Mark,
Excellent story. Dad's' can be so instrumental for us getting into this hobby. My dad was no different.

My dad loved toys. Plain and simple, he loved to play. He started me building plastic models when I was 8 years old. We also did model railroading together, our layout was half of a 2 car garage. We did all sorts of things hobby related, and just about all RC activities EXCEPT for flying. We had done cars, tanks, boats, sailboats, and a few others together but we never did get to fly. Timing and expenses kept us from getting into it, but both of us wanted to do it. Fast forward to the early 90's and my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He spent the last few years of his live enjoying as much as he could because he knew his days were limited. He had purchased a Tower Trainer 40 ARF package and was going to learn to fly it. Unfortunately the cancer won before he could get it in the air. I took the plane and brought it home with me. I learned to fly the plane, and I dedicated my solo flight to my dad. That was almost 10 years ago and I'm still in the hobby (obviously). Every day that I fly I pause before my first take off and say hi to my dad, because I know that he is there with me every time that I fly. I just wish we could have done it together before he past on.

Ken