Born in 1956 and built my first stick and tissue plane when I was twelve, a Guillow's 24" span SE-5. My stepdad got it for me, he got the Rumpler C-V. We built them side by side. Needless to say, his came out a lot better than mine but mine did fly. I was hooked ever since then. We didn't have the money to do R/C in those days so it wasn't until I dropped out of college to join the Air Force that I actually got into it. I worked a year before I went in. My very first R/C plane was an Andrews H-Ray with an Enya .19 2-stroke that I bought off my neighbor whose brother was selling along with an Enya .60 at his yard sale. I was then introduced to Frank Tiano of Top Gun fame by a Kingston Aero Modeler that I worked with. Frank was selling a Royal 6 channel single stick AM system with NiCads and four servos for $200. I flew that plane exactly once since I flew it on my own. I did fly it though, it was on the landing approach that I strained it through a tree. Nine years later in 1986, I tried again with a Midwest LiveWire Champ and a Futaba 6 channel system. I did it the right way that time: I joined the AMA, joined a club and got someone to show me how and there was no going back. I've been an AMA member ever since. Makes it real easy to pick gifts for Christmas.
