I became interested in model aircraft in England, where I grew up. A colleague of my father found a plane and fixed it up and gave it to me. My father had also made a model sailboat in school. My first plane was a Free Flight model with a 1.5cc diesel engine, and I had no idea how to start the engine or how to fly it. Luckily, one of my neighbors was also a modeler and knew about starting and flying the plane. Eventually, I installed a single-channel radio that only controlled the rudder that included a rubber band powered escapement instead of a servo. Many hours were logged on this model.
I watched RC evolve through the Graupner reed system, where you had to blip the controls to fly the plane. I will always remember my first flight using proportional RC that lead to extremely smooth flying. I lived close to a large set of hills facing S or SW, so if the winds cooperated, there was unlimited lift. I fell in love with slope soaring, flying both traditional sailplanes and more aerobatic designed models that were just as aerobatic as my nitro-powered planes. I moved to the USA in 1982 and had a ~20-year break from RC due to raising kids and career demands, but I did find time to become an instrument rated private pilot during that time and attended Oshkosh many times.
I returned to the hobby ~5 years ago and was amazed at the new technology. Gone were the days of only 6 or 12 channels using crystal radios, and LiPO electric-powered RC planes had taken over. I never returned to nitro planes, and my passion for sailplanes is still there, but there are no suitable slope soaring sites where I live in Pennsylvania. I taught myself to fly drones and helis but I'm still a novice. I also joined a local RC flying club, which has been very helpful in getting me up to speed with all of the nuances of the new radios and equipment. I'm a very tecchie person and the radios are truly amazing compared to the equipment I used to fly with. I'm an avid reader of the AMA publications and thank them for being a wonderful organization.
