The CAFE Foundation Board
Executive Directors
Directors
Brien A. Seeley M.D., President
In 1975 Brien devoted his two week vacation from training in eye surgery to earning his private pilot’s certificate, and thus began a life-long passion for flying. He joined EAA, read and studied aerodynamics, and helped build two experimental aircraft. In 1981 Brien conceived the “CAFE Formula,” a mathematical expression for aircraft efficiency. Along with Dr. Larry Ford, he founded the CAFE Foundation to host the very successful CAFE 400 races of the 1980’s based on this formula.
Brien graduated from UC Berkeley, finished medical school at UCSF, and obtained his M.D. in just three years. After ophthalmology residency at UCSF, he opened his eye surgery practice in Santa Rosa where he practices full time.
Brien produced CAFE research in the areas of aircraft performance, flight test data analysis, engine cooling, electronic ignition, and local flow aero devices. With Ed Vetter he invented and analyzed the first EPGs (exhaust pressure graphs) for scientifically tuning aircraft exhaust systems. He also bought an older four-seater Mooney and modified it so extensively that its cruise speed increased by 36 mph.
Brien has received several honors, including EAA National’s President’s Award and Sonoma County Medical Association’s “Outstanding Contribution to Sonoma County Medicine in 2003.” He has been the President of the UCSF Cordes Eye Society, and he has been the President of CAFE Foundation since its inception in 1981.
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Larry Ford, D.D.S., Vice-President
Larry built his own experimental aircraft, a gorgeous Glasair RG. His fascination with flying machines is among his earliest childhood memories, and much of his adolescence was consumed building model airplanes of all types. Larry’s exceptionally skilled craftsmanship in working with his hands won the praise of his family dentist, and his career aspirations of becoming a test pilot turned to that of becoming a dentist. At age 20, while obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at Santa Clara University, Larry obtained his private pilot certificate.
Larry’s craftsmanship and leadership skills have helped CAFE compile its impeccable record of flight test safety. His particular specialty has been in the artistry of aviation photography that has been an integral part of each CAFE flight test report. Larry designed the distinctive CAFE logo, produced movies of the CAFE 400 races, and designed and shot photographs that became the benchmark standard for how best to show off an aircraft’s features.
Larry has a busy practice in general dentistry in Sebastopol and is an active Rotarian there. In 1981 he was elected President of EAA Chapter 124 and co-founded the CAFE Foundation with Brien Seeley.
Larry continues to serve as the Vice President of CAFE, and he serves as their valued chef, always making sure that the team of volunteers stays well-nourished during their long hours of work at the CAFE Flight Test Center.
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Johanna M Dempsey, Treasurer
Jo became captivated by the sound of big radial engines in flight at an early age as a United Air Lines brat. She began attending Reno Air Races in 1980 where the sights and sounds compelled her to seek her own niche in the aviation world. Earning her pilot certificates from private through commercial multi-engine and on to instrument flight instructor, Jo flew professionally as a flight instructor for many years. Along the way she purchased, restored and flew a North American T-28C with the help of the Pacific Coast Air Museum. For years Jo produced PCAM’s newsletter.
Jo has completed graduate work in geology at San Jose State U., teaching credentials in physical science, math, geography and aeronautics at Sonoma State U., and a bachelor’s degree in geology with an emphasis in cartography and remote sensing from Cal State U., East Bay.
As a member of the local EAA Chapter 124, Jo served on the Board of Directors and edited their newsletter. Here she met and flew with CAFE board members and was asked to join their ranks in 1997.
The enthusiasm, creativity, innovation and synergy that encompass CAFE continue to be a delight to Jo. She carries this energy into the classroom where she teaches high school physical science and math. And although Jo does not race, she loves to photograph the Reno Air Races from pylon 6.
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Stephen P. Williams, Secretary
Ever since he was young Steve has been interested in science. In high school he studied electronics and helped build and run the school's television studio. At College of Marin he studied engineering and worked in the computer center. In his spare time he started computing “pi” into the thousands of decimal places, and he memorized “pi” to the first fifty digits. Steve studied computer science at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo developing a talent for programming as he continued to compute “pi.”
At National Controls Steve worked as an engineer designing electronic scales. One of his designs was capable of resolving a weight to one part in a million. This experience proved useful years later in the design of the Barograph that Steve built for Rutans' Voyager World Flight. The Barograph was not used for the Voyager World Flight, but it turned out to be a useful tool for studying aerodynamics. After two major design improvements and successful testing in the NASA Ames Research wind tunnel, the Barograph has become the highly sensitive instrument CAFE uses for flight testing and research.
At Hewlett Packard Steve worked as an engineer developing a number of electronic instrument and system designs, including a large spectrum monitoring system. Steve was a principal designer of HP’s MSIB bus which allows instruments to communicate with each other. And Steve continued to compute “pi”. In fact it was at HP that he achieved one million decimal places for “pi.” Steve finally decided that was enough!
Steve built a Barograph for Rutans' Voyager World Flight. The Barograph was not used for the Voyager World Flight, but it turned out to be a useful tool for studying aerodynamics. After two major design improvements and successful testing in the NASA Ames Research wind tunnel, the Barograph has become the highly sensitive instrument CAFE uses for flight testing and research.
Steve has participated in much of the mathematical design and analysis done by CAFE. In 1993 he developed the formula used to score the CAFE Triaviathon. More recently he provided a mathematical basis essential to the rules for NASA's PAV competition.
