Written by WT (c. 2003); Transcribed and edited by JS (12/2007), Reformatted by JS (02/2010)
My start in model aviation began from an early love of airplanes of any type. I can remember going to Adams field in Little Rock, Arkansas on Sundays to watch the airplanes land and take off. My first model was a Comet kit of a rubber-powered Taylorcraft. This progressed through several airplanes to a Comet Gull, which flew so well I was mesmerized. Next came gas engines and control lines at the age of 13. These were ignition engines, such as an O&R 19, Bentam 19, and then a Super Cyclone in a Box Car Chief. I thought I was in heaven, but the best was yet to come.
I joined the Little Rock Razorback Gas Model Association and entered Control Line racing as AMA #2029. I had four Control Line Speed models, a McCoy 19, Dooling 29, McCoy 49, and a McCoy 60. I had a lot of fun and visited contests for 4 summers, going to several Nationals and two International contests. I collected 23 trophies and managed to set two AMA national records in Class A and Class C, but then college ended my competing.
Radio Control was just a dream in those days and it was not until my college years that I had a chance to get into it. I scraped up enough spare coins to buy a Marcy Tone radio (CW with tone modulation) and a Babcock escapement. I put this in a Sterling kit of a Piper Cub, but it was too fragile for the level of skill of the pilot. A flying friend of mine and I designed and built two scratch-built birds that resembled today’s trainers and proceeded to log some serious flight time. After graduation from college, I served three years in the USAF and then went to work in Huntsville, Alabama for an engineering firm. I returned to Radio Control with a Digitrio system from Ace. This was a build-it-yourself project out of Radio Control Modeler magazine, which was a dream realized in that now I had three channels of digital proportional control. I could not see how it could be any better. For a while, my career and raising a family captivated nearly all of my time.
As I neared retirement, I returned to the hobby and have been steady in it ever since. I am currently flying a Goldberg Ultimate, an Aresti, and a couple of other aircraft. The Rocket City Radio Controllers (RCRC) in Huntsville, Alabama is a wonderful place to enjoy the hobby. It has been my pleasure to serve as their president for 2002 and 2003. I hope to introduce as many folks as I can to the hobby and as such have been serving as one of our instructors. I especially enjoy seeing the father and son teams get their start in an activity they can share all of their lives. I owe my own father everything for his support and encouragement of my hobby.
This page is a text transcription of the original document, made automatically and may contain errors. .