Free flight, as some one has pointed out, has been around long before powered manned flight. Almost as soon as the Wright's patented their invention, I think it was the Ideal company had basics kits of rubber models available. Early model contests were almost entirely f/f rubber, and then the small gas powered engines were produced by Mr. Brown and others that made new rules and classes necessary. The Good brothers were instrumental in advancing the R/C aspect of the hobby along with a gentleman named Howard McEntee. I still get a kick out of seeing that name in magazines and books! Just never found out for sure if we are related. Tom Runge of Ace R/C assured me once that we both did indeed pronounce our last names the same. Jim Walker came along and help refine the R/C portion and was known for demonstrating his prowess with an R/C lawn mower at the NATS. There was a special trophy for the R/C event that was to be retired when it was won for the third time by the same contestant and Jim Walker did just that in the third year it was in existence. We all know of Jim Walker's skills with the Fireball, of course. Walker held a patent of the bell crank and push rod system of controlling a model in flight along with the term "U-Control" and if you used that system in a kit or plan presentation of a C/L model, he was awarded a royalty. This suit was challenged in court by the Cox brothers in the mid 1950's when they proved that the use of the bell crank and push rod system was in common use around the world a the time Walker applied for his patent. Cox prevailed in the court battle and with in a year or so, Jim Walker had passed away, with some saying that losing the court battle was more than he could bear and he died of a broken heart, so to speak. A lot more detail can be found in Dave Thornburg's book, "Do You Speak Model Airplane" and in Charles Mackey's book. Both are excellent reads and should be required reading!
Type at you later,
Dan (I like to think I'm related to Howard) McEntee