I began building plastic car and airplane models in the late 1950’s. I was drawn to WWII military aircraft and was pleased that my local hobby shop hung some of my painted aircraft in the store, where they battled with professionally painted demos!
I was given a Cox CL plane for my birthday one year and an older cousin with lots of CL experience augured it into the ground on its maiden, so I never got to fly it. A few years later I built a free flight balsa & silkspan towline glider from a kit. It went up fine but spiraled a bit too rigorously for a gentle landing.
Fast forward about 55 years to retirement and an interest in trying RC flight. Have had lots of fun learning tips from our local Vacaville, CA flying club and figuring out cheap lightweight strong repairs for foamies and balsa planes. My favorite planes to fly are a Flex Innovations Mamba 10 (which makes me look better than I am), a Motion RC Spitfire, and a FMS F4U (my father-in-law was a Navy F4U pilot during WWII). I am currently building a Proctor Antic kit….a thing of beauty.
I have also had the good fortune to rebuild/repair some fighter models at our local Rowland Freedom Center museum in Vacaville. They have lots of interesting full scale aircraft that rotate in and ongoing military exhibits.
Lastly, I want to put in a plug for the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum (WAAAM) in Hood River, OR. It is absolutely amazing!
Unusually, even my wife was utterly engaged by its wonders for 2+ hours!
