I have always been very interested in airplanes because my father was a pilot while I was growing up. I always had toy airplanes around as far back as I can remember. When I was about 12 years old in 1972 living in South Seattle, my cousin had acquired the coolest model airplane ever ... and he called me to come over to West Seattle and check it out. It was a COX PT-19 .049 Control Line model airplane! I still have two prop scars on my left index finger ... I guess I'm branded for life.
I flew Control Line planes for several years, upgrading to 60-foot steel cable lines with a Carl Goldberg models VOODOO combat wing at the end. WOW! I had an ENYA 35 on it, and it was very fast and loud! I remember that whenever I flew it at the parks and school yards, many people came out to see it fly ... and fly it did!
Over the years, I have progressed into RC airplanes, and I have owned many different radios, from old Expert gold case radios, Airtronics, JR, Futaba ... I've seen it all. I have settled with the Futaba FASST system for my gas-powered airplanes ... which is very dependable AND I use a Spektrum DX8 G2 for my electric airplanes ... or whatever I want.
I am a master builder with balsa, plywood, fiberglass, and carbon fiber. I currently have many projects going on. I have a 10- x 4-foot building surface that I build my models on. Projects include: 1/3 SIG Spacewalker with a Saito FG 57T engine, Jolly Icarus sailplane, 3D printer to build plug molds for a new canopy for my PAU 36% Edge 540 with a DLE 111 engine. Now that I have described my building room (12- x 14-foot air-conditioned upstairs loft with computer that I play flying movies ... or my own video movies or slice 3d stl files into G-code for my 3d printer ... on and on and on) let's just say I'm busy ALL the time. I live and breathe this hobby! It continues to be extremely rewarding because I am always busy at one project or another.
I'm now coming up on 65 years old and I feel fantastic and in great health! My life is very interesting ... to me.
Thank you for asking me to participate!
