Darcy is an inventor/artist in the Ottawa area.

He’s been fascinated with aviation since age nine when his parents bought him his first model airplane kits.

Since then he has explored many aspects of aviation art and science. He’s also well known for sharing his passion for science and aviation. He’s flown many types of radio controlled aircraft including sport, pattern, aerobatics, sail planes, combat, hand launch, hi-start and much more.

He has been very fortunate to receive guidance and mentorship from many experienced designers, builders and fliers and has always been at the leading edge.

He has been very active in the model airplane community and has flown competitively.

He eventually decided to spend his time with simple rubber-powered airplanes since they are very peaceful and are very easy to share because of their low cost. He also feels that the simpler model planes are just as fun as the more complex and expensive ones.

After volunteering in community centers sharing aviation for many years, he eventually decided to make a better simpler design.

In 2004 he sat down and applied a design and problem solving methodology he devised when working in the software industry. This included envisioning, brainstorming, experimentation, prototyping, testing and eventually publishing it as an open hardware design. It was quickly adopted by many people throughout the world and peer review as feedback came forward. Eventually the design was highly accepted and published in many magazines and publications.

More recently the Squirrel was made available as a kit.

Darcy still does a lot of volunteer work for a wide variety of organizations from Chicago to Toronto to Montreal to Boston to New York City. He mentors children and adults.

His volunteer activities range from community centers to walk-in centers for homeless and vulnerable people.