Hello, my name is Randy Dierks, I am 58 years old and have been passionate about aviation since my dad took me for a ride in a Cessna when I was still just a toddler. I started flying control line and free flight models when I was young, and started flying Hang Gliders in my mid teens. I also developed an interest in anything mechanical at a very young age which was helped out by the fact that I pretty much grew up in a welding and machine shop. I learned to weld around the age of 6-8 years old and learned to run a lathe at age 12. I also had an interest in electronics and got my ham radio license at around age 15.

After high school I pursued a career in the electronic trade and spent about 6 years as a journeyman certified electronic technician (CET). At that point I ultimately decided that I didn’t like electronics as an occupation, so decided to pursue other things. After a stint as a welder and then a couple of years in the Composites business building tooling for composite aircraft, I decided I wasn’t cut out for being an employee, so I started a machine shop, which I still have to the present.

I got my private pilots license in my late teens when I lucked into a job for a company that had a couple airplanes that they let me use for free, as long as I kept them maintained. I was also fortunate to have belonged to an EAA chapter early on that was very active which presented me with the opportunity to fly a lot of different airplanes. I took a break from flying for about 20 years to have a family and grow my business (how time flies). Then about five years ago I decided to build a new shop, at my house, and move my machine shop home so I could get back to building airplanes and flying. I am just finishing up the shop now and am building a Legal Eagle XL Ultralight, and an Acroduster II biplane. I am also on the BOD of my local EAA chapter and am very involved in the EAA Young Eagles program.

I have been a member of the g+ community since it was in beta. Back then I was involved in the Android development community and those were the people that were initially invited to participate when Google released it for beta testing. I am also a web developer, specializing in Joomla and open source E-commerce software. I have several web sites, mostly about things I am interested in like rcplanemaker.com, diycncworks.com and several others, I also have several YouTube channels. Most of those have been neglected while I have been building my shop though. I also have another g+ account + Rcplanemaker which was mainly set up for g+ testing, but I hope to start using more in the near future.

So, there you have it, more information than anyone would ever want to know about me. But hey, what is social media for if not to overshare. Lol

This is a picture of me Flying a 1929 Ford Trimotor over Lake Tahoe. I am laughing because the real Trimotor pilot just told me that you are not a real Trimotor pilot until you fly it with your elbow hanging out the window. So I guess I am one now. Lol