Here is my story...

I wish I had taken some pictures of my CL models when I was a kid. Don't think I ever thought of it.
But from 10 years old until I was around 17 I was building 1/2a models. I started with a few 1/2a kits. I think they were Sterling kits. I then started a collection of Carl Goldberg kits, LiL Wizard, something that look a combat wing was a solid sheet wing, and a Little Jumping Bean. I could never get the combat and Jumping Bean to fly very well. Reason was I did not know what the CG marker on the plans was about. I had no one to teach me to balance a plane. The Lil Wizard did fly well. I could do insides and wing overs with a little inverted flight. While in the 9th grade, as one of my first wood shop projects I scratched built plane from pine. I took 1/2 pine boards and ran them thru a planner until I got a thin sheet of pine. Cut out the parts on the band saw. Again I knew nothing about weight. It did get off the ground but was never a real flyer. I did get credit for it.
In the 10th grade someone gave me a few planes that was found in someones attic. I think one was a RingMaster not sure about the other one. I recovered one and never did fly it. I then bought a Akromaster and went to our local hobby shop and the guy sold me a McCoy 19. This was in the 70's so it was the heavy Series 21 model McCoy. It flew OK, but again was built heavy and I think I was to scared to try and loop it. It pulled like a horse compared to my 1/2a's.

I spent a lot of time in my room building models, and chewing ambroid glue off my fingers. I would open my windows and brush dope on my planes to try and make them match the box. All my models hung from my ceiling.

I am not sure what happened to all my models when I left home. I guess my mom just tossed them out when I went away to collage. I was digging around in her basement after I got married and I did find my old shop project along with my old McCoy / Testor .19. The plane was red when I was a kid. I did repaint it when Ryan and I started playing around with control line planes when he was around 10 or 12 and hung it up in his room.

I wish I would have met some of the people I know today back then. It would been more fun and I might have learned what CG and weight was all about.

My shop project. I know it is ugly but does have some childhood memories wrapped up in it.

Hi Rootbeard!

You have some good memories of your youth and C/L flying, that's good!

I built some stick and tissue planes when I was little and a few plastic models.  When we moved to this area in 1963 I got really started in C/L.  Just before that I had just built a Guillows Thomas Morse Scout, which to me was a HUGE plane!  With in a year I was flying a Goldberg Shoestring with a McCoy Red Head up front.  I'm going to build a Brodak Shoestring to replicate the one I had....  Oh, yeah there were a couple of 1/2As along the way, including a Little Jumpin' Bean, and my first "large" C/L (27"! LOL!!) the Scientific King Cobra.  I still have my PDQ lit Circus Prince and hope to ave it flying this summer so that my Grandson will have a plane to move up on.

We've all come a long way!

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM