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.
Living in Washington, DC, I had access to the Smithsonian Museums. The "Air" museum on the mall was my all-time favorite. The "Space" part was just in its beginnings.
In 1976, I heard on my car's radio that the Air and Space Museum needed volunteers to conduct tours at the museum's Silver Hill aircraft storage facility. I already had my pilot's license, and I think that helped get me into the first group of "Docents" at Silver Hill.
What I thought I knew about aviation at the time was completely eclipsed. First rule was to keep your ears and eyes open and learn. My class had some of the heroes of my limited aviation knowledge. We had WWll, B17, and B29 pilots in our group. We had WWll fighter pilots, test pilots. You couldn't swing a wooden propeller without hitting a colonel or a general. I kept my 28-year-old mouth shut and became educated by listening. I was the youngest in the program, and I was in awe that I was there. Wow, I learned a lot, I saw a lot, and the people I met were outstanding..
I naturally gravitated to our WWl aircraft. Why?? I don't really know, but we had a number of unique WWl aircraft in storage that the public could only see on a tour of Silver Hill.
In 1998, I was recovering from heart surgery and I was making a "bucket list" of 10 things I wanted to do. One of the first "wants" was to learn to fly RC aircraft. A new RC field was opening close to my home, so I joined Freestate Aeromodelers and learned to fly RC. I kinda forgot what the other nine items on my bucket list were. I've been so busy building, flying, and becoming the field manager.
Model building and flying really saved me. I only build scale WWl aircraft for the most part. I incorporated my access to the museum to get the best details from the full-size planes we have.
I don't even know how those one-wing planes stay in the air ... lol.
