apwachholz

All -
I'm sure by now there are many members of rcuniverse that are familiar with meand my inquiries on various threads. And as is the case, here I am with another topic of discussion. Nothing heated this time (I hope) but, more a curiosity of where your passion for flight came from.

I ask the question in the Beginners forum because a wide range of persons visit this section of the forum. From beginners looking for help, to the experienced who are willing to offer advice and assistance. What better location to ask this question then in the forum that stewards the love of rc aviation.

So.... why do you love rc aviation? And when did the spark ignite? Or even better yet, if you're new, what sparked your interest?

For those who are wondering:
It started in 4th grade when I noticed the airliners flying overhead in the country. I wanted to know how they did it, what it felt like, and if I could build an airplane. Rocketry followed, as it was the most affordable solution. And then as a Christmas present to my father years later I got him a Great Planes Spirit 2M glider which I hoped he'd ask me to build; which he did. And from there, I've never stopped loving flight. And I'll always remember my first engine airplane. A Carl Goldberg Eagle 2 (white and maroon paint scheme) with an O.S. .25 FP (that I still have and use)

Any type of flying is awesome to me. It's an affliction I love to have.

Addl. Side Note: For those wondering why I posted this question, I'm writing an article about what gets rc pilots hooked into rc aviation.

Crash Campbell

Hi,

I started with control line back in the 50's and moved on from there. I bought my first R/C setup in the 70's, Karaft radio and Goldberg Falcon with OS FSR 40 and aside from about a twenty year plus hiatus for children etc have been involved ever since. I've always been fascinated by flight and spent the greater part of my working life as a remore area firefighter either mapping fire from a chopper of being lifted into an area where we could be winched in to cut a heli-pad for the rest of the troops. Some of ot passed on to my younger son who flys both full scale and R/C.

Why do I like R/C? I guess it's the combination of building and flying that have me hooked. I also like assisting the tyros and get as much satisfaction from one of my studets going solo as anything else these days.

Cheers,

Colin

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I love building and working with my hands, I enjoy small stuff even in my wood working club. I started building and flying UC in 1956 then free flights around 59 or 60. RC has only been in the last 20 years or so. I learned to fly RC so my wife couldn't say anything about my building. I still enjoy building a lot more then flying but flying gets me out of the house and with friends out doors. After I moved from my country home and back to the city life RC is my main out door activity. I would still be enjoying quail hunting and fishing if I had not moved. I wouldn't call RC love, more an enjoy thing, I loved bird hunting, quail three days a week and ducks three days a week. RC flying during the off season. I do usually look forward to the next build but I also get burnt out with it and do other things to stay active.

TedMo

When I was a very young boy aviation was pretty much in its infancy so I was just attracted to it. Went from solid models to rubber powered free flight etc. all the way to radio about 50 years ago. Now at 85 I'm still able to participate. It was not only a hobby for me but also a livelyhood. Everything I did in my working life was related to aircraft /and woodworking.

my05monte

My interest started 27 years ago when I took my girlfriend ( now my wife) on a date and we found an airshow at a local park. We went to a few more over the years until Hanger9 came out with the Mustang PTS. Iv'e been hooked now for 3 years going on 4 flying different trainers and enjoy the thrill of flying and the guys you meet at the field. The satisfaction of bringing a plane home in one piece makes my day. And they are getting better!!

billd76

My Feedback: (3)

Comraderie at the field, watching a really good pilot punch holes in the sky, the sights of the planes, the smell of the nitro, fixing a mess, all the learning that is involved (from building to flying) . It's also a clean hobby! Other than NITRO I really can't explain it. just completely hooked!! I guess knowing that you and you alone are in control. Just fasinates me to no end. I think just about everyone has a love affair with flying, be it RC or full scale. I tend to do alot of things that make people wonder why I would love doing something like that so much. It leads back to the good ole cliche' "For those that understand, no explanation is needed, for those that don't understand, no explanation is possible".
My wife is slowly coming around to understanding it, well at least she has given up on trying to convince me otherwise

markhamregular

The first time I saw a control-line Cox plane when I was 7.
Can't beleive I waited over 40 years to start. But here I am at 50, finally. This year.

cfircav8r

My Feedback: (1)

I grew up near Miramar NAS, "Top Gun," and used to watch the F-4s go by and hear the sonic booms. Yes they used to be able to break the sound barrier over land in the good 'ol days. I say it was fated to happen, because at the age of eleven I decided I wanted to get a glider. Now this was 1979 and radios were very expensive for an 11 year old so I got the "well thats pretty expensive, we'll see" line. Less then two weeks later my mother got a job as an engineer at Kraft radios and had a nice two channel off the line at a fraction of the cost, and a free Bridi Soar Birdy from one of the other engineers. I have been hooked ever since.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Because you don't bleed after a crash. Well not unless you look at my wallet pocket!

