Saturday, September 9, 2023
Growing up, I got to know my Uncle Joel as a man who had developed a passion for aviation and flying from when he was very young. As a boy, he had been inspired to become an Engineer by the feats of designers who had built the classic airplanes of the Jet age and the rockets of the Space age.
I got to see Uncle Joel apply this Engineering skill to rebuilding old radios with me, building model gliders, and building model planes that he could fly by radio remote control far before most people ever heard of drone technology. He also became a licensed pilot, flying a V-Tail Bonanza and several other light planes over the years. He could visit the Shore in Summer by beating the traffic, but driving was just as much a passion for him, and he was as fond of stopping at roadside stops like Stewart's as he was of Airport diners. I was so fortunate to have him in my life growing up, not only for the things he taught me about hands on building, but his lessons in patience (Those balsa models had a lot of parts. and those vacuum tubes for those radios were tricky to track down!) and his quiet passion for thoughtful building and working to make life better through diligent work.
Of course, his engineering skill extended to other places as well. As a boy, he told me about fiber optics when it was only something being talked about in magazines like Popular Mechanics. As I grew, I came to understand that I was learning from a master. He was quiet about his work, sometimes, but it was all quiet determination. I came to understand that he believed passionately in using his engineering skill to make the world a better place, for him and for everybody else.
One more of my memories, from those things that we built together:
Along with the model remote control planes and gliders, large and small, Uncle Joel built a rocket launch station with those Estes models that you can still find at Hobby shops. We built a couple rockets to launch from the station. Uncle Joel bought a V-2 Rocket, the kind Werner Von Braun had built during WW2. However, he insisted we paint it up like the A-4 version, which Von Braun had built as a test rocket, before it became the fearsome V-2. Uncle Joel wanted to emphasize that the A-4 had been about research, and that was a far better goal than making a war rocket. Uncle Joel used his talents for Engineering to help a lot of people, and some of the things he did in his workshop at home were like magic that he used to teach and entertain me. I believe that was how he saw Engineering, something to be done to help and to teach, always. To build or fly airplanes, so people could become closer. To build communications, for the same reason. He also believed in quiet devotion and in speaking through one's art and one's actions. He was invaluable to be then and still is. I will miss him terribly, and I hope that he finds another form of wings in a world to come, where he may meet the greatest of Engineers face to face.
David Powell
Nephew
