But in 1993, after being in this hobby about five years, I wanted to attempt an AMA slope duration record. I made the preparations, solicited sponsors, and obtainedt all of the equipment needed to undertake this endeavor. Even though I was ready to do the record attempt by the beginning of 1994, there were setbacks and disasters that kept me from achieving this goal. Finally, on 23 May 1998, with a lot of help from my friends, a new AMA class A slope duration record was established with a time of 12 hours, 28 minutes, 20 seconds.

This past February, I contacted former MISO president Hank Vendiola in Oahu and expressed to him my interest of attempting the Class A (1.5 meter) slope duration record sometime this year. After some discussion, we agreed to get the Memorial Day weekend sanctioned by the AMA for a slope duration record trial. Since Hank is a current AMA contest director, he volunteered to oversee the event and file the appropriate documents with the AMA.. As the Memorial Day weekend approached, timekeepers were recruited for this AMA sanctioned event. Duane Asami, Tom Cunningham, and Gerald Fukuoka were "conned" to officiate as timekeepers.

The Tuesday before the Memorial Day weekend, a call was made to the AMA Competitions Department to confirm the current duration record. I was shocked to find out that two weeks before I called, two pilots recorded a time of 11 hours and 21 minutes. The current AMA record up to that time was six hours six minutes. Steve Kaluf of the AMA competitions department said that it was very likely these record attempts will be recorded as official. Steve advised me if any attempt would be made at this point of time, it should be at least 12 hours.

The flight crew was contacted and I relayed to them the challenge that we were faced w"ith. I was glad no one was hesitant to help and that gave me a boost in my confidence. We all were motivated to meet the challenge. It was also a chance to see this record being reestablished here on Maui. In the late 1980's, Dale Collier set several AMA records here on Maui and the Class A slope duration record was one of them.The flight crew arrived at the Waihee launch site at 5:00a.m. on 23 May 1998. The wind speed was clocked at an average of 12m.p.h. and gusting to 17m.p.h. We were all very excited and upbeat despite the early hour. I prepared my sailplane, a Mel Culpepper original design, the Hummingbird. The battery, a specially configured 2000 mah receiver battery from SR Batteries was hooked up to the ACE receiver and all flying surfaces were checked. At 5:40a.m. the record attempt began.

The first five hours of the flight were the hardest. This was because the sun was in my face during these hours. The winds were coming from the northeast and the sun rose approximately that same direction. To alleviate the problem with the sun shining (burning) directly on my face, I flew the Hummingbird a little inland, with the sun on my left. This continued until the sun was higher above the horizon. About 10:00 a.m. I could finally sit down on my sand chair and face the coastline without the blazing sun in my eyes and on my face.

The winds picked up early in the afternoon to about 18 m.p.h. gusting to the lower twenties. My main concern at this time was if the receiver battery was going to hold out. In November of 1996, I recorded a time of six hours and 59 minutes on the same plane and battery configuration. That was the longest flight that I recorded up to that time. Now I was surpassing that time and going into uncharted territory. Though I was feeling a little fatigued because of the heat and sun, the flight crew kept me on my toes with conversation and periodic updates on the elapse time.

When I was informed that 11 hours and 21 minutes approached, we were all getting very excited. A new record was in the making. Everyone got together for picture taking for that historic event. "Five, four, three, two, one--11 hours 21 minutes" - Hank announced. The goal had been set and now conquered. There was still a bit of sunlight left. "How long could Igo on and will the batteries last ?" were questions I kept asking myself. As 12 hours and 25 minutes approached, I didn't want to push fate any farther. I informed the flight crew that I was going to land. Everyone got ready for the final leg of our long journey. A couple passes were made over the landing area and then I came in. "I'm down!" I called out to the time keepers. Hank informed me of the good news---

"12 hours, 28 minutes, 20 seconds."

Despite the setbacks and problems I had encountered since deciding to do the AMA Class A slope duration record, I never gave up on achieving this goal I set out to do back in 1993. I first want to thank God for blessing me with good health, good friends, and the good weather during this event. I want to dedicate this record flight to my wife, Lisa, for believing in me and standing by me during the planning stages of my record attempt and to Mr. Martin who drew up the three-sided drawing of the Hummingbird for the record application. I also want to thank Hank Vendiola who was an inspiration to me to keep the fire going even when the going got tough. Hank flew from Oahu to oversee this record trial and his dedication to the hobby is immense. Much mahalo and aloha to both of them.

Thanks also goes out to Duane, Tom, and Gerald--they were crazy enough to hang around in the blazing sun for more than 12 hours with me--for that I'm forever grateful. We all also want to extend a big mahalo to Stephanie Fukuoka for bringing the pizza and refreshments.

Much appreciation also goes out to my sponsors--Mel Culpepper of Culpepper Model for supplying the Hummingbird and a back up plane, the Chuperosa; Steve Kaluf formally of ACE Radio for the MicroPro 2000 flight system; Tim Renald formally of Airtronics for the micro servos; Lou Pacheco owner of Pappy's Fishing & Hobbies for the high capacity transmitter battery; Tim & Garrett of Island Hobbies for their assistance and modeling supplies; SR Battery for their expert assistance; and Alan Mendes of Mendes Ranch for letting us use his land for this event.