I was born into a family with a father who flew the “HUMP” (in a C-46) in WW2 and loved model airplanes. He encouraged my brother and I to build simple model planes. He created a place where we could work with the scrap balsa he had. As we grew and got better, he encouraged us to repair and fly the planes others gave to him. We were “serviceable” at flying U-controlled planes and really good at chasing Free Flight airplanes. In our town, we were part of the “Mini-Air Modelers” club. Money was tight in our family, so Radio Control was not an option for a long while.
My dad and his brother were really good at building and flying high-performance outdoor gliders and indoor rubber-powered airplanes. They put on shows in the southern Wisconsin area. Meanwhile, my brother and I were part of an interested group who built and flew model rockets. A second-hand radio-controlled airplane showed up in our house, and I had a 185-pound thrust rocket on the drawing board when I left for college. College put an end to my modeling interests for a while – I just could not do both. I got married and we started to have a few kids of our own. It took a little “nosing around” the job market, but I ended up at McDonnell Douglas, and after a couple years, I was a design engineer for them. They had an RC model airplane club that endures to this day under a different name. When I first joined, it was the McDonnell RC Flyers. After the takeover by Boeing in 1997, the flying site was lost and eventually another was found, and the club changed its name to The Phantom Flyers. I had found a flying site much closer to home. I now belong to the Midwest Air Wing (MAW), near Granite City, Illinois.
At Boeing, I worked on a number of projects, including the F-15E, parts of the C-17, and the AV8B Harrier, to name a few. The interest my dad instilled in me about aviation no doubt helped me with my career choices and has rubbed off on my son who flies real airplanes for the USAF and American Airlines. I am retired now after 43 years, and working on projects for our airplane club. I continue to build airplanes and enjoy the hobby. There is some airplane interest among some of my grandkids. We say they have the “airplane gene” when their aviation interest shows. Last weekend, I was with one of my grandkids flying a small RC plane he received as a gift. We had a lot of fun even though it was a little windy for his plane. His name is Russell and he is 10 years old. Perhaps there are other kids out there who need something constructive to do. Model airplanes will keep you off the street and out of trouble. It is an interesting and very educational activity to pursue. I would encourage them to find a club and start having fun.