Its the friends and the challenges. I also get a big kick out of teaching new guys.

Its very hard to worry about work and life when flying a plane

ron ward

i was the kind of kid that while my buddies were reading spyderman and mad comic books, i was reading popular mechanics and mechanics illustraded...... i can honestly say that i never once read a comic book, and only paged through a mad magazine or two because it was there at my buddy's house and we were bored.
i started flying large u-control at11 or 12by building a buster kit and my dad took me to a local air field where the areaclub flew.
now, at the same time,my best buddy's dad flew r/c and had a basementfull of planes and parts of planes. we would go to his cottage in the winter and he would fly off thelake. my buddy's basement was my favorite place to be and everytime i went to his house, i had to go downstairs and look at all the stuff. well, one day, after a million questions about his planeshehandedme a falcon 56 fuse and awing that may or maynothave been from that plane, but it was, in his words..."about the right size, so it should work fine".....,he said he knew a guy that had a 4 channel radio for sail and he would talk to him and see if he would save it for me and give me a few weeks to come up with the money to buy it. in the mean time he said, " here, let's see if you canget this ready to fly" i worked on it for a couple weeks scratched up the money and got the radio.
i flew that plane for a couple years rebuilt the wing a few times and for whatever reason a 16 yr.old would have, just kind of wandered off into other intrests.i still havethat plane and now, some 40 years later, i have retired from a carreer in carpentry. my passion for model buildingand r/c flying is still going strongand idecidedto get back into the hobby.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

I've lived in Rome, less than a mile from Griffiss (formerly ) Air Force Base all my life...50 years.
My earliest memories are of B-47's, 52's, KC-97's and 135's, T-33's, F-94's and 101's, 102's and 106's, etc. etc.

I had a Beany and Cecil "Beany-Copter" propellor beenie cap when I was about 4, that had a spring loaded-wind up plastic prop on the top that you could wind up...pull a string, and the prop would fly off into the sky...
My dad's nickname for me was Prop Top...

Always liked building plastic models when I was a boy...went to Cox and Wen Mac controlliners at about 10, then the bigger stuff, like .29 and .35 powered C/L stunters...then R/C at 14 in 1974...(World Engines "Blue Max" 4 channel in a Falcon 56, w/ Enya .29 )

When I was going to Riverside School of Aeronautics (A&P Mechanic or now known as AMT or Aircraft Maintainence Technician ) in the late 70's, one of the older guys who was a Viet Nam vet became a good friend of mine. He called me "a real Prop-Top" or someone who was like the airplane equivalent of a car "Gear Head"...

Loved airplanes and cars all of my life...not much for stick and ball sports...getting back into racing my 1/24 scale slot cars again too.

Anyway...to try and answer your question...I guess it's always been a part of me, as long as I can remember. Influences from my older brother who is also a modeler...as well as the fact that my brother-in-law who was in the Air Force and worked as a Radar Tech on most of the afore-mentioned aircraft...etc. etc.

JDSanders

It all started the first time I heard the sound of a P-51 fly by at top speed at the Reno Air Races. I have been hooked on aviation ever since.

apwachholz

@JD Sanders -
Ooooooooo... good one! I don't think there is much that can compare to a Rolls-Royce Merlin. Ok, well, there are actually plenty that compare for me but, seeing a Mustang in person and hearing them roar by you.... yeah... you get hooked pretty fast.

@harryangus -
Welcome! The infection just took a bit longer to set in....

@my05monte -
2 yrs. ago I went to my first Oshkosh Air Venture with a girl friend of mine who graduated from Univ. of North Dakota's Aviation program. I couldn't believe what I was missing and it made my love of aviation only grow exponentially. Now she's my fiance who also dubs as my flight instructor!

dakoris73

For me, I've had a love for aviation since I was a kid. I loved building the military model airplanes and adding all the little details to make them look as real as possible for being a model. I wanted to fly RC planes, but at the time, it was too expensive. But I still kept my bedroom filled with various model airplanes that I had built.

Fast forward almost 25 years, my wife and I were walking around the lake by our local RC field, and we could see and hear them buzzing over our heads. My wife was as curious as I was to see where they were flying the planes from, and upon finding the field, I started to get those goose pimples up my back with excitment watching these planes fly by. It happened to be training night, and as luck would have it, one of the instructors came up and offered me a chance on the sticks....... been hooked ever since. My wife has been very supportive of my "habit" and has even become interested enough to begin learning how to fly Heli's........

