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.