Rambling Reminiscence
In the picture above that is me with my youngest son, Bill. The setting for the picture taken in about 1980 is an old 'chicken coop' in our back yard that we had converted to 'the hanger'. My hobby was building Remote Control airplanes, flying them, crashing them, and most importantly, teaching the art of the hobby to my sons. Both Bill and Scott became quite talented in their own right and many of those talents learned back then they carry with them today.
Bill is pictured holding a near completed Corsair WWII fighter plane and I am displaying the kit of a P-38 fighter plane also of WWII vintage. Now for those of you who don't know, these kits for the most part contained a box of balsa wood and a set of plans. We built a lot of different models over the years and to see pictures of some of them you can go visit "my den" by clicking the link. Once there click on the door and then when inside click on 'RC Hobby'. If you are so inclined you can even click on the round silver bullet at the bottom of that page for a slide show of the many planes.
The P-38 held significance for me as it was the plane that my father was killed flying in WWII when I was but 3 months old. I worked on building that P-38 kit in to the 1990's but other interests (fishing), and the fact that my son's had graduated high school and left home, I put it aside as I didn't relish spending time in 'the hanger' alone.
Just before going full-time RV-ing I gave all of the remaining Remote Control equipment, parts, pieces, and planes to Bill as he now was the only one of us who had a house/garage big enough to accept it and was now back in to participating in the hobby. The P-38 was among the remnants of unfinished pieces and parts.
In September of 2008 Bill surprised me with a call to let me know that he had completed the P-38. Converting the power plants from gas to electric and was ready to fly it. He asked if I wanted to be present? We set the date and for sure, I was on hand for its "Maiden Flight". I wrote about it in the pages of this blog back then and with much pride I share it with you now.
Click on the following link to Reminisce with me!
As an added note: I commissioned an artist from Ohio to air brush for me the above painting. Painting for me two mirror images that I displayed on each side of the semi-trailer as I trucked across the USA during my last career before retiring. I received many calls on the 0l' CB as I rolled along and for sure many came to recognise me as we passed.
My message then------- is as it is now:
Please! Don't allow the squandering away of blood and treasure that it took to keep this beautiful country free! The sacrifices made from then to now have been huge. Don't allow them to have been in vain.
