MEET YOUR FRIENDS IN THE WINDMILL BUSINESS - TOM & SALLY CONLON AND THE STORY OF IRON MAN WINDMILL CO. LTD

Iron Man Windmill Co was founded in 2002 by Tom Conlon, although his work with windmills began 40 years earlier. It was Toms work at the University of Hawaii that first took him to China on Jan 1st. 2001. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Tom's first real introduction to the world of machinery was at the hands of his high school machine shop teachers, Mr. George Marek and Mr. Richard Davis, two senior, highly skilled retired machinists from Lockheed. They were dedicated men who gave a great part of themselves to help their students and had a significant influence on Tom's interest in technology.

Tom was still in high school when he was befriended by Paul Martin, an elderly well driller who lived in Lucerne Valley on the California desert. It was Paul who gave Tom his first opportunity to learn about windmills, Aermotor's of course, and water wells. Tom's first and most enduring lesson about windmills was the important roll that windmills used for pumping water had in the lives of the people who depended on them.

In 1970, Tom founded Aero Power Systems Inc (APSI), to manufacture an innovative high performance wind powered electric generator, the "Aero Power" windmill that he originally invented to provide power for his home.

The Aero Power windmill achieved considerable popularity in the 1970's originally being one of two wind powered electric generators being manufactured in the US at the time, the other being the 200W "Wind Charger, originally manufactured in the 1920's for charging radio batteries. Within several years, dozens of manufacturers were producing wind powered electric generators of similar designs to Tom's "Aero Power," wind powered electric generator. Additionally, Aero Power Systems Inc. (APSI) distributed Dempster and Aermotor windmills in the western United States. A significant part of Tom's work became teaching dealers how to specify, install, maintain and market wind energy systems. It was an education intensive business placing strong emphasis on dealer development, system design, installation and service training. It was during this period that Marcellus Jacobs, the inventor of the Jacobs Wind Electric System, selected Tom to do the design work and production of the rotors for his new wind electric systems. Aero Power windmills were sold and used in countries around the world.

In 1982, after working an average of 16 hours a day for the previous 12 years, Tom retired from the affairs of APSI and accepted the position of supervisor of the University of Hawaii Scientific Instrument Shop (SOEST) where he designed and constructed advanced scientific Instrumentation for research. It was during this period that he met the love of his life, his wife Sally, who was born and raised in Japan. They were married and have two children, Yukiko and Tommy. Sally worked at the University of Hawaii for seven years as the senior administrator for the Pacific International Research Center. She was the first employee of the institute, and was responsible for setting up the administrative systems, which is her speciality.

Tom's work with the U of H included development of ocean bottom seismometers, optical accessories for the telescopes in the observatories on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, high pressure instrumentation for studying the composition and behavior of matter deep in the earth and a wide range of other instruments for scientific research. He is most remembered for his work constructing an advanced detector (the MDCIII) for the study of the behavior of Quarks for the Chinese Academe of Science, Institute of High Energy Physics

It was this work that brought Tom to China in January of 2001, when he was invited by IHEP to assist in the final work completing the MDCIII particle detector. The work was completed ahead of schedule and he had some time to spend traveling across China by train. It was on this train that he saw large numbers of farmers lifting water by hand with crude equipment. "I watched farmers using buckets and ropes and other hand and foot powered machines to irrigate their farms and I knew from my experience what an important asset the American water pumping windmill would be to help improve their lives."

Tom made inquiries and found that wind power was not being used to assist with this work and that there were no factories in China producing windmills for pumping water. He decided then that he would return to China and give serious consideration to the establishment of an enterprise for the production of traditional American style Farm Windmills, which have a long history of successful operation.

After supervising construction of Scientific Instrumentation at the U of H for 20 years, Tom resigned his position and spent a year traveling in China meeting with Government officials and private business people and finally began the process of starting a wholly owned foreign enterprise to achieve his objective in Central China. Work began in a rented valve factory manufacturing replacement parts for the windmill, the most common windmill in America. Eventually, production began of the 20ft 702. This is the largest and most powerful of the series, capable of successfully pumping water as high as 1200ft.

Sally Conlon is the businesses dedicated General Manager. Sally was born in Nagano, Japan and has spent years in administrative management. They met and were married in Honolulu 20 years ago and have two children. "I don't know what I'd do without Sally. She gives this place life. She is the beauty and the brains behind our work."

Currently, Iron Man Windmill Co. is producing windmills in a variety of sizes and a range of pumps made especially for use in the demanding conditions found in the Chinese countryside. Additionally, a substantial effort is underway developing the next generation of technically advanced and cost effective duel purpose water pumping and electric generating wind powered energy system. Today, Tom and his family live and work in the city of Hankou, Wuhan building, installing and maintaining windmills providing clean water for rural villages and farming communities.

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