth is trying to get him to enter a competion in Basic with his 73" Quique Yak. Tom told me he's rather watch Seth fly. I cant blame him.

Seth is a great ambassador to the hobby and this week will be putting on a demo in front of his entire high school to try and get more young people interested in Model Aviation.
He is a certified club instructor and is always helping people who are entering the hobby, veterans needing some advice or a trim flight on someones new plane.

The hobby needs more people like Seth and his dad!
They really are great people to spend an IMAC weekend with.

[Boulder]

Very nice article Wayne,

Seth,

We, as a group, are extremely proud of you. I'm very happy about one thing...I don't have to fly against you since I moved to Texas

Good job!!!

[sweetpea]

Great......competition for Ryan Archer! That should make that shootout class a blast to watch!

[ricmussman]

I agree to all that Wayne has said and more. I must add that I am glad to see that he has moved up and I don't have to compete against him anymore.

Seth you are a joy to watch, as a Dad I hope that my son (11) will take to this as you have. I truly appreciate you humble spirit. Keep it up!

Ric

[Al Czervik]

Please keep articles like this coming. It's always great to hear about positive stories and people in the hobby.

I just regret not starting sooner!!!!

[Dan_nO]

Thats a really good article Wayne, good job. It was really nice getting to meet Tom and Seth and watching him fly, he done a really good job.

Ryan is going to have his work cut out for him !

[Edge 540]

I was impressed with your indoor 3d this winter Seth. You met me but you probably didn't know it. I was flying at the indoor thing with the foamy bipe that the nose kept falling off of. Hey, it was the first flight, thats my excuse.
Hopefully I'll get to see the 102" in action this summer.

[Flatlandman]

I met Seth and his dad Tom this past weekend, and their some pretty nice people. I hope to be competing with Seths for a long time to come. In the mean time ill find a way to keep my hands from shaking so i can give him a good run for the redheaded step child that is the freestyle portion of the contest .

[Andy540T]

Could be that 1/2 the Intermediate class at the shootout won't be old enough to drink.

Ryan, Seth, DJ, and Curtis all are under 21.

[mayaman]

Great article! Such sunshine stories is good to read when the weather outside dont help you the most... :P

[3D-Seth]

Thanks Wayne, and fellow FG crew!!!! I really appreciate all of the compliments!! It means a lot to me!!!

Seth

[All Thumbs]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Andy540T
	Could be that 1/2 the Intermediate class at the shootout won't be old enough to drink.

Good observation! There might be a subliminal message here for the rest of us, huh?

Good job Seth.

Great write-up Wayne. We've got an up and coming 10 year old here in Vegas who's quite competitive too.