Here is an overview of my radio controlled model airplane history.  I actually started building and flying control line models in 1965 while stationed at a military base in South Carolina.  I still have the very first CL model plane that I ever built.  And if I could physically stand to do it, I would still be flying it.  See it in the photo below.  That is me (when I still had hair) with my first nitro powered control line model and my three children.  The kit was made by Top Flight but I don't remember the model.

    I had heard about people that were beginning to fly  radio controlled model airplanes and I wanted to get into that area of modeling, but I didn't know where to find any information on the hobby.

      Years later, I had moved to Brookings, South Dakota and one day I happened to come up behind a car stopped for a traffic light that had a radio controlled airplane in the back.  When the light changed I followed that car until it turned into a vacant lot which I later learned was the local club's flying field.  I inquired about the club and I was hooked for life.

    In the late winter and early spring of 1974, I built the model shown below, a Goldberg Falcon 56.  I found the kit in a hobby shop in Sioux Falls,SD and managed to get it built by carefully following the manufacturer's instructions and plans.  I actually did a pretty good job building it, but learning to fly it was much more of a challenge than I anticipated.  I read articles in magazines, bought books on flying, and finally found someone that could help me and was willing to help me learn how to fly a radio controlled model plane.  And the rest is history.  Basically, I have been in this hobby since 1974 and I have loved every minute of it. 

    The nickname "OldManFlier" came from my Ebay member name that I came up with when I first set up my Ebay account.  It has stuck with me for several years and I guess it will for several more.  As I get my next model built and the instructional movie for it completed, I will add some more pictures and a few more comments.  Until then, this is the OldManFlier and I hope you enjoy the pictures and blog posts and have fun flying.  See you next time.