Returning to model building
An AMA member from Michigan named Jerry, who asked that his last name and contact information be withheld, sent in some photos and a story about coming back to the hobby after a long absence. He wrote:
“When I was about 10 years old, I got into model plane flying by selling all-occasion gift cards from an ad on the back of a comic book. I received a list of things I could pick as my reward for selling the cards. They had a P-40 Flying Tiger as one of the choices and that is what I picked.
“After flying the P-40 through my early years, I moved up to a Ringmaster Junior with the help of a Detroit Times newspaper route. I spent my earnings on model plane supplies and bowling. I would work at night to keep the plane in flying shape for the next day of flying at the school playground.
“Flying model planes fell to the side with attending high school and then going into the Army after graduation. My warm feeling for aviation was strong, so I did manage to get schooling in the Army for sheet-metal repair on aircraft.
“In mid-1966, I was sent to Germany to an Army airfield. Flying model airplanes was popular with the Germans. They mostly flew the early RC models, which had a problem with the radar on the airfield that jammed their planes’ controls.
“I was sent to Vietnam, passing through Fort Benning [Georgia] for two weeks of in-country training. There was a building that the enlisted men had as a club of sorts. There was a large area where we could build model planes. A lot of planes in different stages of being built were left hanging from the ceiling in the model plane area, as many [soldiers] had to leave for their next duty assignment.
“After Vietnam, getting married, raising two boys, fixing up houses, [and] sending the boys to college, I purchased a real plane, along with my wife—both of us have our private pilot licenses. I am now retired and have the time to start model plane building and flying my models again.
“As I am a ‘die-in-the-woods’ CL flier, it was next to impossible to find the proper model plane kit at local hobby shops. What to do, what to do … eBay! I struck gold! [It was] a treasure trove of old-school CL model plane kits. I was in heaven.
“I found many original kits from my early years of flying. One was the Buster by Carl Goldberg, a 40-inch Stunt
“I did change from silk to Top Flite MonoKote to keep building without the danger of old-time butyrate dope. I found many older engines, [some] in need of rebuilding. For the Buster, I decided to use a new McCoy .35 Red Head with a 10 x 6 Top Flite wood propeller.
“The first flight went without a hitch. I was surprised [that] many of the fliers at the field never saw a CL plane flying before.
“I am also completing a model called the Magenta 15 Full Stunt. There are many others waiting in the wings (haha) to be completed.”
Do you have a high-quality/high-resolution airplane, helicopter, or multirotor photo that you are proud of, or a model aviation-related photo with a great story behind it? Email your “Viewfinder” photo and a description about it to jennifer@modelaircraft.org, or submit it online at www.ModelAviation.com/viewfinder.
