Other than astronomy (which is my passion) and occasional pencil drawings, in January 2006 I discovered the hobby of radio controlled (R/C) airplanes. I now have 10 airplanes (2 of which I built from scratch). It is challenging to learn how to fly, rewarding to build my own airplanes, and an addicting hobby!
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This is the club I belong to and where I fly (located in Bonsall). |
 Click on the image for a larger view (April 2008) |
This is my workroom at home (it is actually the spare bedroom but there is not much room to sleep in THIS room). |
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This is my first R/C airplane. It is called an "Easy Star". It is a three channel gliding plane that is very forgiving and a terrific plane to learn how to fly with. As you can see I have painted it some pretty odd colors so that I can see it clearly when it flies. |
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This is the first airplane that I built from scratch (i.e. from a pile of wood). The pictures show various stages of the building process. It is a Midwest Products "Electric Hots". |
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This is my first gas powered plane. It is called a "Lucky Stick". It has a 51.5 inch wingspan and a 0.46 size motor. It really hauls across the sky! |
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This is my second scratch built plane. I started building it one day on a whim. I didn't really follow any existing instructions or plans... and it actually flies! It has a 42 inch wingspan and a 350 watt motor. It was inspired by a couple of different pre-existing airplanes and so is a hybrid. I call it the "Simple Hots" after the two planes it was inspired by, the Simple Stick, and the Electric Hots (shown above). It flies really well and is pretty fast for its size. |
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This is the Simple
Hots in flight at the Wingmasters flying field. It has nearly 150
flights now and is still my plane of choice when I head out to the
field. (Photo courtesy of Matt Tucker). |
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This is my one and only glider. It was donated to me by a friend in my flying club. It needed some repairs but now it is fixed and flies pretty well. It is called a "Mini Challenger" and is technically a sailplane with a 61 inch wingspan. |
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This is me rolling out the Lucky Stick for a flight and flying. |
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This is my wife and her Easy Star. She built it and decorated it herself. She flies solo now and flies with me often. She is becoming a very good pilot! |
 Click on the image for a larger view (April 2008)  Click on the image for a larger view (April 2008) |
This is a Calm 25 (pattern flying airplane). It was donated to me by my friend Ian as a gas airplane and I converted it to electric to give to my Dad. The conversion was a bit clunky but it flies pretty well. |
 Click on the image for a larger view (April 2008)
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This is an Extra 300 that my friend Irv used to fly. One day at the field he had rudder problems and the plane went down. It was a pile of broken wood and he was going to throw the plane away. I asked if he would donate the wreckage to me so that I could attempt to repair it. It is still a work in progress, but as you can see, it looks like it will fly again someday! |
 Click on the image for a larger view (April 2008) |
This is a Javelin II gas powered pattern racer. It was donated to me by my friend Irv and it will fly again someday. |
 Click on the image for a larger view (April 2008) |
This is partially built P-51 that was donated to me by my friend Dick. It still has a way to go, but it will fly someday. |
 Click on the image for a larger view (April 2008) |
Me and my dad at the flying field. He flies with me often and is becoming a good pilot! |
