New Member

I've been building and flying model airplanes since 1939.

I bought my first of several hundred gas and glow engines in 1945. It was an Ohslson '60 gas.

The first two gallons of white gas I bought for it cost ten cents a gallon and I had to go get ration stamps for them at the post office. I paid $18.95 for it. A few years ago I bought one for $250 on eBay. I wouldn't sell it today for a $1,000

I'm also into kite flying. One day a guy was flying a RC Glider in a park where I was flying a kite. I talked with him for a while and I was hooked. On the way home I bought myself a Gentle Lady glider and a Radio plus all the other stuff the owner said I would need.

The following Saturday, June 1st 1989 I launched my first flight all by myself with no flight instruction. I actually made it back to the field to "land" (More like a poorly controlled crash)

I flew it every day the next week but Tuesday. That was because the landing on Monday took two days to repair. By the next Saturday I flew all day and even caught a thermal or two. I found out that there was a nine member glider club where I lived so I joined. Since I was retired by then I flew every day. Some other retired members came to the field also. In a year or so I knew how to fly pretty good. Before I moved away in 1994 I had taught well over a hundred people, male and female how to fly and all of them joined the club and the AMA.

I was the Director of Record trials in 1993 and 4. We sat 9 records. All but one by people I had taught to fly. I tried for the 5:05 class B record but ran out of thermals at 3 hours 43 minutes and 1 second. All the publicity from TV and the news paper got us a lot of new blood and I left with our membership over 100.

They wouldn't let me go without throwing one heck of a going away party. To this day I count some of them as the best friends I ever had.

I'm not all that active now. At age 80, I'm beginning to slow down a little bit.

"Any advise for people considering this hobby too?" Get someone to help you to learn how to fly.

Three things you MUST do: 1) Don't overcontrol. 2) Don't fly downwind. 3) WHEN YOU PUSH THE STICK TO THE RIGHT, THE PLANE WILL TURN TO IT'S RIGHT NO MATTER WHAT DIRECTION IT IS HEADED.