Jack McCornack Honored With Moody Award

The prestigious John Moody Award will be presented to Jack McCornack at USUA's Annual Meeting And Award Ceremony, this year held in conjunction with the Illinois Ultralight Advisory Council meetings on February 28, 2004 in Springfield (IL). He is the twelfth recipient of the award since its inception in 1991.

The John Moody Award was named in honor of "The Father of Ultralights," John Moody. In 1976, Moody was the first to provide the public with a complete ultralight kit that included both engine and airframe. Paying homage to the history and development of ultralighting, the Moody Award is ultralight aviation's highest award. The Award is presented annually to an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization for their efforts over a period of years. It gives them credit for their efforts and their significant contributions or advancements in the United States ultralight aviation community.

Some previous Moody Award Winners are Wayne Ison, Tom Peghiny, Homer Kolb, Dan Johnson, Ultralight Flying! Magazine, Vincent Vitollo, Boris Popov, John Ballantyne, Dr. Henry O. Malone, and Dennis Pagen.

"USUA continues its tradition to recognize and honor those individuals who have helped to make the sport of ultralighting what it is today. Their knowledge, persistence, and insight has been and will continue to be very important," remarked Dale Hooper, USUA Executive Vice President.

Jack McCornack (right) has earned the Moody Award for his more than 25 years as an educator, designer, writer and pilot. Jack has trained pilots in preparation for national and international competition. In addition, he has participated in the World Air Games and the World Microlight Competition. In 1978, Pterodactyl Ltd. - founded by Jack ­ was the only ultralight manufacturer withy a formal flight training system. The training manual entered the public domain when it was published in Glider Rider; now Ultralight Flying! Magazine. Other manufacturers were allowed to copy or revise the Pterodactyl Ptraining Syllabus and they did not have to pay any royalties.

As a designer, the 1970's saw Jack improving on the engines used to power ultralights. Many manufacturers used go-kart or small displacement industrial engines. These engines were very unreliable. By going to larger engines detuned for dependability, he achieved the same amount of power. However, the dramatic result was a very dependable engine. In 1979, Jack proved how this engine could make cross-country flight possible. Along with four other pilots, using engines designed by Jack, the group flew coast-to-coast across America.

The Cuyuna engine appeared on the scene in the early 1980's. Jack developed a larger twin cylinder engine that was similar to a snowmobile power plant. However, it was more reliable and it weighed less. The first year it was produced, it was called the Pterodactyl 430D and 430R. Then Jack convinced the company that did the tooling to use their own name. Following the lead of the Cuyuna design, Rotax and others followed suit.

From engine power to manpower, foot-launched ultralights were eventually replaced by craft that had full suspension landing gear. Due to Jack's efforts, planes such as the Pterodactyl Pfledge, Cuyuna 430R and Pterodactyl Ascender fulfilled FAA's foot launch requirement. As a result, the direction was set towards Part 103 and it wasn't long before an ultralight was no longer associated with launch technique.

In addition to writing the earlier training syllabus, Jack writes a column that appears monthly in Ultralight Flying! Magazine. Through his writing, he continues to inform, educate, and entertain people interested in the sport of ultralighting. With a comprehensive history and background as this, USUA is proud to honor Jack McCornack with the 2003 Moody Award.

FMI: www.usua.org