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General control line discussion => How I got my start in the hobby => Topic started by: Chuck Matheny on September 13, 2020, 04:14:04 PM

Title: X MAS MORNING 1965
Post by: Chuck Matheny on September 13, 2020, 04:14:04 PM
I was 10. The plane was a Testors P-40 plastic RTF, .049 power
I couldn't believe my eyes, I never asked for or dreamed of getting such an impressive toy.
Dad was a P-47 pilot during the war, so it made perfect sense for him to take the first flight. Dad did a fine job, now it was my turn.
I managed to allow the plane to gain enough altitude right after takeoff to crash beyond repair.
20 years later while living in Auburn Washington I decided to atone for my past failure, so I took a trip down to the LHS.  Harvey Wagner [the owner of Wagner's Hobbies] fixed me right up with a Goldberg Lil Wizard and a Cox Black Widow. Wagner's shop was an absolute treasure trove of goodies, as well stocked as any other hobby shop I've visited.
Title: Re: X MAS MORNING 1965
Post by: Robert Zambelli on March 03, 2021, 05:54:30 AM
Mine was Christmas morning, 1951. I had just turned seven.
Under the tree was a brand new Wen-Mac Aeromite.
Bright red in a display box with a clear plastic lid so that one could see the little treasure inside!

From a previous article I wrote: "One of the very first Ready-to-Fly model airplanes, the Aeromite gave many of us our start in Model Aviation.
It was made in the very early 50s by the Wen-Mac Corporation and powered by a Wasp 049 made by the Atwood Manufacturing Company.
The airframe was injection molded from high impact Styrene plastic.
The aircraft was shipped in a see-thru box which contained not only the plane but all the accessories needed to fly it."

My dad and I went to the local schoolyard parking lot and tried to fly it - turned out, it was more like "Ready to Crash" than "Ready to Fly". The little plane was beyond repair but the engine carried many a Musciano "hollow log" to short but successful flights.

Look what I found at a flea market in 2001, for $25.00. Complete with everything but the battery and fuel!

Bob Z.