Memories of Dad... (Full Version)

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KitBuilder -> Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 2:29 AM)

From time to time I see threads by those who pay tribute to a recently lost father. There was one in this forum on Christmas day and receipt of the cox .049 fairchild from dad. It was nice to see and it made me think.

I thought it would be nice if those interested posted any special memories they may have. I think I'm doing this mostly for me as I lost my father when I was 14 and he was only 44. I never really talked to anyone about my loss in terms of model avaiation. My memory of getting into actual radio control was something dad never got to see but was very instrumental.

One summer after quite some time talking and talking and going to the local field to watch and ask questions, etc, my dad gave me a test. He thought and rightly so, the expense of the hobby back in the mid 70's was not cheap. So he said, lets pick up a rubber powered kit and you build it. I assume he thought if I could build it whiich meant I had the accompanying patience to see it through then I was more serious than not. I had been mowing lawns, babysitting, etc saving up for my Kraft KP-4A radio and M.E.N Trainder, club dues, etc. Well The kit I picked from the LHS (and I can see us in there buying it now) was a Guillows type kit of the Piper Cub. Wingspan was approx 24" as I remember with tissue covering and wooden wheels. I can see myself out on the screened enclosed porch building that model in the summer evenings and my dad periodically taking a look at my progress. Well I completed that model, covered it, painted it, and flew it, and it actually flew ok too [;)]. After that, dad said he would go halfsies with me... for he also thought that if I had a vested interest in terms of $$, I would better take of everything once purchased which of course he was correct. Well dad passed away before I was able to purchase the items needed for R/C. Mom however kept Dads promise and I can see mom and I in that same hobby shop picking up my my M.E.N Trainer kit. The rest they say is history. Thanks dad for getting me started on the right foot and mom for being supportive at a time when I know cash I'm sure was tight. I'm circling back and am going to be picking up my first R/C "Clipped" Cub that I have been wanting to build but never have. I have the skills now to create a nice scale subject and do the model justice. I tihnk it's going to be an emotional build and maiden flight. Thanks for reading and I look forward to other stories.



build light -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 2:50 AM)

Mike, I have a similar story in that I lost my father in 1962, before I had even had a model to put together.

I had to teach myself for I had no one who teach me but my father was a pilot in the navy and I held this in high respect and this fact is where I gained my interest in flying and models.
Started with plastic model cars and planes. Trouble was they would not fly so I got into simple free flight stuff, then contol line and finally RC.

I would like to see more stories where the dad inspired modeling. This is something I really wish I could have shared with my own father.

Robert



KitBuilder -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 4:29 AM)

I hear ya.. I have two daughters and they have zero interest [:o].



maxpower1954 -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 6:43 AM)

Well, this isn't about my Dad - he had zero interest in modeling and even less mechanical ability. I remember once he helped me with an .049 powered airboat I made...I'll never forget him stomping on
the rudder assembly he tried to build in frustration.

But a gentleman named Ernest Bryant (always Mr. Bryant to me, even today) took an interest in my model building when I was about 12. He flew single-channel, reeds, GG and proportional and helped me with my clumsy efforts at U/C and FF. He even taught me to fly R/C on HIS airplanes before I ever had one of my own. He made a tremendous difference in my life and is responsible for the career in commercial aviation I have enjoyed for over 30 years.

Sadly, my Dad died back in 1982 but Mr. Bryant is still going strong at 84. He hasn't flown R/C since the late '70s, but I visited him last year and plan on seeing him in a few weeks. He's the model-crazed father I never had, and I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Russ Farris



Walt Thyng -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 12:47 PM)

the guy that got me started flying models (Scientific ukies) was a fifth grade classmate. We progressed to Galloping Ghost, and then building Heathkit radios. He's still my best friend. That was 57 years ago.
Walt



squeakalong -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 8:40 PM)

Man, this topic brings up many memories...good and bad. My dad didn't give a hoot about doing much with his son. I really cannot remember him going to the flying field when I was flying ukies as a kid. Later on in life (much later) he and my step-mother came to visit and they joined me at the R/C field to watch me fly a model (more my step-mothers idea because she liked the blue and orange Auburn scheme on my Ugly Stick). Dad never did say much while watching or afterwards. Guess we just drifted further apart; I found out he passed on four years after the fact. Perhaps he is watching now...

I did have, however, a great older friend that was a huge influence on my model flying when I was a youngster. This young man, perhaps in his thirties, was flying FF and I showed up at the park with a 1/2A ukie. He offered to help and the rest is "history". I learned to fly inverted CL with his hand on mine, learned to fly FF and get the plane back, learned to read blueprints and follow directions. This kindness was instrumental in my further advancements in model building, including R/C, and in my career as a Mechanical Designer in fossil-fired and nuclear power plants. And I still think of him when I build a new model and see it airborne for the first time.

