85,171.87 raised in 2026. We have reached 17% of our goal.
Help us reach this year's goal of $500,000!
Flying model airplanes didn't arise by accident. It arose from curiosity and a desire to understand my father. From there, I went on a journey of self-discovery and found friends and a burning desire. The journey can't be said to be easy, but learning has been consistent and ever evolving, and it should tell women or any fliers who feel the need to be more than just a name. Let's begin.
I have a pretty wide span of time in the RC hobby. I remember my very first two-channel foam Cessna when I was about 13. That was 41 years ago. Through a lot of painful trial and error, and with some mentorship, I advanced to four-channel balsa kits. One of my favorites was the classic Ugly Stick with a Red Baron-style scheme.
I was born in Washington, DC, in 1949. My first model at six years old was a plastic Spitfire that I did a predictably lousy job on. But I wanted a flying model, so I eventually started building Guillow kits. My first was a Super cub that I entered in a contest at my Junior high school. I got an honorable mention, which really kicked off a lifelong flying and model-building passion that at 76 years is still in full force.
My interest in RC began at a Latrobe airshow in Pennsylvania, where a display of model planes and helicopters completely captivated me. My dad and I would go to shows whenever we could, soaking in the sights and sounds of aircraft large and small. That early exposure planted a seed that's stuck with me for over 35 years; sometimes active, sometimes dormant, but always there.
At 80 years old, I am somewhat of a late starter when it comes to actual flying, having only been doing so for the past 10 years. However, my interest in radio controlled aircraft started many years prior to my actual flying.
Head in the Clouds
It began when I was about 8 years old, with as simple slip of my mother’s tongue. I was asking her questions about my father, a workaholic-lawyer whom I barely knew.
In response to one of my questions, she said “Your father flew a Piper Cub.” She omitted the word “in.”
I was stunned. I had only a vague idea of what a Piper Cub was beyond “airplane,” and an airplane was a mysterious noisy something in the sky which I could see but not examine. But dad was now my hero: he could fly an airplane.
I have always been very interested in airplanes because my father was a pilot while I was growing up. I always had toy airplanes around as far back as I can remember. When I was about 12 years old in 1972 living in South Seattle, my cousin had acquired the coolest model airplane ever ... and he called me to come over to West Seattle and check it out. It was a COX PT-19 .049 Control Line model airplane! I still have two prop scars on my left index finger ... I guess I'm branded for life.
My dad flew P-47s in WWII. He also gave me my first airplane ride in a Piper Tri-Pacer when I was very young and he introduced me to u-control in the 1950s, all which sparked my interest in aviation and flying model aircraft.
Like many aspiring RC pilots in their teens and early twenties, I turned a lot of balsa wood into kindling and was rather good at it. Frustrated with my lack of RC flying ability, I turned to full-scale Cessnas and Grummans where I had better luck.
HHAMS Club Pilot, Bobby Alessi, “Puts You In The Driver’s Seat!”
You may remember the catchy Hertz rental car commercials from the 1960s with the famous line: “Let Hertz put you in the driver’s seat!” Well, HHAMS Club and AMA member Bobby Alessi is doing something very similar—only this time, it’s for the skies.
At his Port Washington, New York,-based club, Bobby doesn’t just help fellow members fly model aircraft—he puts them in the cockpit. Literally.
