I am in a family of model flyers. My 93-year-old uncle flew strings 'dogfights' before I was born. My first gas plane was a plastic, stringed, yellow .049 P-51 Mustang in 1973.
I built my first balsa windup in 1973, a stick windup then a 3D balsa windup. We then built the Spirit of St. Louis 4' balsa windup.
When I joined the military, I built and flew my first RC plane in 1985. Fast forward to recently, and I bought my first helicopter, an articulated contra-rotator.
My daughter is about to build the same planes I did when I was 8 ... she is 9. A stick, a 3D, and a 3-channel RC gas balsa plane. She will build all-balsa planes. We do not buy ready to fly while I live.