Soft landings.

Joe



WacoNut -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 9:55 PM)

Joe I have to say that is sad,

My interest started back in the early 70's when I was about 3 years old watching my dad's attempts at building and flying single channel pulse. He gave up the hobby after crashing a couple of planes and one of them into my moms car[:D]. He gave me a J-3 Cub he had built and was too heavy to fly after repairing damage from a crash, I treasured that plane until I tripped and fell on it and crushed it one day. When I was about 7 years old he built a Comet Stinson Reliant (rubber powered)with me to show me how to build and that's all it took. I have been building flying models for the last 35 years thanks to him. He never did get back into the hobby but he does enjoy looking at my builds and watching me fly. I think he sat and stared at my 25% Waco for an hour when he visited last winter. He thinks I am crazy putting that much time into something that will wind up in a garbage bag. That reminds me, I need to say Thanks Dad!!!!
Anthony



KitBuilder -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/21/2009 11:34 PM)

Nice stories.. I got to tihnking.. An older gentlemen in my club I joined actually taugth me to fly.. we passed the xmitter back and forth..he was very patient. He was building big stuff before most. I remember he had a massive 10 ft span own design.. Had two sixties in the nose sort of like a hammerhead each one hanigng off to the side a bit for prop clearance. The sound they made was awesome... He pulled it in a trailer he had and the wing was to big so he cut the shape of rib out the back end and the wing stuck out abaout a foot. He would drop a king kong doll attached to a parachute out the bottom with an extra channel and i would run and catch it. Good Times!! [:D] (I ordered my GP Cub and am going to build the clipped wing and put my first 4 stroke in it. corny but I'm sure dad will be watching[;)] )



squeakalong -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/22/2009 1:49 PM)

Anthony, my friend, sorry to make you sad...just the reality of life I guess. I did enjoy your modeling story [:D][:)][:D]!! I tried to get my two daughters (no son born to me) involved in models and both were interested until BOYS were discovered[8|]. But wait...I'm a Grand-Dad and a Great Grand-Dad....OBOY!!!!!!!!!!! Another opportunity....[:D][;)]!

Soft landings.

Joe



WEDJ -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/22/2009 10:17 PM)

I guess I was pretty lucky w/ my dad, he helped me learn how to build models of all types when I was young.  Plastic and f/f Guillow's kits back then (1950's)

When I got into r/c in the late 60's, he was at a loss, but appreciated my involvement, and came to a few flying sessions and contests.  He only passed away two years ago, so I had him for a long time.  He was 89.  I have a set of plans for a f/f biplane he designed around 1965, to show me he knew how to design planes.  I sure do miss him.



WacoNut -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/22/2009 11:57 PM)

Joe,
I also now have a grandson(my boy has no interest) he is almost 2 years old and after hanging around Poppy he always looks up when he hears a plane and gets excited, I think I am creating a monster so at least my wife says. I buy him a little plane every chance I get. The best part about grand kids is you get to send them home when your done spoiling them[;)].
Anthony



mightyhorn -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/26/2009 2:01 AM)

The memories of my dad go way back to the late 50's-through '65.
We used to go flying at the R/C field in Sunnyvale where we lived. Even if he wasn't flying, we would go and chill with who was there. In those days a regular would be Ken Willard. He had a maroon/yellow Ascender that was a gas. He used to explain how the parts of the plane worked and how together, they helped the plane fly. I started with balsa gliders, rubber powered gliders and control line. In '65 due to financial items and also time contraints he left the hobby. Some weeks he and his boss worked six days a week, which in hardwood flooring, was hell. He did it for us.
I also remember going to the monthly meetings. He never got upset when I was going nuts, sitting through all the business, old business, etc. He even explained Roberts Rules of Order. He also showed me where the doughnuts were and also how to mix a little water with half & half and make "milk."

I am still working on geting my first plane off the ground. Why? In his memory and the times we had.



WEDJ -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/26/2009 2:52 AM)

Now that I'm the dad, I have exposed all 3 of my kids to modelling, both plastic and r/c.  Here's the line-up:

Evan (16) flew a bit, but likes r/c cars now (and girls, and real cars)
Ethan (14) is really into his Sr Falcon, and likes the r/c flying a lot
Ellie (12) is in the middle of building a dollhouse with me.

I hope when I'm gone they will have fond memories of our times together.



