My participation in RC model aviation began in 1986. My youngest son was 12 years old at the time and expressed an interest in the hobby. We joined the Salinas Area Modelers (AMA Club #1554) and have been members for 39 years. I had been introduced to the hobby by a friend, but really never got involved until my son expressed interest.
It didn't hurt that we were given a 1/4-scale S-2 Pitts kit that was started (barely), but the person that had it lost interest. We completed the airplane and only flew it a couple of times with a lot of help. It was obviously not a trainer airplane. We sold it and bought a Goldberg Falcon 56, on which both of us learned to fly. We progressed up through many airplanes, including 1/4-scale Cubs, 1/4-scale Beaver with radial engine, Chipmunk, Ultimate Bipe, Four Star, Sticks of different sorts, and others. We really began to enjoy flying off the water, so we put floats on many of our airplanes. I scratch-built a 1/5-scale Grumman Duck that was completed in 2007 and is still flying. I'm presently working on a 1/8-scale Republic PBY Catalina. I've been at it for 2 1/2 years and still have a year (or so) to go. I'll leave the flying of that airplane to my son, as he is a much better RC pilot than me. Being 30 years younger doesn't hurt!
The best thing about the hobby was the father-son bond. We were, and still are, both enthusiastic about the hobby. Even though we no longer live in the same area, we still get together to fly quite a few times during the year. I should also say I owned an aviation business for 11 years. My son worked there as a teenager, and aviation stayed in his blood as he is now a 777 pilot for FedEx. I continued my aviation career as the chief pilot for a local corporation and retired from that job almost 20 years ago. I intend to stay active in the hobby as long as the Good Lord allows.
AMA 245901
