Quickheads

The Quickie Builders' Association was formed in 1982 to bring builders together to share tips and information through the association newsletter QuickTalk (as it was then titled). Below is a brief synopsis from co-founder Jim Masal on how it all began.

QBA Co-founder
Jim Masal

By the summer of 1981 I had already begun work on my Quickie. As a dumb novice airplane builder I went to Oshkosh that summer excited about seeing some finished Quickies and learning a great deal more from other builders. At that time you could see 3 or 4 Quickies on the flightline.

The Quickie Aircraft Corp. (QAC) produced a marginally useful journalistic rag that was primarily devoted to promoting and selling its products. As I haunted the flightline, I met another Texan, Robert Herd, a graduate engineer who was chasing after a double E (electrical engineering) at Texas Tech U. in Lubbock. He was also working on a Quickie. As we milled about, we heard several stories from builders who sent builder tips into the QAC newsletter that never got printed. We also heard about slow answers to questions, slow service and, curiously, reports of several broken tailsprings. During the QAC forum, the principals had clever answers to these things including "We haven't heard anything about tailsprings breaking." Robert and I decided that if the company wouldn't " 'fess up" honestly or print builder tips then maybe we two could get it done with an independent newsletter. Neither one of us was willing to do that job solo. So we started collecting names and addresses on the flightline and at the QAC banquet that week.

Some time that fall, Robert came to Dallas and we sat around my dining room table plotting our next moves and coming up with a name: Quicktalk, the newsletter of the Quickie Builders Association. We decided to produce the first issue in January 1982. The workload was divided with Robert collecting letters, typing the copy and keeping records while I would proof read the copy, get the printing done and do the mailing. The thing took off pretty fast because, as we deduced, there was a crying need for an honest, reliable exchange of information. And from then on QAC was no longer able to keep us discreetly separated as unconnected builders and in the dark about weaknesses in the design(s).

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Comments (1)

• |Y-m-d H:i:s Robert (Bob) Park
  My Q-1 that is flyable has been sold.
  
  
  
  My computer and I do not agree much of the time, and all my e-mail has disappeared. I have
  almost completed a replacement computer and may get faster net service.
  
  
  
  I do still have the just started Q-1 kit.
  
  
  
  I hope to get re-started in a month or two.
  
  
  
  Thanks. Bob

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