I have been around RC planes since I was 8, and flying since I was 12.  The first flying sight I flew at was a pasture.  I had to kick the horse and cow piles off of the runway before I could mow it!  Even after that, it was very rough taking off and landing, but the planes did stop very quickly; especially when the landing gear was ripped out on landing.  Oh well, guess I should have used bigger wheels.

My first plane was a 15-sized Cessna of some kind.  That plane went through heck, two times!  The first one did not last more than 6 months.  There were no buddy boxes at this time, so it was hand the transmitter back and forth, hopefully before the plane was too low to the ground.  But I got the hang of it and have never gotten tired of building and flying, although I prefer the flying over the building a bit more. 

For most of my earlier flying days, I could only afford to have one or two aircraft, but as I have matured, and the kid is out of the house now for some little time, I find that I am the proud owner of quite a fleet.  That said, I believe that one can never have too big a fleet, right?

About 18 years ago, I built my first electric, a 60-inch Piper Cub.  In those early days of electric, it was exciting to have the plane actually get off of the ground and fly for 2 or 3 minutes.  I am still flying this little Cub, but she has changed running gear several times over the years.  She has always been one of my favorite weekend flyers and she still is to this day.   In 2008, I went completely electric and have never looked back. 

I currently fly my small Cub, and a 81-inch Cub that I converted to electric.  I have 3 foamy Electric Ducted Fans (EDF’s) that I fly.  A Hobby Lobby Mig 15, a 70mm F-5 and a 90mm F-4 Phantom.  I also have a 55-inch Tiger Mouth that I converted to electric and I am flying a scratch-build What’s – It, reduced in size to fly on 300 watts.  I call her my "Trish" plane, named after my wife.  Why you ask would I do that?  Well, you see, for many years she has been after me to build a pink and purple plane.  But I always said that I could not make this plane or that plane pink or purple, it just would not be right.  But, I knew that when I embarked on this fun-fly bird, that she would lend herself to the pink and purple color scheme, and so it was.  I have to say, it looks very good on her.  I covered the tail feathers and the underside of the wing in black and white checkers for contrast, and the floats that I fly her off of are also black and white checkers.  I also have a couple of the small foamies to fly as well.

I have been a member of the CCRCS since I was 18, and have enjoyed the camaraderie very much.  It was also nice to have a flying site once I moved off of the farm! 

I look forward to many more years of flying with this club and in this hobby.