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Like many aspiring RC pilots in their teens and early twenties, I turned a lot of balsa wood into kindling and was rather good at it. Frustrated with my lack of RC flying ability, I turned to full-scale Cessnas and Grummans where I had better luck.
HHAMS Club Pilot, Bobby Alessi, “Puts You In The Driver’s Seat!”
You may remember the catchy Hertz rental car commercials from the 1960s with the famous line: “Let Hertz put you in the driver’s seat!” Well, HHAMS Club and AMA member Bobby Alessi is doing something very similar—only this time, it’s for the skies.
At his Port Washington, New York,-based club, Bobby doesn’t just help fellow members fly model aircraft—he puts them in the cockpit. Literally.
My father, an airline and USAF pilot, introduced me to model airplanes at an early age. I was building balsa Free Flight and Control Line models at the age of 6. I never stopped. I discovered RC in 1979, when I was 15, and spent my life savings ($250) on my first Kraft radio system.
I grew up in western Pennsylvania and was always interested in air and spacecraft. I started building model airplanes at 12 and got into RC at 14.
I was always glued to the TV following the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs during the '60s. Got my private pilot's license at age 17. I went to Purdue and graduated in 1974 with a BS degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.
I am a seasoned UAS External Pilot operating at an FAA-designated UAS Test Site, with over 20 years of experience in the aviation industry. My journey began at the age of nine, when my father introduced me to RC aircraft—a formative experience that sparked a lifelong passion for flight.
Driven by that early inspiration, I pursued formal aviation training and earned my Private Pilot Certificate, followed by Commercial, Instrument, and Multi-Engine ratings. Each step deepened my commitment to the field and broadened my capabilities as a pilot.
I started model aviation in high school with plans, balsa woods, mono kote films, glues, etc. Now, model aviation is at different applications such as hobbyist, sports, research and development, drones, NASA, Military, Agriculture, Inspection, etc. It fully encompasses STEAM Education (Science, Technology, Education, Arts, Mathematics).
I started my model airplane hobby at the age of seven, as I was fascinated by model airplanes at the window of a Hobby Shop in Mexico City.
I am 78 and have been building and flying models for 70 years. Flew Control Line for 10 years, because that's what I could afford. Joined PGRC club at 16 when I was only 1 of 15 members of the club. I was drafted in the Army almost right out of high school. I convinced the Army that I had a background in Aviation. They sent me to Aviation school, where I was trained to be a crew chief on a Huey gun ship.
I was 10 years old when my parents moved us from Bronx, New York, to Queens. One afternoon, I heard the sound of model airplane engines coming through my window. I went outside and followed the sound and found a group of teenagers flying Control Line models. I introduced myself and they took me under their wing and taught me to fly Control Line.
