Hey Guy's

I have a little bit of a different take on this question. Since I didn't start flying until I was in my early 40's. I was not fortunate enough to fly the classic's when they were popular the first time around. My friend, who first got me interested in R/C flying also flew in pattern competitions up and down the east coast. We also used to work together and he would tell me many stories. One of my favorites was about him going to a contest somewhere in the north east and watching other competitors actually start to pack up their planes and leave when they saw Jim Martin show up to compete with his Banshee. He also told me of the time he watched Jim fly knife edge figure eights between trees at the end of one of his routines. My friend also told me about allot of the competitions that used to be held at the old Fentress Air Field in VA Beach VA, which is close to where we both live. In fact, the first time I saw a pattern plane fly was when another friend and fellow RCU classic pattern junkie, JeffH flew a red, black and yellow pattern plane. I don't remember what the name of the plane was and I don't think it was a classic, but Jeff sure could fly the heck out of it.

So, I honestly cannot say that the usual classic pattern hero’s had any influence in my becoming a classic pattern junkie. For me, I get some of my inspiration from people like JeffH, whom I consider to be not only an excellent builder of not only classic pattern planes, but all different types of planes and a guy that can fly them all very well. The rest of my inspiration comes from all of my fellow classic pattern friends here on RCU. It is amazing how willing all of you are willing to help out anyone who has a question or problem in any way you can.

David