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I was blessed with a father (AMA 20620) who professionally was an aeronautical engineer and lover of all things that flew. He was a life-long modeler and I can never think of a time when models were not in our home. I was hooked early on and was tutored by my father in building simple things like the AMA Dart and hand-launched balsa gliders.
I began trying to fly in the early Eighties. With no instructor to help and no flight sim, I tried to learn on my own. As usual, it was a disaster and I became discouraged and quit the hobby.
Fast forward 20+ years, met an RC pilot that rekindled the spark I once had for model aviation. He took me under his wing and mentored me until I became a proficient pilot. He also turned me onto the love of building airplanes.
Flying model airplanes didn't arise by accident. It arose from curiosity and a desire to understand my father. From there, I went on a journey of self-discovery and found friends and a burning desire. The journey can't be said to be easy, but learning has been consistent and ever evolving, and it should tell women or any fliers who feel the need to be more than just a name. Let's begin.
I have a pretty wide span of time in the RC hobby. I remember my very first two-channel foam Cessna when I was about 13. That was 41 years ago. Through a lot of painful trial and error, and with some mentorship, I advanced to four-channel balsa kits. One of my favorites was the classic Ugly Stick with a Red Baron-style scheme.
I was born in Washington, DC, in 1949. My first model at six years old was a plastic Spitfire that I did a predictably lousy job on. But I wanted a flying model, so I eventually started building Guillow kits. My first was a Super cub that I entered in a contest at my Junior high school. I got an honorable mention, which really kicked off a lifelong flying and model-building passion that at 76 years is still in full force.
My interest in RC began at a Latrobe airshow in Pennsylvania, where a display of model planes and helicopters completely captivated me. My dad and I would go to shows whenever we could, soaking in the sights and sounds of aircraft large and small. That early exposure planted a seed that's stuck with me for over 35 years; sometimes active, sometimes dormant, but always there.
At 80 years old, I am somewhat of a late starter when it comes to actual flying, having only been doing so for the past 10 years. However, my interest in radio controlled aircraft started many years prior to my actual flying.
Head in the Clouds
It began when I was about 8 years old, with as simple slip of my mother’s tongue. I was asking her questions about my father, a workaholic-lawyer whom I barely knew.
In response to one of my questions, she said “Your father flew a Piper Cub.” She omitted the word “in.”
I was stunned. I had only a vague idea of what a Piper Cub was beyond “airplane,” and an airplane was a mysterious noisy something in the sky which I could see but not examine. But dad was now my hero: he could fly an airplane.
I have always been very interested in airplanes because my father was a pilot while I was growing up. I always had toy airplanes around as far back as I can remember. When I was about 12 years old in 1972 living in South Seattle, my cousin had acquired the coolest model airplane ever ... and he called me to come over to West Seattle and check it out. It was a COX PT-19 .049 Control Line model airplane! I still have two prop scars on my left index finger ... I guess I'm branded for life.
My dad flew P-47s in WWII. He also gave me my first airplane ride in a Piper Tri-Pacer when I was very young and he introduced me to u-control in the 1950s, all which sparked my interest in aviation and flying model aircraft.