Yuu -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/26/2009 10:27 PM)

We had to drive 40 miles to Illinois to buy the cheaper 'ollieoo' that we used instead of the expensive butter. Ollieoo came with the little orange 'mustard' style packet, and you added the 'orange' dye to the white grease called 'ollieoo' to make it look like butter. On the trip we passed a park where guys were flying CL, and we stopped there on the way back to watch, and that started my hobby. I bought a 48" CL profile Sterling Ringmaster and assembled it, just like on the box. Black and white, nylon from the department store, and dope from Don's Hobby Shop. O. S. Max .29 and a Perfect tanik. Dad slodered the leadouts because I didn't know abouot soldering. Dad took me back down to the park so one of the experts coould fly it. I was so affraid. The guy did a complete 'overlook' and asked many questions, especially if we had 'tied' the leadout wires or soldered them. Then the big moment: The guy flew it... then did a couple loops, and flew upside-down!! Who knew planes could fly upside down? Back home we had a weed field behind the house, and Dad took the mower and cut a round patch so I could fly my plane. Too scared to fly the 'big one' I built a Ringmaster Jr. With an Enya .19 on 60' wires. I flew the crap out of that plane. Dad built one too, but had a K&B .19 green head on his. Finally we learned it wouldn't start unless it had 15% 'Racing Fuel'. The neighbor hood kids joined in too. Dad built a ?Gensler Nobler with a Fox .29 and it was bright red. On the madien flight it made 1/2 a lap in a giant wingover, loose lines and all, and smashed to bits!! The neighbor kids who were there named him 'Crash' and the name stuck. I felt bad about that. But Dad rebuilt the plane, teaching us to keep going, never give up. Thanks for starting this thread... I had almost forgotten about all this. Tears come to eye....



KitBuilder -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/29/2009 3:20 AM)

Yuu i know.. good stuff isnt it!

WEDJ... i have two girls 10 and 14.. no interest at all (I've tried) but now and then they come out to the garage when I'm building. And the same way my dad would let me have a hammer, some nails, and some wood and go at it.. they like to cut my scrap balsa and glue it up into little houses and what have you.. with all the questions.. my building basically comes to an end but I woulidn't trade it for the world! A few short years and one will be out of the house[:o]

and it reminds me.. dad and I built a coaster go kart. This was when back in the day they halted the Soap Box derby for a year or two b/c some kid and his dad cheated.. putting a hidden magnet in the front so when the metal gate dropped they would get pulled forward. Well the years they stopped was when I was eligible[:@]. So dad and I built a racer ourselves. Nothing like the soap boxers but had a body and all and best of all it had a parachute.. I coiuld pull a lever and a chute would come out the back.. and it actually slowed me down real quicl Very Very Cool!



foodstick -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/29/2009 4:33 AM)

My Dad just passed away this year all to early at the age of 69.

He never got into rc building ,but he loved airplanes and helicopters. He always supported my interest in every hobby I ever had.

He worked nights while I was a kid, and did side jobs during the days..yet he seemed to spend the entire day with my family as well.

He loved to travel, and took long vacations with my mom and their friends by motorcycle..They hauled all of their gear and camped. Eventually they made it to every state,excluding Hawaii and Alaska...and he dreamed of adding Alaska. Heck they even took a ferry to Newfoundland and traveled there some. By the time he was done he had traveled 160,000 miles on his bikes, and he never rode it to work or errands..it was for travel only.

He bought a small farm with my Mom when he was around 50 years old, and started with pumpkins, then shifted to farmers market type vegetables. he had a hilly farm, so he built two ponds with his little tractor and irrigated it all by pumping to the highest point of the farm and letting it flow down to anyplace he desired. Besides all the other farm work and maintenance ,the last year my dad was single handedly growing vegetables on six acres. All of which he hauled to farmers markets, then he would donate the unsold produce to senior citizen homes...

I never really believed anything could stop him, And I will never stop missing him. Most of my planes have a few grains of his ashes on board. And he flies everytime I do...



squeakalong -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/29/2009 3:00 PM)

foodstick...what a nice tribute to your Dad. Your Father sounds like he will be with you for a long, long, time. Many happy flights and...

Soft landings.

Joe



jaymen -> RE: Memories of Dad... (9/30/2009 11:16 PM)

Great stuff here.

My dad started me off by building the Monogram F3F biplane, the kit was moulded in red, silver, yellow, and clear. I memory serves me right, I got into it and destroyed it after he completed the fuselage with retracting landing gear...curiouse little 3 year old that I was.

Next dad bought a Boing 707 plastic kit(Revell?) it was white with red decals. Again, once completed, I destroyed it too.

