Brent, I think that is so cool. What a great story. Congratulations! When I was a girl, I used to be the same way. I was always a little tom-boy, always thought the "boys toys" were a heck of a lot more interesting than the ones they made for girls! I was always building things and taking apart my parents toasters and VCRs (boy did I get it for that one).
Anyway, I used to BEG my parents for a real, remote controlled air plane.. but of course back then those kits were VERY expensive and there weren't any of the great relatively inexpensive introductory opportunities for young or inexperienced pilots that there are today. I vowed when I was 8 years old that "WHEN I GREW UP" I would buy MYSELF a plane! lol
Well ... I'm somewhere between 20 and 30 right now (we won't say where!) and though I did go into the computer sciences as a profession, I only re-discovered my first "real" remote controlled airplane last year. When I saw it, I was with a friend who I'd recently met and he flew a lot more. I realized that I could finally have my airplane and the little kid inside me was sooo excited. It felt like I was 8 years old all over again (not that I'd ever have TOLD anyone that!). Naturally I bought it (an Aerobird) and I was HOOKED again. Totally hooked. Except my new friend moved to B.C (I live in Canada) and none of my current friends could even fathom what I found so appealing about the hobby, so I was on my own again. Ahhh well ... I still drag a friend or two out with me to hang around while I fly most of the time these days, or I take my dogs, but I'm just now getting into how great this hobby really is and can be. I'm very new at it, so I've started on a GWS SLOW STICK kit and I'm quite excited about that. Once I master the SS, I want to learn to fly with 4 channels and ailerons, then... the sky's the limit. I suppose I never did grow out of toys either.
THANKS for sharing your great story. It made ME realize that I wasn't alone out here!
Cheers,
Daphne
Proud owner of:
Aerobird Challenger (slightly beaten up)
Gold Eagle 2XL (also slightly beaten up)
Aerobird Xtreme (still in the box until I'm a better pilot!)
GWS Slow Stick (awaiting mail-order servos!)