Russell "Rusty" Van Baren is a California native that began his love of model flight at the age of 8 when he received his first control line kit. He spent most of his free time and money growing up learning to fly R/C, competing in pattern competitions when he turned 18. He achieved the master's class and competed in his first national championship at Lake Charles, LA in 1974. While flying pattern, other competitors stoked his interest in R/C pylon racing, and he soon began competing in Formula 1.

Rusty teamed up with Ron Gilman and Jerry Boyce and as a team started competing in pylon racing in Southern California, which was in the Western Region, the most competitive in the nation. After a couple of years of competition, with some early success, their team would be one of the first to pick up a major sponsor of “Circus Circus Hotels” in the late 70’s. Their team of 3 used a 50 MHZ frequency and raced pretty much everyone over a 7-year stretch including other regions at each year’s national stage. Besides being a great pilot, Rusty was also an exceptional caller and a key to Ron and Jerry’s wins over the years. The final race for the team was the 1981 Championship Race in Las Vegas where Rusty and Jerry tied for 1st place and Ron finished 5th with fast time also. It was very close to a 3-way tie until the last round. Jerry retired from racing afterwards and Ron left shortly into the next season, but Rusty continued on.

Rusty owned and operated a restaurant with little time off, so his love for racing sometimes saw him showing up on a Sunday of a 2-day contest just so he could compete for points needed to qualify for the yearly Championship Race. Rusty has continued to race over the span of almost 50 years with different teammates, Richard Verano, Carl Silva, Mark Lattimore to name a few. Besides running a business and competing in pylon and pattern, Rusty was also raising a son, Matthew Van Baren, who had begun to race at a very young age.

In the mid 90’s, Formula 1 finally collapsed as the scratch builders of the nation dried up and the new Q40 was born featuring a lighter and smaller plane in a composite kit with the same .40 size engine, much easier to assemble and build compared to F1. Pylon racing was now a family dynasty, so Rusty was now building for 2 people as he and Matthew raced almost every class. Rusty was no stranger to design since he had produced several kits by this time including a pattern plane which he used to compete with. In 1995, Rusty designed the Vendetta Q40, which first flew in 1996 and started smashing records. The Vendetta design was a full lap faster than the competition and is still a competitive design almost 30 years later, known today as the Miss Ashley II. Also in 1995, Rusty represented his country at the FAI F3D Pylon World Championships, calling for Lou Rodriguez.

Rusty has continued to inspire and develop new talent in the hobby. After Matthew went off to the US Air Force Academy, Rusty partnered with Doug Killebrew, the son of his old teammate Ron Gilman. Together, they climbed the leaderboards all over the country, and are a mainstay in Southern CA.

Rusty joins the NMPRA Hall of Fame 2020 class in recognition for his achievements and contributions to the sport of R/C pylon racing.

Rusty And Son Matthew With Their Miss Ashleys

Doug and Rusty With Their Miss Ashleys

1995 USA FAI Pylon Team

Jerry Boyce, Barbara Van Baren, Rusty Van Baren

Team Circus Circus - Jerry Boyce, Rusty Van Baren, Ron Gilman