I remember the beginning very well. I have always been an airplane nut. I flew control line since I was 12. That was in 1971. Right after I got married in 1978 my uncle invited me to watch RC planes fly at the trinity river levy in dallas. The first rc plane I saw fly was an Ugly Stik covered in transparent red. It was the most stunning thing I had seen in a long time. I had to have an RC plane.

I was poor. Pure and simple. All I could afford was one of the Cox Cessna Centurians with a 2 channel radio. I didn't really learn to fly but I did learn how to repair foam. Then I bought a broken Qtee for $5. I repaired it and sorta learned to fly untill I hand launched it one day and forgot to turn on the receiver. It just climbed higher and higher until it was a speck in the sky. It glided off when the motor quit and I never did find it.

I bought a Little Stik from the recommendations of the guys at the levy. I bought a 4 channel Kraft radio from Johnny Cashburn. His shop was about 2 miles from my house. I had an instructor that mainly just flew my plane for me. I would go out on my own and fly during the week. I crashed everytime I went flying. But not too bad. I was really good at repairing. I finally learned to fly and land and broke a prop on just about every landing. I built a second Little Stik and by then I could land without damage. I could even land in the same zip code I was standing in by now.

I don't remember what happened to that little stik, I guess I sold it. Then built a Sweet Stik and with that plane I really learned to fly. I converted it to a tail dragger and sawed the wings in half and added dihedral. I never broke props and the plane was much more fun to fly with the dihedral in the wing. You didn't have to constantly correct it to keep the wings level.

I still have a love for simple Stik planes. I have taught several others to fly. And as mentioned earlier I hammered new guys about using the rudder. Its there for a purpose and not just to steer the plane on the runway.