As a young kid in the 60s, I was fascinated by the planes and car models that used the little Cox .049 engines. I had them all. Who didn't love the smell of nitro fuel! LOL! As I got older, I had no real role models for Radio Control flying, so I had never heard of the AMA. As a young adult starting a family, of course I wanted my son to experience the thrill of model building and operating a functional model.
There was a small local hobby shop in our town and I became a regular shopper and got to know the owner. He said that they had a group that would meet at a field a couple of days a week and fly models. He never mentioned anything about a permit or license since it was on private land. I bought my first real gas engine plane kit (goldberg) and, after covering it, headed to the field with high hopes of flying this thing without any strings attached! My two boys were still quite young but went along with great enthusiasm (even it it only lasted 10 minutes). After those first few shaky flights, I was hooked.
This was in the mid 80s and living in upstate of South Carolina, I learned I had lots of support (in the way of flying clubs) to choose from. Sure, I came home with many a plane in boxes (sometimes didn't come home with a plane at all, requiring a second and third trip to the field to retrieve all the parts!). My wife always said this was the craziest hobby ever ... spend months building something and lose it in 5 minutes. Can't argue there, but it was just something about the challenge and thrill of putting that model I created in the air and watching it (hopefully) defy gravity.
Living in the upstate of South Carolina, I was privileged to be close to the estate of Pat Hartness who hosted the Joe Nall giant fly-in annually. By now, I had learned that the bigger they are the better they fly. So, I tackled a Pica 1/5-scale Spitfire. My son helped, and we spent a year building it to a very detailed level. Once done, I couldn't bring myself to fly it, so I took it to Joe Nall and sold it. For many years, work and life got in the way and I hung up the radio. I did take a short return and taught my father-in-law how to build and fly a Sig Senior kadet. Then in the early 2000s, I moved to Florida and once again visited a local hobby shop. Wow, had technology changed. It was the digital age and planes and features were off the charts!
I always had a thing for warbirds, so I built a giant scale Corsair from Troybilt and had lots of fun with that. Joined a club in central Florida, becoming the president, where we made great improvements to the flying field and got involved in some cool events (hosting AMA sponsored pylon racing time trials). As work would have it, I ended up moving to Nashvillle, Tennessee, for few years. The first thing I did was look for a flying field and local hobby shop. I know things have gone "mail order" internet these days, but there is nothing like a good hobby store, and I believe they need to be supported.
I met a great group of flying enthusiasts. By association with this new club, I got involved with a "subgroup" within the club. They called themselves the "Nashville Jetband." Guys would show up with trailers full of these giant scale turbine jets and they were awesome. That was it ... the sound, the smell, the speed, the complexity; once again I was hooked and set out to learn how to build and fly turbine jets. It's a completely different animal in the RC world, but I felt my years of other RC flying had brought me to this point and I was committed. Of course, the members of this group were all top notch pilots, very talented builders, painters, fabricators, and all around good guys that wanted to see me succeed. I was even trained and certified for my Turbine license by a guy that was on the USA world jet flying team. How awesome is that!
These guys introduced me to the world of scale turbine jets and I was privileged to stand on the flightlines with some of the big names in the RC Jet world. Even managed to win a trophy for one of my "one of a kind" models (at the time).
Great memories, great friends, but it came to an end when, once again, life happened and my wife and I returned to Florida to care for aging parents. I got back in my old club and a couple of the members were now into jets as well so I fit right in. We lengthened the runway to accommodate the jet landings and they always drew a crowd when we flew. Florida offered some great jet flying events.
Once we decided to retire, we wanted to move back to the upstate of South Carolina. I decided to sell most all my RC equipment and models, since my son had a lumber business that he needed me to help him with back home. I knew there would be little time for flying, so I made peace with the decision and in a way was glad not to have to move all that stuff again!
Been back home for 2 years now and I guess as the saying goes, you can take the boy out of RC but you can't take the RC out of the boy. So I've renewed my AMA license and found a local (only 8 miles away) club with a mixed age group of pilots, built a couple of gliders, bought a small EDF jet, wiped the cobwebs from the DX-18, and I'm back in the air ... and it feels great.
I just turned 68 and believe me, you're never too old for this hobby and the AMA has allowed me so many great memories, allowing me to pursue one of my many passions ... I will forever be in its debt!
Thank you
Marc Morgan