Then we moved to Venezuela, but dad managed to find a Comet Taylor Craft(Tea-cart) kit of about 42 inch span. The rock hard printed balsa sheet parts prooved daunting to cut out, but dad built bothe wing half before I attempted to layout the fuselage longerons, again I destroyed the thing. The wing made it home to California however, but nothing else.

By this time, my grandpa would take me to the hobby store and I was finnally able to build rubber jobs myself, then sheet balsa u-control kits(CG, top flite, sterling).

In 1969 Dad and grandpa pitched in and bought me a used Controlaire Galloping Ghost w/ Rand LR-3 and F&M Vanguard receiver. The neighbor gave me a Jr. Falcon with a Golden Bee , and a Vari-Comp, w/ Controlaire 4 super regen, which I removed and put the Galloping Ghost in.

Dad would always whatch me fly, when he had the time, but I was pretty much on my own from there on. I was lucky he had as much interest as he did, especially after reading what other s have said here.



muzzlemaggot -> RE: Memories of Dad... (10/1/2009 6:37 AM)

Thanks to all. I need to tell my pops "thank you" before it's too late. Very inspirational



Telemaster Sales UK -> RE: Memories of Dad... (10/3/2009 7:09 AM)

In my case it wasn't my dad but my uncle Geoff, my mother's sister's husband, who taught me how to build. My first two models, a Keil Kraft Ajax rubber powered job and another KK glider were not well built and didn't fly too well. Had I stopped building then, I wouldn't be posting this now.

The third model was a 36" (0.9mtr) Veron Cardinal powered by a Mills 75 which I'd bought from the procedes of my paper round by mail order from Henry J. Nicholls of 308 Holloway Road, London. (Bet that bit provokes a few memories!) It didn't look too bad. Being a very trendy twelve year-old I wanted the flying surfaces finished in yellow tissue and the fuselage in purple, but you couldn't buy purple dope so I mixed red and blue and it came out brown!

So I took my brown and yellow model around to Geoff to show him and he was very complimentary about my improved workmanship. Then three of us, my father, his brother, who had been an aeromodeller in the early Fifties, and I, went out to a disused WW2 training aerodrome near to where I live one windless summer's day. After a few trimming flights we found that you could fill that thimble of a tank on the Mills and the model would climb in left-hand circles until it was a tiny cross in the sky, stall as the power ran out and descend in left-hand circles to land a few metres away from us. We had flight after flight that afternoon. I can still see the sun shining through the yellow tissue....

Unfortunately, Geoff couldn't be with us as he was in the last stages of cancer which took him from us the following winter. He was only 35.

Then for me the sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock'n'roll years intervened and I really was a semi professional rock singer for over thirty years, but one day in my forties I saw a man flying a model aircraft in a field. I stopped to watch, asked him a lot of questions and..... well you know the rest!

So rest easy you fathers of teenage boys, who knows, may be in thirty years...

Happy Landings!



Yak18 -> RE: Memories of Dad... (10/15/2009 5:50 PM)

My Dad brought home a Skylane 62 kit from the hobby shop when I was 5. I still remember looking at the plans and parts with him like it was yesterday. I loved airplanes just like dad even then. The year was 1965! I supervised every stage of the construction. He built a Heathkit radio (transmitter, receiver and all the servos) for it. I then remember holding the tail when he started the Super Tigre and I got a good dose of caster oil and wind in my 5 year old face. It was a glorious time that I will never forget.

I'd give anything to go out to the field one more time with dad. [:(]



deckape -> RE: Memories of Dad... (10/15/2009 10:56 PM)

Mike

after reading this thread it is very emotional to me also I lost my father 10 years ago when i was 56. My father brought me into this world and taught me how to build and enjoy the love of model aviation. My dad was a Flew B-17s durring the war stationed in England. Flew 17 missions before being shot down in 1944. When i was young he taght me how to build every Sunday we would go off to the school grounds and burn circles together. Flew mostly Controll line almost every Saturday we go off to the hobby shop and pick up a couple kits and started building them. My first U control was Sterlings Nueiport 28 with a McCoy 19 no muffler in those days. When I graduated from High school my dad got me a Sterling Waco SRE cabin bipe with a Babcock escapement citizenship Radio my first RC this is a Dinosour compaired todays radio. I still have my old Waco and the radio still works.

I think of my dad every time I look at it along with the other planes i had all thoise years. Bad thing about life itself is getting old. I,m very sorry for your RFathers lost I know how you feel I can share your feelings. I past on to my children and grand ones how to model too like my Father did for me Dads were Dads back in those days .

