I started flying in 1992 in Connecticut at the age of 15. I have always loved aviation, and that summer in 1991, the local club had put on a display in our local park. I remember seeing a Carl Goldberg ultimate and thinking that was the coolest thing I had ever seen. That winter, I built myself a trainer and started learning to fly. I flew the next couple of years before I went off to college.
After college, I ended up in Ohio with more free time and some big boy money. I decided to again get back into flying. I ended up getting a new plane and all new radio gear and joined my current club, the Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club. I was a casual member at the time and enjoying the hobby. I then met my wife, and we started a family, which took me out of the hobby again for a little while. Then my youngest saw all my RC stuff in the basement and wanted to try. This brought me back to the hobby for a third time.
The two of us have been all in for the last 4 years. We are the founding members of our club's youth group, the Jetstars, and I along with a few other members are teaching the young kids and young at heart how to build model planes from kits. We have found a love for aerobatics, specifically IMAC, and are now both trainers at our club. My son teaches the kids how to fly, and so do I, along with the fine art of aircraft repair and maintenance.
It’s been a 33-year journey in the hobby, and I wonder what will come.
AMA number 486994
Tom
