So my story starts years before I was born. My dad soloed by the age of 16 in a J-3 and later joined the Air Force as an electrical engineer and worked on early flight sims. After the service my dad got his dream job working for Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven, PA where he played a key role in developing the first auto pilot system Piper used, the wing leveler.
My dad was an accomplished pilot and almost finished his rating for twin engine flight. He grew up fixated on flight and flew early rc planes (mostly u control). His last plane was a Playboy or Playboy junior (it was a full fuselage plane) powered by an early Olhson Rice .35 ignition engine. My father worked with a gentleman at Piper named Bob Edelsein that collected vintage rc engines and his collection was focused on Olshon Rice. So eventually the two men came to an agreement that made Bob happy and got me flying. Part of the trade agreement got me an early Heathkit radio 3 channel and a Wanderer sailplane kit. I built the kit and powered it with a limited run cox .049 from my ringmaster days. My dad silver soldered a small fuel tank from tin leftover from his zippo lighter refill can that had become empty. It fit in the nose to help with CG and ran my 049 for about 7 mins at full throttle...perfect. But my Heathkit was quickly outpaced by new Futuba and JR 72 radios by the mid to late 80s and I experienced some radio interference issues which kept me grounded. I did a quick dive into rc cars and a short stint racing 1/10 & 1/8 scale monster nitro trucks. I even built an rc boat from Dumas. A 3' long fishing boat that sailed well. But wanted to fulfill my passion for building and flying rc. I had been building and flying stick and tissue since about the age of 7 or 8 and loved building!
Now in my mid to late 20s quickly dove in head first. I became a very prolific builder creating at least 1 or 2 new builds a year. Cubs, seniors, skybolts, tripacers, a couple different size stearmans (both with radials), pattern planes, extras. And they all got larger. As you can see from my photo, in 2012 I eventually built a 1/3 scale stearman with a moki 250 that was featured in the pages of RC Airplane. And then I built a 1/3 Super cub.
My dad enjoyed sunday afternoons watching me fly and living vicariously thru me his glory days. I started my son on a Herr J3 that I built as a super cub and by the time he was 5 was flying solo. I have enjoyed sharing the flightline with my son Alec as we flew skyshark Fantasy pattern planes in formation with my dad watching. My son is now 25 and unfortunately I lost my dad late 2019. But those wonderful days flying will forever remain. And it is all because of the love, depth and diversity of RC.
