When I first got re-started in this Hobby of ours again a little over a year ago, it was strictly because of my Dad. This was his passion for well over 50 yrs. Since I was a little boy in Ok. The first memories I have are of going flying with my Dad. He would do his competition thing with control planes that he scratch-built, & I would play with my little gliders that he also scratch-built for me.

Years later he retired the Hobby. It was about 10 yrs ago. He called me & said he was all done flying & if I wanted these airplanes to come pick the stuff up. He needed the extra room downstairs that they were occupying. I had no idea how much stuff we were talking about until I arrived at his house in Carmel. It took me 3 trips with a full size pick-up to get it all. I ended up with enough stuff to actually start a small Hobby Shop!! At least 75% of it was still NIB. ARFs, Kits, & Engines all new. Recieving all this stuff was like a kid getting the wildest Christmas you could imagaine. Unfortunately while I knew what I had, I did not have the time to appreciate it, or to try to use it. So within a year or so it had pretty much all gotten sold or traded away. I was working 'round the clock back then & just didn't have the time to try to learn to fly or even to assemble any of the stack of new ARFs that I had to choose from. Of course it wasn't very long after most of it had been sold that I lived to regret it. Especially when I changed jobs & started to have more time on my hands & the urge to learn to fly started to kick in again. Only now I had nothing left to learn on & no extra money to go out & buy a Trainer with.

A few years back Dad got the building bug again & started to buy new building supplies & kits all over again. This time he started building Electrics though. After a couple years of admiring the pretty electric planes he had built he calls again for me to come clear out the downstairs room for him. Well this time it only took one trip, but I swore to myself right then I was going to hang on to the stuff this time & learn to fly. This is about the time I stumbled on to RCU. Thank God I did too, because if it weren't for you guys & all the good advice & info I recieved here, I wouldn't have been able to achieve my goal. My goal & motivation for the last year & a half have been to be able to have my Dad watch me fly on my own before he dies. This has been a dream of mine for awhile now. It is finally about to come true.

I have had some unbelievably bad luck this year with medical problems out the wazzooh. It has been pretty much one surgery after another since last Sep. in fact I was doing my training with both hands wrapped up from carpal tunnel surgeries, but I did eventually learn to fly. Anyway I've felt this since of urgency to learn as fast as I could because Dad is at the age when I never know which visit might be the last & was really scared that he might pass away before he got to see me fly on my own. So I have tried to see him & talk to him on the phone as often as I can. Recently we found out that I now have cancer & it may be a lot worse than we thought.
Requiring 9 weeks of chemo to be followed by yet more surgery.[:@] So now all of a sudden the shoe is on the other foot & Dad's worried about the possibilty of out living his youngest son. Since the diagnosis he has not missed a single day of calling on the phone & attending all my procedures & surgeries as well. Yesterday he called to inform me that wants to come up on Tue morning & stay a few days before I start the chemo on Jul 3rd. Yeehaw!! I have a regular group of guys that I fly with on Wed & Fri mornings. So this works out perfect! The guys get to meet the old RC Guru himself, & I finally get to fly for my Dad.[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]. So I am very much looking forward to his visit & finally achieving my goal of Dad getting to see me fly. Then when his time comes he can rest in peace knowing he has successfully passed on his flying desease, he tried over the years with my older brother but it just didn't take. This time it did, like 30 min epoxy!!

Great story. I know your dad is proud of you. Good luck with the chemo.

Excellent story Marc and I can definitely relate to it. I know I haven't been too responsive lately to PM's but that has now changed.

You and a few others here know what I have been dealing with lately. Anyway, my dad always l;oved to go to the field to what me and others fly. The people treated him just like anyone else even when he would explain to me that he did not want to go because he felt embaraased by the way he looked. I had to keep reminding him that they did not care about that and were just glad he could come along.

Fast forward to now, he is much worse than he was at this time last year. During the pastyear he has helped as much as possible in assembling my ARF's and stripping ones that just did not hold up to my dumb thumbs. Anyway, he has helped me do my 30% Ultimate, my 27% Cap, my helicopter and now soon to be WH Edge 540. Anyway, getting him outside is a real chore with having to rent a wheel chair van, a nurse to go along and all the other little things and trying to coordinate this stuff is a nightmare at best. Well, next week we will have a full time nurse along with a van for the whole week. He is looking forward to it and has requested only one thing.

