Member Spotlight – Paul Darbo

by Bruce Estes

Paul Darbo, known around EAA Chapter 1541 as “Dubs,” got his nickname in tenth grade so we will continue to call him Dubs. Dubs was introduced to aviation at an early age. His father introduced him to a variety of hobbies and sports, such as hunting, boating, trampoline, and flying. At age sixteen, Dubs went to an airport and the passion was started.

Dubs attended the University of Wisconsin and made the gymnastics team, where he specialized in trampoline. Dubs won awards for his excellence in trampoline.

At age 21, Dubs took flying lessons and got his Private Pilot’s license. That was 51 years ago. Life got in the way of any serious flying for a long time. While in the Air Force, he flew with the military flying club at various locations where he was stationed.

Currently, Dubs works for Ricoh Corporation in data processing services. What started as a three month job in 1990 lasted to his current employment. Dubs was in charge of designing and implementing a beverage container recycling program for the State of California. He has been designing various software programs for Ricoh for 50 years.

Now, the exciting part. Dubs is scheduled to retire on January 29th of this year. So, to enjoy his retirement, Dubs recently purchased a Mooney M20 Statesman. An annual inspection was just completed on the Mooney, and it is pretty much ready to fly. Dubs plans to get current, get the required dual time in the Mooney, and start reaching out to a variety of locations. Dubs was raised in Madison, Wisconsin, and we all know that Oshkosh Airventure is pretty close to Madison. He is hoping to fly his Mooney to Madison this year and attend Airventure for his first time. Good luck Dubs. You are going to have a great retirement.