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I'm 70 years old, just retired in January of 2026.
I started building Ravel and monogram plastic models at 7 or 8 years old with my brothers. My first stick model was a rubber band j3 Cub. With a wingspan of about 18 in and 3 lb of paint. What's an 8-year-old supposed to do? Over the years I saw my brother Tim get into radio control back in the '60s and then heard that my dad was in free flight back in the '40s, maybe '50s.
Since I was about 10 years old, I have had an interest in aviation. When I started a paper route at age twelve, I would run over to Al's Hobby Shop on 28th and North Av in Milwaukee every week and purchase the latest Revelle plastic model. I had them set up all over the house. This was driving my folks nuts so they decided to purchase a completed model from Al with the hope that I would stop buying the plastic models.
I have always been infatuated with airplanes, flying. My brother and I as kids worked to afford our first Cox 0.49 line control planes. Selling seeds to our neighbors. From there it was anything that would fly or roll. I have a few airplanes and have been working my way into Helicopters. Currently building my first scale Bell Jet Ranger 206.
I started with my first plane when I started college and was starting a family. I was learning on my own and it was short lived and an expensive couple minutes. Much later in life, I learned a friend of mine flew RC airplanes at a local club field MRRCS Mount Rainier Radio Control Society.
I started going to the field after purchasing my first foam plane and found that going to a club field offered so many benefits.
My father got me into model aviation at a very young age, and I joined the AMA in the mid 1970s. My father loved to build and fly Cox .049 Free Flight planes, launching them in the fields south of our house in suburban Denver. I fell in love with the sounds and smells of those models, and loved the chase of retrieving them.
I started playing with Flying models in 1944. I was 8 years old. I cut out models with my dad's razor blades. I have flown pretty much continual since. Was exciting as the hobby kept progressing to bigger and better things. I live in the desert southwest, so flying is pretty much year-round.
My modeling love started around 1968 when my father brought home a newly released Cox F2G Corsair. He taught me how to start it, I taught myself how to fly it. My father George Pizon was a great influence and teacher, and I owe him a lot.
I had had my first RC Airplane in 1974, a Top Flite Headmaster with a OS Max .25 for power and a Heathkit GD-19 5 Channel radio which I helped him build! I originally had a 4-digit AMA number but lost it when I didn’t pay for a couple years, so now I have my 5-digit 82653 number.
My early memories are peering into the cockpit of a single-seat Navy jet at an airshow, and the sound of four big radial engines on Constellation airliners.
I was given a Cox glow engine and learned to fly u-control in schoolyards.
Hobby shops put me in touch with accomplished modelers. This was before the internet, so meeting others was essential for learning.
My RC Journey
My journey into RC aviation started the same way a lot of modern stories do—by accident. A video popped up on my Facebook feed one day, and something about it grabbed me. I didn’t even know why at first. I just knew I wanted to understand it. That curiosity quickly turned into hours of research and watching videos, which eventually led me to buy my first RC aircraft: an Arrows Bigfoot from HobbyZone.
I joined AMA in 1963 or '64. I am a member of the Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club (GCRCC) and also a member of the Sirs club in Bloomington, Illinois. I am a retired Franciscan priest and have taught many kids how to fly. I was the dean of students at Saint Francis seminary in Cincinnati, where the GCRCC had its flying field. At 93, I am no longer able to fly.
I always told people, this is a great hobby, because it keeps your eyes on heaven, and when you crashed, it is humbling. It has been a great hobby for me.
