30,189.51 raised in 2026. We have reached 6% of our goal.
Help us reach this year's goal of $500,000!
Started going to watch my dad fly C/L in the late 40s (still have a P6E Hawk he built in 1942, the year I was born). Started flying C/L at about 8 or 9, just sport flying. Dad flew F/F in a few contests, but I never got into the competition phase of the hobby.
In 1968, I was amazed by a man flying an RC airplane. All my life involved thinking of and flying models. After failing high school, I put myself through Engineering school and became an electrical engineer and raised a family. I patented an idea for an efficient engine several years ago.
Now, I have a patent pending for helping Wounded Warriors and others fly ALL Radio Control aircraft with ONLY ONE HAND.
My YouTube channel shows several examples with over 3,000 views ... Johnny EdgeTx.
@HandyEdgeTx
I have been in the hobby for 50 years. It all started when me and my father watched my uncle pylon race back in the 60s. That's when I knew what I wanted.
Well, here I am 50 years later and most clubs have closed. Only one which is 30 miles away is open, and it's small. I didn't renew the dues and don't know if I'm going to renew with AMA. Is this the end of my love of RC airplanes?
I got into flying with the PC-based Microsoft Flight simulator running versions 4.0 through X over a 10-year period. Getting a real pilots license was too expensive for myself, but I found that RC aeromodels filled the bill nicely and I am still going strong 10 years later!
Please do visit a local club, you will not be disappointed.
Hello. My name is Rich M. from Michigan, AMA District VII. I have been an active AMA member since November 1968, when I got out of the U.S. Navy, till present day. I just renewed my AMA membership for three more years.
This has been a lifetime hobby of mine, and I have met and helped many, many people through the years. I only hope that our AMA Foundation stays strong and active for our next generation, as well as with all of the new laws and federal requirements coming forth in the future.
Good luck and KEEP EM FLYING!!!
My interest in all things aviation was sparked by my dad. Dad served in the USMCR and was an aircraft mechanic/crew chief with VMF-351, a training squadron of F4-U Corsairs, based at NAS Atlanta in the early 1950s.
So, when I was growing up, dad would fascinate me with his own airplane stories and take me to local airshows. We both loved warbirds! Also, dad introduced me to building plastic model planes and from there, my interest grew to include RC planes.
Hello, I'm 70 years old and have been flying most of my life. I spent 27 years as a police officer, ten of those years as liaison to the local planning and zoning commission, and then another 7 years as the local zoning enforcement officer here in Connecticut.
For those years, I enforced state and town laws, ordinances, land use regulations (zoning), and inland wetlands and watercourse regulations as a certified zoning enforcement official.
Hi. My intro to this fun sport is similar to many others. It started with my Dad. He enjoyed modeling gliders along with his brothers when he was a kid. He became an airplane mechanic in the Air Force, then spent his career with the monumental airline Pan American Airways. I had a dad I could look up to.
Camille Goudeseune (AMA 734532) started in 2001 with park flyers powered by state-of-the-art Ni-Cad batteries and Speed 400 motors. Within a year, he and Juhan Sonin scrounged some esoteric equipment to fly with a heads-up display, which required the spotter to keep aiming a big dish antenna at the airplane.
I've been flying RC for 20 years now. My daughter wanted to "fly," and her grandmother bought her a Champ trainer. It fell to Dad to build it and figure out how to fly it, then teach her. I did that, but whereas her interests quickly moved elsewhere, mine did not!
I enjoy detailing planes almost as much as flying them. I also have great friends that share the hobby (including flying seaplanes) and that is what ultimately make it worthwhile for me.
