RALPH WARNER
Owner of RAM Products
By Jay Smith | jays@modelaircraft.org
Jay Smith: How did you get involved in model aviation?
Ralph Warner: I’m as old as the AMA and as a youngster during World War II, there was great interest in building models of the military airplanes in the newspapers and movie newsreels. The sky above northern Chicago was filled with Navy airplanes from Naval Air Station Glenview and the Douglas Aircraft Plant west of the city. Every patriotic kid was building models. Some were used for military identification training.
JS: How has model aviation impacted your life and/or career?
RW: Learning to work with my hands and tools gave me skills that I’ve used throughout my life. Understanding instructions and three-view concepts applied to many other activities. Accepting and learning from failed projects prepared me to handle life’s challenges and my career as a schoolteacher and principal.
Working part time in the hobby industry primed me for starting and operating RAM Products for 45 years.
JS: What disciplines of modeling do you currently participate in?
RW: I started flying RC in the mid-1950s. After many years of flying fuel-powered models, I started flying electric in the early 1980s, with the wise counsel of Bob Boucher (Astro Flight) and Lewis Polk (Aristo Craft). The continual improvement of batteries, motors, and electronics has allowed me to enjoy flying sites that are unavailable to engine-powered aircraft. Living in northern Illinois, I just enjoyed some electric indoor flying roughly two weeks ago.
JS: What other hobbies do you enjoy?
RW: Along with my large family (15 children), I’ve done a lot with photography, sports, traveling, and full-scale power boating.
JS: Who or what has influenced you the most?
RW: My father was the sergeant of a salvage team that recovered downed airplanes in Europe during World War I. His personal interest was passed on to me in visits to various local airports and activities before and during WW II. He bought me my first airplane ride when I was 10 years old. He didn’t build models but encouraged me and was very proud when I started to win trophies, especially one I received from a racing pilot, Roscoe Turner.
Growing up in Chicago, I found myself at contests with modelers who were, or became, very important to the industry. Carl Goldberg, Wally Simmers, and Frank Garcher (Midwest), Sid Axelrod, Mike Schlesinger (Top Flight Models), and others were active and helpful at many of the model contests that I attended.
JS: Looking back, what are you most proud of?
RW: In the early days, it was my learning activities in Free Flight and Control Line. My first RC model had an escapement. Then I went on to reed receivers and servos, proportional control, and finally channel-free receivers. During that time, I worked at a retail hobby shop, started a kit business, then a mail-order sales company. Eventually, I started RAM and have enjoyed it to the present. A few years ago, I traveled with my sons to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and flew an RC model from the spot where Orville Wright made the first powered flight! What a thrill! I’ve lived through the best years of the model hobby industry.