He most definitely wants to hit the field everyday that the weather allows. He has also seen videos of my much improved IMAC and 3D skills and by his own words, he cannot wait to see what I can now do with a plane not to mention a heli.

Whatever else we do is OK with him but that is his only request. He said to me that he feels his time is now very short and if nothing else he wants to his only son do something that he has always wanted to do.

This all comes from a person that I used to argue with whenever we would fix or build something together.

My point to all of this, my Dad (father just does not seem to fit) has expressed to others, including my 4 sisters how proud he is of me. He has never said that to me but I can see it when I land and turn around and see the smile on his face. I'll bet a weeks (read that as WEAK ) pay your Dad will feel the same way

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

Mark, sorry to hear about the illness, but glad your wish is coming true.

My dad turned 85 this year, and he is still at the field every time the weather is good.

I got my son hooked early, but of course, he went through that phase where girls and partying were more important. A few months ago he started seeing a very nice young lady and their relationship is looking very stable. a few months ago, he said that he now has too much spare time on his hands and wants to fly again. A few years ago all of his stuff got stolen, so he asked if his old radio was still kicking around. he also asked if I had any review planes coming that was within his rusty flying abilities.

At the time, I had a full load of reviews to do, so I introduced him to Marc, and handed off the Harmon Rocket review to him. He is now not only flying, but doing reviews for RCU! Talk about following in dad's footsteps! LOL

and of course, I couldn't be more proud!

There's nothing like a family hobby! And this is one of the best!

Best of luck to you with the chemo (And with your dad's visit!)

Hey Grump, sorry to here of the problems. Good luck is not as important as good attitude and I think you have that.

Grump, I wish you the best with your health issues and pray that everything comes out ok. I also hope for great weather for that week with your dad, I know he will have a great time.
My dad past away when I was 22 after 20 years in a hospital/nursing home so I never had an opportunity to do anything with him.
Now that I am a dad myself I am enjoying my hobbies with my daughters.
My oldest is into high power rocketry and has quite a nice fleet.
My youngest daughter is into helis (just learning) and seems to be doing good, at least I haven't had to repair her heli yet.
My middle daughter wants to fly airplanes, she goes with me to the field often and asked me if she could have a trainer kit to build her own trainer (I have a Midwest trainer kit in my closet I will give her soon) she is doing real well on the sim and I think she will be a fine RC pilot.

Wow! Inspiring stories folks! I too spend as much time with my Dad (he is 81) at the field- He was building airplanes for me when I was about 11 or 12 and we actually learned to fly together (trial and error [X(]) and we still do to this day...

I am fortunate that my Dad is in great shape but I cherish every trip to the field with him and every backyard flying session we have (He flies electrics in his yard) because one never knows what can happen.

There was a VHS video from the early 80's and at the end of the video the sun was going down and it showed the guy coming in for his final landing of the day and he said, "time for a nice sun-down ceremony"- that has always stuck with me as my dad always has said that as well...

I am humbled by the great attitudes of the folks on this thread. I did not expect to get teary-eyed on RCU just now but my hat is off to EVERYONE on this thread!

Keep fighting it and know that you are in my thoughts each time we take-off as well!

Pay it forward-
James

Just got in from the field & saw that I am in fine company here. I appreciate the kind words & the well wishes. Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it!!

elenasgrumpy, you will never be lonely, you have a world full of friends who are all pulling for you. In 1970 i had a horrific accident at work, and was given 6 months to live. Well after telling the surgeon what i thought of that for half an hour in good Aussie language, i am still here today. So tell that cancer you don't carry any free loaders, and it can bugga off. You may be half a world away from me , and you have helped me via this medium in the past and although we may never meet , i consider you a true friend, and i am sure you will be here with us for many years to come shareing your enjoyment of this wonderful hobby of ours. Keep em flying my friend.
Bill from down-under in Australia

Wow, what a great thread. Its good to hear of such close family bonds created by a common passion.

