My friend Mark Riley and his dad Clyde lived down the street got me into the hobby. They were big into control line and I flew these with them in 1970. I had a lil Wizard by Goldberg. The engine came out of a Cox Corsair that I got for my 5th birthday and destroyed it before it flew.

In 1976  Mark and his Dad showed up with an Ugly Stick with a Webra 60 and EK Logitrol radio. I had never seen anything so cool in my whole life. One day Clyde gave me an MEN Trainer. This was the best trainer ever. Had undercambered wings and flew SLOOOOW. It took forever to build but it looked and flew great. Transparent yellow and transparent blue monokote. Rudder and Elevator for control. Had an H&B 25 up front that ran fairly well. 4 Channel Kraft radio bought from Johnny Cashburn in Ft Worth Texas. The radio cost $200 (an absolute fortune in 1976 for an 11 year old.) I had saved every penny mowing yards and my Mom and Dad asked me 100 times if that was really what I wanted to spend my money on. Not one hesitation after all those questions.

I would take off and fly and Clyde would land the plane for me. This went on for a while until one day I was up and ran out of fuel. I was calling for someone to land it for me but everyone was flying. Full of fear, I landed without a hitch and my unplanned solo was the beginning of years of flying up to the present.

 I recently bought another MEN Trainer off Feebay and it's just about finished. I am building it with my 7 yr old son. Can't wait to get it up. I hope my boy loves this as much as I do.