Franklyn Day
Retired U.s. Navy BMC



specialk1 -> RE: Memories of Dad... (10/16/2009 2:53 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemaster Sales UK

In my case it wasn't my dad but my uncle Geoff, my mother's sister's husband, who taught me how to build. My first two models, a Keil Kraft Ajax rubber powered job and another KK glider were not well built and didn't fly too well. Had I stopped building then, I wouldn't be posting this now.

The third model was a 36'' (0.9mtr) Veron Cardinal powered by a Mills 75 which I'd bought from the procedes of my paper round by mail order from Henry J. Nicholls of 308 Holloway Road, London. (Bet that bit provokes a few memories!) It didn't look too bad. Being a very trendy twelve year-old I wanted the flying surfaces finished in yellow tissue and the fuselage in purple, but you couldn't buy purple dope so I mixed red and blue and it came out brown!

So I took my brown and yellow model around to Geoff to show him and he was very complimentary about my improved workmanship. Then three of us, my father, his brother, who had been an aeromodeller in the early Fifties, and I, went out to a disused WW2 training aerodrome near to where I live one windless summer's day. After a few trimming flights we found that you could fill that thimble of a tank on the Mills and the model would climb in left-hand circles until it was a tiny cross in the sky, stall as the power ran out and descend in left-hand circles to land a few metres away from us. We had flight after flight that afternoon. I can still see the sun shining through the yellow tissue....

Unfortunately, Geoff couldn't be with us as he was in the last stages of cancer which took him from us the following winter. He was only 35.

Then for me the sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock'n'roll years intervened and I really was a semi professional rock singer for over thirty years, but one day in my forties I saw a man flying a model aircraft in a field. I stopped to watch, asked him a lot of questions and..... well you know the rest!

So rest easy you fathers of teenage boys, who knows, may be in thirty years...

Happy Landings!

[:D] have to agree . my father got me stuff mail order from Henry J. Nicholls of 308 Holloway Road, London. reading this tread gave me good memories [:D]



tryingagain -> RE: Memories of Dad... (10/24/2009 7:02 PM)

I grew up with my dad relating stories of the free flight meets he watched as a kid. The story of him as a young teen building a free flight model of an old Aeronca K resonated with me when he talked about not being able to wait to try flying it. In the middle of winter he stepped out his back door and test glided the model he had devoted most of the winter to building. I guess he built it right. From shoulder height and a gentle push the thing travelled 150' the length of his back yard and smashed nose first into the wood pile. He spent many hours rebuilding it but it never flew the same again. He grew up during the depression and the money for more models didn't exist.
When a friend of mine got me into plastic models, dad couldn't stand it. He just couldn't see the point in a model that didn't do anything. Before I knew it I was the owner of a Guillows Cessna 170 kit. We spent weeks together building that model and I still remember how excited he was when he came home one night and I had manged to cover the tail section by myself. From there we went into u-control and built several, The Lil Wizard, Lil Satan, and others including an ME 109 (that lasted about half a lap before one of my knots slipped off. It didn't fly well on one line and we salvaged the engine. I moved into RC in my early 20's, and dad was there to watch. I timed it poorly however and the first two flights of my Goldberg Skylane 62 happened just before the arrival of our first son. Life interrupted and my Skylane sat in the rafters, basement or storage for almost 25 years until my youngest son asked when I was going to do something with it. My thought was to give it away or scrap it. (I did not believe after sitting all that time it would fly again.) He would not let me do either and then asked point blank if I knew it couldn't fly. Long story short, and to my wife's chagrin, I soon had it gutted on the dining room table and installed a new radio and engine. It flew all summer.

Dad passed several years ago now, and Alzheimer's took him from us before that. I like to think he was at the airfield with us this year. He is the reason I am in this hobby and also in Model Rail Roading. (He loved trains too.)
Hopefully I can pass that on to my sons and now grandsons. The one son has built 3 RC trucks and we are building an 40 size trainer for him.

Who was the sadist that started this column anyway? I can't believe how misty eyed I have become while typing this!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Cheers

Gord



KitBuilder -> RE: Memories of Dad... (10/26/2009 3:26 AM)

Sorry.. It was me... but i think well worth it [;)]. I have read them all. As i said early on. I never really discussed the loss of my dad in terms of what I'm most passionate about... model aviation since he started me out. It's just one thing I know we could have shared but never did. At just 14... that is just to early for a boy to lose his father. Now I know others suffer much more tragic circumstances but I can only relate to what I know. All these stories are sort of therayy in a way for me.. thanks guys.



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