RIP John M

[briankizner]

Members who have been around a few years should remember John Marcelissen. I was saddened to see his obituary in today's Gazette. He was only 57 years old. He was a member when I joined back in 1989 and was one of those who helped me to learn how to fly RC. His wife, Rhonda, was also a member for a while. Very shy and quiet, he let his flying skills speak for him. One of the best pilots to ever be with WIMAC, John loved to fly fast. I remember well, at a fun fly in the early 1990's, he demonstrated a pylon racer for the crowd of spectators. Pylon racers of the time were small, extremely fast planes, powered by high performance engines such as the Nelson .40 which would scream at over 20,000 RPM. He would fly a straight line at a ridiculous speed, then pull an incredibly sharp turn and fly another quick straight line. I have never seen any other RC planes change direction as quickly as this one did. Lorne Trottier was announcing on a PA system to the funfly crowd that turns like John was doing would fold up the wings of most planes but pylon racers were designed to handle the high G forces- seconds later, John's plane actually broke apart in flight and pieces of it rained down.
Sincere condolences to his family. Rest in peace.

[PaulG-rc]

Members who have been around a few years should remember John Marcelissen. I was saddened to see his obituary in today's Gazette. He was only 57 years old. He was a member when I joined back in 1989 and was one of those who helped me to learn how to fly RC. His wife, Rhonda, was also a member for a while. Very shy and quiet, he let his flying skills speak for him. One of the best pilots to ever be with WIMAC, John loved to fly fast. I remember well, at a fun fly in the early 1990's, he demonstrated a pylon racer for the crowd of spectators. Pylon racers of the time were small, extremely fast planes, powered by high performance engines such as the Nelson .40 which would scream at over 20,000 RPM. He would fly a straight line at a ridiculous speed, then pull an incredibly sharp turn and fly another quick straight line. I have never seen any other RC planes change direction as quickly as this one did. Lorne Trottier was announcing on a PA system to the funfly crowd that turns like John was doing would fold up the wings of most planes but pylon racers were designed to handle the high G forces- seconds later, John's plane actually broke apart in flight and pieces of it rained down.
Sincere condolences to his family. Rest in peace.

This is sad new , I do remember him very well.
Sincere condolences to the family.
Rest in peace.

[Kevin Rochon]

No I can't believe it. Sad to ear.

Such a nice guy I remember he sold his part in his company and retired and started a family, a boy and if I can remember well, his name was Aidan?

I remember he was flying IMAC with 50cc plane then a 100cc and he wasn't afraid to do pretty much any maneuvers. He was working on a Ziroli P40 with a 3W 85cc I saw it partially finished in his basement on the pool table.

Even though I hadn't seen him in a while he will be missed.

My condolences to the family.

[briankizner]

Just checked the obit. Yes, his son is named Aidan. John was 55 years old.

[Ronald Longtin]

Condolences to the family, sad.

[bob forest]

I was just about to post the news about John, as I got an email from Rhonda his wife. John and I did a lot of flying together at WIMAC. He was a classy guy. His planes were impeccable. He was also building a Spitfire or a P40, just can't remember which. Fully detailed cockpit. John and I would compete against each other. One of those days, was who could do the lowest knife edge over the runway. I went first. I was about 8 inches off the deck. I said to John please just say I won. He said, no way, So off he went, he was low but not as low and gave the wrong rudder, and off into the deck and trees he went. Demolished the plane, He had a good laugh. After picking up the pieces, he said, YOU WIN. and we both had a good laugh. That's the type of guy he was. I often flew with him our float planes at the end of his street. There was a small boat ramp where we could stand and dly our planes. We also did our RC Sailboats together. He was a great guy. He wil be missed.
My deepest condolence to Rhonda and Aidan

I just found a good pic of John and his plane. This was taken at Ille Perrot also a member there.

[X.WAY]

I remember John well. He came to the club around 1988-1989 from out West. He was a very classy person. Always helped out. He was one of the better pilots at the club. Sorry to see his passing at a young age.

[Dwight Macdonald]

Very sorry to hear this. I got a lot of advice and plane parts for my first gasser from John. He was such a nice guy and a great model builder and pilot. I feel very sad for his wife and son.