Written by AMA staff (03/2006); Transcribed by JS (02/2008), Reformatted by JS (11/2009)
Dallas Parker, from Northridge, California, is the recipient of a $4,000 Charles Hampson Grant scholarship and the beneficiary of the $2,230 proceeds of a raffle held at the 2005 AMA Convention. The son of Jim and Cathy Parker, Dallas had a 4.15 grade-point average at Advantage Preparatory Schools in Santa Clarita, California.
He attended honors classes at College of the Canyons his junior and senior years of high school and earned transferable college credits in engineering math and chemistry. Dallas volunteered for informal tutoring, helping fellow students with chemistry and calculus.
Dallas played soccer and volleyball in high school, received the Sportsmanship award, and was team captain one year in volleyball. He played baseball for 11 years in Little League and was chosen for the All Star team eight of those years and made two tournament teams. He was recognized as a member of the home Run Club in his league.
In 2004, Dallas went on a mission trip to East Berlin, Germany, with his high school church youth group. The group assisted in relocating a church, painting the home of someone in need, and helping with local sports camps.
Dallas built his first model, a P-30, at age 7. He progressed to hand-launched gliders and was flying his father’s Towline Gliders, bunting gliders, and then high-performance F1A models by the time he was 11 years old.
Selected as the junior Assistant Team Manager for the 1999 Junior Free Flight World Championships in Israel, Dallas had the opportunity to fly as a guest at the competition. Subsequently he represented the United States on the Junior Free Flight teams in 2000 and 2002. He placed the highest of the U.S. Nordic team at the 2000 competition in the Czech Republic and in 2002; he was part of the Nordic team receiving the Silver Medal in Slovakia. Dallas holds the Senior F1A record.
Since he was 11 years old, Dallas has competed in several contests per year. “I especially remember the 2002 Southwest Regional contest,” he wrote, “where I maxed out in F1A, F1H, and Outdoor Hand-Lunched Glider.” In another accomplishment, Dallas was appointed the second alternate for the 2006 Open Free Flight Team.
Other contests Dallas has regularly competed in include Max Men, SCAT Annual, Big Al’s, the Free Flight Champs, Livotto’s, the Southwest FAI Challenge, the Sierra Cup, and the Patterson contest. His participation in international competition includes one contest in Poitou, France, and two World Cup Championships in the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Dallas is a member of the National Free Flight Society and the Southern California Aeronautics Team. He plans to attend California State University Northridge, and eventually hopes to transfer to Cal Ply Tech and major in mechanical or electrical engineering. Good luck in your chosen field, Dallas!
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