My love of model aviation has been a lifelong enjoyment, and one that I'm hoping will be with me for a very very long time.

Teachu2

My Feedback: (133)

July 4, 1972, Eugene, Oregon Independence Day Celebration. Before the fireworks, the local R/C club flew a demo under the stadium lights with 3-4 planes at the same time. My 13-year-old self was bitten by the bug right then. Started saving my money and bugging my Dad. A year later, he figured I was going to keep bugging him, so we went to Bob's Village Hobby in Fresno, bought a CG Falcon 56 MkII kit, a Testor's 35 R/C (pos!) and a used Futaba 4 channel a serviceman had brought over from Japan.

I've gotten out of the hobby a few times, but have been actively involved for the last 23 years. I enjoy building, designing, modifying, tinkering, helping, learning, buying, selling, collecting, recycling, teaching, racing, and just plain fooling around with model airplanes. Two of my three sons really enjoyed the hobby, and now I've got a couple of grandsons....

I also enjoy welding and fabricating, firearms, motorcycling with the wife, and building and tinkering in many forms. I am blessed with an understanding wife who recognizes the value of a man who can fix stuff.

jetmech05

I have a love /hate relationship with aviation...I got my first ride in a Cherokee 140 for my 8th B-day.....flew with my Dad on a few trips...went in USMC aviation in 73 and have been wrenching full scale ever since....
Model aviation began about 10 yrs ago...I love going to the field with my friends...flying giving and getting comments....and harassment.....a good time...
There are times when the sun hits your airplane just right..against a dark sky...that is beautiful...

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I'm just in it for the chicks

Actually, I'm one of the lucky ones. My dad was a modeler so I grew up with it. I was about 7 or 8 before I realized that not everyone had planes in their basements!

The way I see it, some guys like trains, some guys like trucks, we like airplanes. So there's really no explaination for it. Just as some men prefer blonds over brunettes, or boats over cars.

We even have differences amongst ourselves: Some guys like 3D, while others prefer sailplanes, or Peanut Scale, or Helicopters

markhamregular

I like the joke about "beeing in for the chicks" because I am new to this but I have been on the field many times and I am yet to see a woman modeler.
I have seen women in every other hobby possible. Why do plane modeling don't attract women?
We should do something about it. AMA should give a discount to female applicants.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

You don't see women at the flying field for the same reason you don't see men at a Mary Kay Convention [:'(]

markhamregular

Mean Flyer,

That was kind of mean! Some girly men might take offense....

Did I mispelled your handle?

ATVAlliance

I remember as a kid in the 70's, I had one of the plastic Cox fuel powered control line planes.  Think it was of the PT-19 type but all I knew at that time was it had a real engine that you had to put fuel in and made noise.

My grandfather and I tried to fly that thing a bunch of times but never really could keep it running.  I remember the only time it actually ran long enough to fly...we smashed it into the ground, never to run again.  But I was hooked at that time, only to have to wait almost 20 years before I could afford to get into the hobby.

This was when I was in my early 20's, I went to a local hobby shop and ended up buying a 40 size trainer RTF with a Futaba 4ch radio, chargers, and glow igniter.  One of the last discussions I had with the hobby shop guy before I left was about getting with someone to mentor me and get me on a "buddy box".  He even gave me the name of someone closeby (number too) that would help me learn to fly.  I thanked him and probably before leaving the parking lot had discarded the info as well as his advice.  BIGGEST MISTAKE I HAVE MADE IN THIS HOBBY BY FAR!!!!!

Went out several days later thinking...I dont need no stinking mentor.  How hard can this be!!!  I mean really its go faster = push forward, go slower = pull back.  Go up = pull back, Go down = push forward.  Go left...well you get the idea.

That 1st plane lasted all of 2 flights.  And am actually surprised I even got 1 flight in before disaster struck!  Needless to say the plane was a total loss...but the engine and radio equipment and servos survived.

With the shame of crashing and NOT following the advice from the LHS guy...I didnt go back to that shop for quite a while.  But soon after my crash I had found this really cool supplier called "Tower Hobbies"LOL.  I ended up ordering one of the Air Core trainer kits...built it and transferred all of the stuff from my 1st plane to this one.  I didnt fare much better as to learning how to fly as I still was too stubborn to seek help.  I did however fly this one some, but crashed it a lot.  Boy, those things are pretty tough....even though they are ugly as sin!

Soon though, I was discouraged to the point that I just quit.  I did not earn a lot of money back then and really couldnt see myself affording the hobby to the point I just put it all away in the attic till last year.  And I only got it out then because of a toy heli my father recieved as a gift from someone and him not knowing anything about it...had me take it home and learn how to fly it so I could show him it in fact did fly.

