I started in this hobby when I was about 7 or 8, when my parents got a large thermic towline glider. It was way beyond what I should have started, but I put it together and it actually looked pretty good. Skip ahead to when I was 15 and became friends with a man and his wife who had opened a hobby shop not too far from where I lived in Glendale, California. Bill and Roberta Coleman became my second family. Bill was an ex Navy pilot and was a Captain flying a Lockheed Constellation for a West Coast company. His wife, Roberta, was a Stewardess.
I started my journey with Control Line planes and competed in the 1967 AMA Nats at Los Alamitos Navel Air Station in Los Angeles, California. I had built a Class 1 Grauman Guardian for Profile Carrier. I finished in 7th place at the age of 16. There was a long pause in my journey, as I had discovered cars and girls. I took up full-size piloting in Junior College as they offered a AA in Aeronautics. I attained my SEL license at 21.
Another jump as I became involved in SCCA car racing, which held my attention until the late 80s. In between, I had married and divorced and was working as an Elevator Service Tech. I had started racing Desert Hare and Hound events and was going to the local moto shop. When I pulled up, I noticed a new hobby shop had opened next door. I went in and was face to face with an old friend that I had met in my high school days. He and his dad had opened this new store. As we reminisced, I Became interested in getting back into the hobby.
He had been competing in LSF events and suggested I buy a beginner glider and a 4-channel radio. I did get an Olympic II and a Futaba radio and he helped me get started. I joined a local glider club, the Pasadena Soaring Society, which at a later date became the President. I married my first wife again, my friend Craig (owner of the hobby shop) was my best man. In a couple of years, we had a son and bought our first house. By this time, I was 44. I spent the next few years flying F3B, nitro RC, and electrics. We moved to Arizona in 2008, to the town of Maricopa. While I was trying to find a place to fly, I met some guys that wanted to start a club. This turned into the Maricopa Radio Control Club. We still fly as a smaller group in a dry lake area outside of town since we lost access to our previous site. I am now 74 and still active in RC while also learning the ins and outs of 3D printing. It has been a long journey that I hope still has a ways to go.
