I began flying Cox U-control in the early sixties on eastern Long Island. Then I joined the USAF in June 1970 going thru basic in Lackland AFB and weapons tech school at Lowry AFB sent in January 1971 to Nakhon Phanom RTAFB Thailand 456th MMS A-1 Gunshop working on the A-1 E/H/J prop planes.
In December 1971, just before going back to the states for Gunship training, I saw a USAF Captain flying RC at the base gym field, gaining my interest in RC. After my stateside gunship & survival school training, I went back to Ubon RTAFB to flying as a Gunner with the 16th SOS Spectre AC-130A/E Gunships, where I found the base hobby shop had a group of RC fliers as I learned to fly with a Mighty Mombo & Futaba 4-channel radio between combat missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. It was a great way to enjoy my time between missions.
I had a DuBro Cherokee that was a handful. It was too heavy and soon became a new kit. Bill had one of these early helicopters which just beat the ground to death and never flew. Attached is a picture of me in my flight suit before a mission as I built my Royal B-25 kit and my HealthKit Single Stik 8-channel radio with modules for various radio frequencies. I left before I could finish building the B-25, leaving it for another to finish and fly.
My next assignment took me to Clovis, New Mexico, to Cannon AFB where I loaded munitions on F-111Ds with the 27th MMS. I met up with the local Clovis RC club and flew some there until I got a call to return to Ubon as an Instructor Gunner. Returning back to Ubon RTAFB as an Instructor/Lead Gunner flying, I went back to the base hobby shop with a new set of RC flyers flying a TF Contender with flap. We shut down Ubon and moved to Korat RTAFB and joined the club there. I instructed a couple of newcomers to RC building and flying while there before leaving Thailand and exiting the USAF at Travis AFB in late 1974.
I moved to Colorado Springs, joining the Pikes Peak RC club, flying for many years as well as getting my private pilot license. Work, marriage, children, and life in general took me away from flying. For a few years, I got into Giant Scale IMAA flying with the Magnificent Mammoths flying out of Hanover, Colorado, becoming secretary then president.
I got busy with data center work. With the electrics (no mess) with 2.4GHz radios, I started flying again with my son Jacob with e-flight RC aircraft, early helicopters, quads, and drones. Since the drones were everywhere, the city shut down flying at the local parks and it was 50 minutes to the RC club filed out east of town.
I still tinker once in a while, but I miss those days of building and flying.
Larry Peterson, AMA 64656, Colorado Springs, Colorado