Anyway...that little toy heli was enough to get me thinking about that old Air Core thing in the attic, so I drug it out and found out that the years in storage did not do it well.  It was unusable, so off to the interwebs I went looking for a cheap replacement.  I knew that I wanted to get back into this, but do it right this time.

I found an overwhelming amount of info on RC and was surprised to find a few sites that sold some cheap chinese stuff that was getting decent reviews.  I ended up ordering 3 planes and havent looked back.  I since joined a club and have corrected all of the things I "thought" were right that I just learned wrong trying to teach myself to fly back 12 or so years ago.

I have made a bunch of new friends and now own about 15 airplanes and 3 helis...all within less than a year!  Its really addicting to me and I find it to be like a Lays Potato chip...cant have just one!

I also like the fact that this is a hobby that I can share with my son (hes 5 now) and give him an alternative to TV and video games.  I feel that RC will teach you things that can be related to in life situations (not just fixing things...but just things as simple as learning that sometimes in life, it takes time to get something done the right way...among other things.)

Im glad my Dad got that heli for Christmas...else my old Air Core would probably still be in my attic warping away...and I never would have gotten back into this hobby that I care so much for now.

I think this is something I will be doing for the rest of my life.  It just never gets old.

chevypower1930

Hey everyone... I have actually recently started getting into RC cars as well. The reason being is that I have JUST had my 2nd of 2 big intestinal surgeries 3 weeks ago... I had my first surgery about 7 months ago, and since then it just wasn't practical for me to pack up everything and get out to the field. So the RC cars I can just go out in the front yard and run them and it's a lot of fun, and I'm now falling in love with the car aspect of the hobby as well....

But nothing compares to model aircraft for me... it's a whole different ball game all together. I should be back to NORMAL in a couple months and all healed up and I cannot wait to get back into airplanes!

I LOVE rc airplanes because...... You are actually behind the controls of an AIRCRAFT flying! With a car yeah the wheels are spinning and you turn the wheels to turn.... but with an airplane you have infinite directions you can control the airplane in. There is so much more to do such as 3D flying. I LOVE scale looking and flying airplanes and when you actually look at the plane and it looks real, but you're in control! It's just an amazing feeling to me and it can be adrenaline pumping or I can take out my slow stick and it can calm me down from any situation.

Anyways, I can't wait to get out of this recovery stage, I have been through SOOO much at the age of 20. All my airplanes are waiting for me in my shop, my DX7 has been cycled a couple times to keep the battery fresh, and I just cannot wait to get my planes back in the air.... I especially can't wait to get my Miss America P51 back on the runway!

gregg660

My Feedback: (2)

I've have always like planes, and built many plastic models when young. When I got hooked on computers, I started to get into the Microsoft Flight Sims big time. One farthers day 6 years ago, my daughter got me an Air Hog battery operated "toy". I then self progressed in the electric park flyer road..learning on my own. Found a local club near by a year later..field is 6 miles from my house, and joined. Soloed after a month with my trainer and progressed quickly with plane types. I flew so much when there, (have slowed a bit) I was given the nick name Gas N Go. Only we know the feeling of flying that plane. It is the most relaxing and intense feeling I get at the same time. You forget all your worldly troubles.until you have an issue that is. ..lol. It is my medicine...you see, I quit drinking a 6 months before joining the club. Been sober ever since..but have this new addiction...but you need something. Needless to say, the only sim in the computer now is Real Flight. I now fly mostly gas(cheaper fuel), and am loving my Aeroworks 85cc Extra 260, my latest fix.
Gregg (Gas N Go)

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

It started for me when I was very young!The airport was very close to my house and I use to spend every hour I could there. I would pack a lunch and watch the planes take off and land. I would get into trouble because I would lay on the end of the runway and watch the planes go over me. The high lites of my time there was when I would get to ride in a plane! If my folks needed to find me they would look there first. I got into RC airplanes back into the early 80's when my then wife bought me a PT-40 kit but then always wanted to break it and hated it! Then she left me and the kids when my youngest was not even five weeks old and had to put RC on the back burner and raise my four daughters, Then when they got older I got back into the hobby and have loved every second I have building, flying and my new found friends! There in my opinion no better hobby in the world and I am so happy to be part of it! My grandson was born into the hobby he had a plane before he was born and I am now working with him, I do not think there is a better family hobby! My grandaughter is to young right now to fly but if she wants to learn I will love teaching her! This hobby is my theraphy! Airplanes was my first love and you know the old saying we never forget our first love!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Duh!!!!

Ken