My entire life has revolved around aviation. Since I can remember, I have been surrounded by planes. I, too, was introduced to modeling by my dad, who was introduced by his dad. (I unfortunately never met my expert modeling grandfather, whom I am named after) Throughout my childhood, my dad built plastic and built up tissue models all the time. (We always had a few Guillows model around!) We have videos of me as a 2 year old playing with my dads plastic models making airplane noises, and even at that young age, I was allowed to "play" with them and did my best not to damage them.
One time, my dad brought me back an English R/C magazine when he was on a business trip in England. It had full scale plans folded inside for a simple motor glider. My dad had always been interested in gliders, so he actually wanted to build it and fly it. So, both of us spent our time cutting out pieces and scratch building the glider. My dad bought the Hitec Laser 6 radio that I still have. It was such a great experience, and while the glider only flew twice (it was too underpowered, so we retired it and moved on) it really kick started my R/C habit.
Eventually, I became more and more absorbed in R/C, while my dad migrated to full scale gliders. Today, as a 19 year old junior in college, I am just as addicted to R/C as my dad is to soaring. And while we may not spend time together on weekends because he's at the airport and I'm at the flying field, we still talk about what we did at the end of the day and are still very involved with the t=others hobby. And from time to time, I go flying with my dad in our glider, and he comes to watch me fly at the field. We're both extremely interested in each other's hobbies, even if we dont practice them as much.

I am eternally grateful for what my dad has done for me. In the early days of my R/C-ing, even though dad was flying his gliders, he still supported me and my R/C stuff. Last year however, he helped me get an excellent internship at his job so that I could fuel my own fire. Today, I am self-funded in my hobby, and yet that is still thanks to my dad.

I may be one of the younger ones here, but to all you dads, just let me say that the gift of a good hobby and spending quality time with your children is probably the best thing you can do for them.

Mark, thanks for the story and memories, and best wishes with your health issues.

the family is the foundation for this hobby the blood and association , mine has always encouraged me when I was young my mom would buy me stick and tissue models then control line,when I purchased my first RC my grandfather set a shop up for me and was always helping when he could .unfortunately my dad died from cancer and wasn't there to be part of my hobby, but my mom always was there encouraging me on .now that my boys are starting to get old enough to see what I am doing in the shop, when I ask them if they want to go downstairs to help, there "helping " in there young way, the reward is the bond I share, and will continue to share with them. the moments are fleeting and precious and not to be taken for granted for sure.
this family although computer generated, I am sure will be thinking of your story and sending you there prayers and good thoughts I know I will B.T.

Wow, You guys are amazing!! It is easier for me to come in here & talk to people who only know me from talking together online than it is to talk to my friends & family here. Everyone in person acts like they're walking on eggshells around me or like they are talking to a ghost or something.Lol I guess they are afraid to say the wrong thing or something like that. I don't feel any different other than getting sick & having some pain at times. I'm still just me! My friend Gary is the only one who isn't freaking out & trying to treat me any different. We still just go fly & act a fool together.

I got news for ya, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Only the good die young so I think I'm in pretty good shape there. As far as I'm concerned this is just a strange way to get more flying time & ealry retirement.[sm=idea.gif][sm=lol.gif]. So thanks again for the good thoughts & support & most of all for not treating me any different than you did last week!! I'm still the same ol Grumpy that I allways have been.

You're acting????? Gotcha Ya [X(]

Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!![sm=lol.gif]

Well today came & we finally got to take the old guy flying. We all had a great time. He loved meeting all the guys who were just as anxious to meet & talk with him! He loved checking out all their Warbirds & we got to watch Mario put on his usual 100mph+ airshow followed by a just as impressive crash!! LOL. That Mario, he's a great old guy in his 70's who only flys one way, full throttle all the time. He's amazing in the air but unfortunately as Ken's logo says, " landings are not optional". Anyway Dad finally got to see me fly, as well as help out a new guy who doesn't really have an assigned Instructor yet so we just all sort of take turns helping him out & taking him up so he can fly his Trainer. We still have to land it for him but he's starting to do pretty well once up in the air. He came up to me & asked if I would take him up for a fly, so I did. It was uneventfull & I landed it just fine for him in a crosswind that he didn't even want to try to tackle. Dad thought that was pretty cool, I could see in his eyes that he was pretty proud & he really did have a great time. I think it brought back a lot of good old memories for him & I know that seeing me able to do it to was really cool for him. It was really cool for me too!

By the way, he went home with one of those big ol smiles on his face.