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KNOW YOUR DIRECTORS There continues here a series of biographical and autobiographical sketches of the 28 SSA Directors. Leslie R. Arnold Les Arnold is the only SSA Regional Director for region 11 (Hawaii, Nevada, and northern California) and resides at 2801 D St., Hayward, Calif. His three-year term runs through 1962. There follows his soaring biography. Les Arnold's career in soaring began in 1928 when at the age of 14 he built and flew (?) his own hang glider. He learned to glide in Dick Johnson's Primary at Moffett Field in the late '30s. He has owned the TG-3A "Redwing" for 14 years. In 1957 he purchased a Nelson Hummingbird and used it to win the West Coast Soaring Contest that year. He started his SKY SAILING soaring school in 1958 at Hummingbird Haven in Livermore, moved to Fremont in 1959 and opened SKY SAILING AIRPORT in 1960. He now own six sailplanes and two tow planes and is a full-time commercial operator. Les holds C badge #728, SIlver Badge #136, Gold Badge #32 with two diamonds, still needs to accomplish Diamond altitude. He holds FAA Commercial pilot and Flight instructor ratings and is an FAA examiner for glider pilots. He was twice president of the Northern Calif. Soaring Assn. and on their Board of Directors for several years. He is a member of the EAA and is Schweizer Aircraft deal for Northern Calif. Les is 47 years old, married, and has two daughters. One, Jean Arnold Harrison, is a Silver C pilot and flew a 1-26 in the Nationals at Bishop in 1968. L e s' granddaughter's first words were "Grandpa fly gliders." Leslie J. Arnold. [[image]] Les is, without a doubt, the happiest man in the world, since he now devotes all his time to the great love of his life - soaring. He has taught hundreds of students to soar and now provides facilities and equipment so they can enjoy the wonderful sport at their convenience. He has spread the gospel of soaring by speaking at many meetings, flying at airshows, giving demonstrations at various airports and flying in National and local contests. Capt. Ralph S Barnaby, USN (Ret.) Capt. Barnaby is one of SSA's two Honorary Vice-Presidents and, as such is a member of the Board of Directors without vote. He resides at 2107 Chancellor St., Philadelphia 3, Pa. There follows his soaring biography. Ralph Barnaby was one of the real pioneers not only in gliding and soaring, but in aviation in general. [[image]] Photo by J. J. Barton Capt. Barnaby displays the Eaton Trophy in his office at the Franklin Institute. He designed, built, and flew his first glider in 1909, and took powered flight instruction as early as 1912. In 1929 he acquirred the first "C" soaring certificate issued in the United States by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, by making a soaring flight of 15 minutes 6 seconds above the sand bluffs of Corn Hill on Cape Cod. On January 31, 1930, he achieved international notice by his glider flight launched from the Navy's rigid airship, the USS Los Angeles, He took part in the first five U.S. National Contests as contestant or official, and has served at many others as SSA representative. He has served as President of SSA four times, and is currently an Honorary Vice-President. He has recently completed a history of soaring in the USA and the Soaring Society, which will become Chapter 1 of the American SOaring Handbook. He served for six years as Chairman of the SSA Awards Committee, and from 1950 till 1960 as United States representative and Vice-President of the Gliding Committee of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. He received from the FAI a Paul Tissandier Diploma in 1955, and was named the Helms Hall Soaring Hall of Fame in 1957. In 1960 he was named an "Elder Statesman of Aviation" by the National Aeronautic Association. He is the 1960 recipient of the SSA's Warren E. Eaton Memorial Trophy. Ralph served thirty years in Naval Aviation and wears the Navy's Air Medal and Legion of Merit medal. Since his retirement from the Navy in 1947 he has been engaged in research and development work with the Franklin Institute Laboratories for Research & Development, and is currently their Manager of Project Development. He is a Fellow of the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences, and a Past President of the Early Birds, an association of pioneer aviators. Tom Page Tom Page is one of the two Regional Directors for region 7, the north-central states, and is one of the two SSA Vice-Presidents. He resides at 2022 Burlison Br., Urbana Ill. There follows his soaring biography. A long-time fascination with soaring began for Tom Page with the stories of German developments after World War I while he was in grade school. At the University of Kansas in 1930 he joined a glider club with a Zoegling-type primary, Just before WW II he took power instruction. Beyond aviation cadet age, he soon enlisted in the Army glider program. By the end of the war he was one of the small number of Air Force glider instructors with over 2000 glider flights racked up in "the battle of Texas." Instead of returning to banking, or as he had been 1941-42, a labor market economist for the federal government, he returned to graduate school and wound a college professor with a Ph.D. in political science. He competed in the 1947 SOARING
