Northwest Carrier enthusiast Joe Just diesJoe Just of Waitsburg, Wash., died on March 29. Joe was a long-time Northwest Navy Carrier enthusiast who also dabbled in other control-line competitive events over the years. He was active in the Navy Carrier Society and for many years supplied control-line accessories and model airplane kits through his company, J&J Sales. He also was a columnist for the Flying Lines newsletter. Joe attended the Brodak Fly-in in Pennsylvania and was a regular at the Jim Walker Memorial Spring Tune-Up in Portland and other Northwest events, often attending with his wife, Ginny. Flying Lines would be happy to provide any other information about Joe that readers may want to submit. Remembering JoeSometime back in the early 1980s I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Joe Just. Here are a few miscellaneous notes that I believe are reasonably accurate. First off, Joe was originally from upstate New York. I do not remember when he came west to Washington. When I first met him he was residing in the town of Sunnyside which is a ways west of the Tri-Cities area. A few years later he moved east to Waitsburg. For a time he worked at a radio station, doing on-air work and probably other functions typical of a small town outlet. He also worked in retail sales for a while. As already mentioned he had his own model airplane supply company, J&J Sales. Besides distributing mainline model items, he also fabricated some of his own products, including fiberglass propellors at one time. The last few years Joe was mainly known for his activity in flying and promoting Carrier competition. In earlier years he also participated in Mouse Racing and some beginner level Aerobatics. He was also instrumental in the development of the Clown Race event, which began in his local club. Speaking of clubs, Joe was also active in at least three clubs over the decades in his area. He was a driving force and promoter of local events, particularly fun flys where he was generous with prizes and his time. Sometime early on I discovered that Joe, like I, was a fan of the Three Stooges comedy group so I knew he had to be a good guy with that going for him. He was always fun to joke with. I remember a particular situation at a Portland contest: Ken Burdick and I were hanging out by the Carrier circle and thought that Joe could use a little harassing. One of us says, “So how old is Joe?” and the other one of us replies, “ I think he is really old!” Joe being just at the edge of being out of earshot, squints at us and says, “I can’t hear what you are saying, but I don’t like the way your lips are moving!” This all given and taken in good humor, of course. The last couple of years Joe had not been attending much in the way of modeling events due to declining health. During this period he authored some books in both the history and faith-based genres. Rest in peace, my friend.
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