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Mike Fenn, Director
Mike was drawn to aviation like a moth to a flame. When he was 7 years old watched his dad land a U.S. Army Beechcraft. He knew then that he would learn to fly and be involved with airplanes for the rest of his life. He has always loved the smooth shapes and the sounds of airplanes.
Mike earned his private pilot certificate in 1983. He later found a 1949 Temco Swift in need of some tender loving care. Employing his skills as a machinist, he fabricated and assembled the pieces necessary to return the Swift to the air and enjoyed many happy hours flying.
For more than 20 years, Mike has participated at EAA Chapter 124 and served on its Board of Directors. He has designed and fabricated furnishings and accessories for the EAA chapter auditorium, and he is also an active member of the Pacific Coast Air Museum. In the 1980’s Mike was a regular volunteer at the CAFE 400 Races.
Mike's day job employs his skills in drafting and machine work to develop specialized parts ranging from micro electronic components to large aircraft parts. He has helped the well-known AeroCrafters of Santa Rosa succeed in restoring many classic aircraft. Able to build almost anything, Mike enjoys the challenge of taking on new, innovative design projects.
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Meg Hurt, Director
Her father being in the military, Meg Hurt was fortunate to grow up living in foreign countries and in many different states. Her curiosity about airplanes started when she was a child and saw the Blue Angels perform. That eventually led to a private pilot’s certificate in 1988 and owning an airplane.
After graduating from Sonoma State College Meg enjoyed a challenging 27 year career as a certificated teacher and continues today with private tutoring. In her professional career, she taught over 800 children in a low income public school. Her enthusiasm, energy, can-do spirit, and highly developed organizational skills were evident in the positive student feedback and excellent evaluations she received.
Meg was the first female voted onto the Board of Directors at EAA Chapter 124. She has been associated with CAFE Foundation for nearly 25 years. After she became a CAFE board member, she took on the responsibility of being the coordinator of CAFE events.
Besides being a licensed pilot, Meg is certified as a SCUBA diver, a trained Great Books leader, and a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international educational society. Curiosity is still a part of Meg’s life, and she continually takes on new activities and projects.
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David Lynch, Director
David has been interested in aerospace ever since he was a little boy and his father worked for Lockheed on the man/space program. He has been involved in general aviation and has flown many different types of aircraft all over the Western United States since he got his private pilot’s certificate in 1978. David is currently pursuing sports level aerobatics and building an RV-8A. He is the Young Eagles Coordinator for EAA Chapter 124.
David graduated from San Diego State University Engineering Department with an emphasis on audio and sound engineering. He has worked for TRW, Hewlett-Packard, and Agilent Technologies. He brings many years of experience as a Quality Manager, Project Manager, Test Manager, and developer and teacher. As part of his audio engineering experience he developed a spherical radiator speaker system and started a company to manufacture and sell the speakers for the home market.
Because of David’s leadership skills, aviation enthusiasm, and sound expertise CAFE Foundation elected him to the Board of Directors. He is utilizing his professional experience developing the PAV Challenge noise testing strategies and helping CAFE educate contestants and the public about noise reduction.
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Jack Norris, Director
When Jack was 15 he figured out a method to prevent spiral dives in model aircraft. As a modeler he won over 160 trophies, set 2 U-control world speed records, won four National First Places and two National Championships in the Senior Age Division. Currently he has over 100 of his spacecraft products in the Milestone of Flight Gallery of the Central Hall of the National Air & Space Museum.
In college Jack learned to fly and served as a flight engineer and crew chief on a B26 Invader in the Air National Guard. He graduated Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma Honors in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University in 1951 with a USAF commission.
Jack 's mechanical engineering skills designed and implemented many of the famous rides at Disneyland. He conceived the fail-safe Servo System Control Package for the Boeing 727 aileron control, and he designed the manual control for the Mercury project. Astronaut John Glenn used it to save the reentry when the automatic system failed.
In 1986, Jack was the Technical Director of Mission Control on the World Flight of the Rutan Voyager, and he did the Official Flight Analysis for the Smithsonian Archives. He invented Zero Thrust Glide Testing and published the first paper on the subject in the Journal of Aircraft in 1993. Jack will soon publish a breakthrough textbook that is the first to describe propeller design and theory in correct, understandable terms.
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Scott C. Nevin, Director
As a young child Scott was always interested in how things worked. To his parents frustration and delight he was always taking things apart and getting them running again. He became interested in airplanes around the age of 12. He would spend endless hours watching small planes and wondering what it would be like to fly. He even wrote to Cessna to tell them how he loved their airplanes.
While finishing his Computer Science degree at Eastern Michigan University, Scott earned his private pilot’s certificate and an Advanced Ground Instructor rating. He then began teaching aviation at a local community college.
While studying aerothermodynamics in graduate school at California State University at Northridge, he was selected for a NASA funded research project to work on supersonic combustion algorithms. Scott was also the project manager for a student group that built an all composite radio controlled cargo aircraft which competed in the Society of Automotive Engineers’ annual RC aircraft competition.
Scott graduated from CSUN in 1994 and went to work for U.S. Electricar. Later he became an engineer at Hewlett-Packard and worked on radar test equipment, spectrum monitoring systems, and wireless communications networks. Scott met Steve Williams at HP and was introduced to CAFE where he now volunteers his time working with this group of highly energetic, passionate people dedicated to furthering general aviation.
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