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My first introduction to flying models came in second grade. I lived in North Yorkshire, England, at the time (the same area where Sir George Cayley did his groundbreaking aeronautical research, although I was not aware of this). One day, our teacher put us in groups and distributed balsa sticks, tissue paper, and glue. We were to build a small biplane under his instructions.
I first got interested in aviation at the age of seven. The year was 1935, and I was living in the Bronx, New York, with my Aunt Tony. I was looking at the airplanes flying into LaGuardia airport and said to myself, "I'm gong to fly those and see the world when I grow up."
My cousin Billy Sloboda was six years older than I and taught me how to build rubber-powered model airplanes from kits that my father purchased for me, and I flew them with many crashes in the small backyard of the five-story tenement apartment that I lived in at that time.
My journey into RC airplanes started as a teenager, having received a used Control Line P-54 Mustang. Having never flown before, the flight was short lived - all of about 15 seconds. Enough time to go around twice, up, and then straight down into a category 5 failure of several thousand pieces. A couple decades passed before I was able to re-enter the hobby, as I was given a 48" wingspan RC Spitfire that a gentleman in the community had started, but had died before completing it.
John Flanders, AMA 136543
My first Radio Control airplane was a Sterling Mambo that was a project with my dad in the 1970s. We had a temperamental Fox 15 on it but eventually flew it enough to learn how to land!
Along with my wife Debbie, who was also my caller, I competed in R/C Pattern in the 1980s-90s in the southeast and either flew my own design Elite or an Atlanta. I enjoyed this period quite a bit, as while I became a better R/C pilot, I also really enjoyed the friends and camaraderie with a great group of people that also enjoyed the R/C hobby.
My Dad bought me my first model kit, a balsa stick and tissue model, when I was in the fourth grade. By the time I got to high school, I was flying Control Line combat and working part time in the local hobby shop. I started a small club while doing that, which was AMA sanctioned.
I started flying as a young boy around 1963 with rubber band balsa airplanes and much anticipation. I was always trying to find a way to make the flights last longer. As a teenager, I moved up to COX .049 Control Line models. I very much enjoyed those flights, even though I wasn’t very good at loops and such. But trying and many times failing led me to get pretty good at repairing the models.
I started flying ucontrol with my dad and family in the late 1960s. By the early 1970s, we started flying RC models. My dad started with a mrc Cessna 177, and I started on a sureflite Cessna. Upon my dad's passing in 1980, I left the hobby until the 1990s, when my father-in-law got me back into flying. He had models but had never flown RC, so after a few flights and rough landings, I was back flying RC with the help of a flight craft Cessna.
A biographical sketch begins after my day job retirement some 10 years ago.
Since then, my focus has been to encourage and to mentor high school students as they engage in science and technology motivated pursuits. To this end, I have been involved in the creation of workshops and have given lectures for several schools in the area. I also volunteer as a judge for science fair projects locally at Lehigh University and regionally in Philadelphia.
I started model flying with a COX Control Line PT-19 plastic model while my dad flew a bang-bang R/C plane called a Mambo.
Years went by, and I acquired lots of FAA licenses for airplanes, helicopter, and CFI [certified flight instructor.] My pre-teen son took an interest in R/C flying, so after years away from the sport, I purchased everything to re-join.
I joined AMA for the insurance and worked with a model shop to build a Eagle 2 correctly and found a flying field.
I started in 1974 after seeing a '1/2 Time Show' of Early Aviation RC Aircraft at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York. It just happened to be taking place when I attended with dad at the age of 12. I couldn't believe my eyes and have been hooked ever since. We picked up a Guillow's cub on the way home and dad said, "If you can build this, mom and I will go 1/2 on an R\C setup."
