I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, as I usually tell people, on the outskirts of a village. Apparently, I showed an interest in aircraft at a very early age (probably about 2), and I remember my Dad teaching me to build plastic models when I was too young to hold the Exacto knife.
By my early teen years, I had spent most of my time building and flying Free Flight models and during this time I also started designing and scratch building. During my mid-teen years, my Dad decided to purchase a couple of radios, so he could learn to fly. Years later, when he never actually learned to, I realized he got them for me.
50 years later, I still have one of the radios and it is installed in a New Era III. The radio works but the servos are too slow now to fly. I ended up teaching myself to fly with a used Ace Wizard we bought at a swap meet, after the rather spectacular crash of the RCM trainer I had built. During these years, I continued scratch building and designing my own models. The articles and plans in RC Modeler magazine were invaluable. In school, my intent was to become an Aeronautical Engineer, but I couldn't get the hang of calculus so plan B, I enrolled in the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics to become an A&P Mechanic. And I continued to fly models, often it was a choice between food and model parts, the models always won out.
Just prior to graduation, I was hired by Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut, so in 1979, my new wife and I headed for Connecticut. I was happy to work at P&W, so much history and I was involved in aviation. I continued designing and building models and started getting involved with scale models. One of my best early scale models was a Nieuport 27 that I built in 1986. It is ready to fly again this summer! The one thing missing is I wanted to be a pilot also. So, in 1988, I purchased a 1946 Aeronca Chief that was literally a basket case, as in wing ribs in bushel baskets. I started restoring the plane & engine and got to the wing spars. At that time, there was a very long wait for spruce, so it was time to learn to fly. I finished my pilots license about the time the wood also came in, so I finished the restoration. I spent the next couple of years flying the Chief around Connecticut and New York. Then after a couple of years flying, I got the bug to go faster. So, I started building a Van's RV-6.
This project took 2 1/2 years until I had a shiny new 200 mph aerobatic flying hot rod. In this plane, I could travel more and started learning aerobatics which was wonderful, and my second wife also enjoyed the aerobatics! I flew the RV for 27 years but sold it a few years ago. However, during the first 20 years flying the RV, I stopped building and flying models.
Building the two full-scale planes kind of ruined me for models. But after a while, the bug crept back in. After getting back into RC, I got more involved with scale and it is currently my main focus. Although, I did build a nice Aquila glider last summer. My work took me from Connecticut to West Virginia, where I worked for Pratt & Whitney Canada, and then ten years ago my wife and I retired to Rhode Island.
Model building has always been there and now it is pretty much my full-time activity. The models have become more complex and detailed. I now tend towards smaller electric biplanes in the 45-55-inch span range and 1/5-scale WWII fighters. Last year, I finished my first 1/4-scale biplane, a Fokker DVII from a Proctor kit. I have never really competed with my models but did attend the WRAM show in 2015 where my Fw190 won Best in Show. This was followed by a trip to Toledo that year, where the 190 won Second in Designer Scale and Peoples Choice, in addition my Zero won First place in Military Scale, and I got to meet Dave Platt!
In 2019, I attended the Toledo show again and my Heinkel He219 won Best in Show and First in Designer Scale, and my Wedell Willams won First in Non-Military Scale. For the past 15 years or so, I have been very involved on the RC Scale Builder forums which has been a wonderful experience. So, as I sit here typing, my nearly finished electric Nieuport 11 is on the bench behind me. On the computer, the plans I'm finishing for the next project, a Bristol Scout. And two plastic models on the other table I'm building for a friend. So, I guess it's been all about the planes these past 67 years!
