What did you do during college?

[Matt Colan]

well, I know what I've been up to! For the past couple months I've been putting together an ARF vector bit by bit when I had free time.  Last night, I decided I was going to get the airplane done.  Starting at 5:00pm, ending at 3:15 in the morning, and with only a break for dinner and ice cream, I got it done!

Today I went to put the landing gear together since I was out of steam the night before, and realized that I needed a drill to bolt on the axles, and I didn't have a drill.  The friend I have that has a drill wasn't here today.  I decided to just run it and get the rest of the bench trimming out of the way.  After battling a dead plug, and junk in the spray bar, I finally got it running well.

Building inside a dorm room is...ah, interesting.  Space is tight to begin with and trying to build a CL ARF, it makes space even tighter! This was also the first plane I've built/put together completely on my own.  There are things I would definitely do differently if I get another ARF, but all in all, I'm pleased with it and now have an airplane to fly at college.

So basic stats on the plane:
Basic ARF Vector
Engine: OS LA46
Prop: 11.25-4.25 Majic
Balances on the nose heavy side, which is good to start with.  Will probably end up moving it back as I trim it out.
Weight: Who knows

[Dan McEntee]

  Hi Matt;
    Glad you are keeping some modeling going while at school. It will be a good distraction when you need to clear your mind from your school work. Get in touch with my son Sean. he can tell you about building in minimalistic conditions! Many years ago when I was in grade school, I checked out a Model Airplane News from the book mobile. (I couldn't afford to buy them at the time.) this was in the mid to late 60's and the VietNam war was in full swing. There was an article in this issue about a solder that was a modeler and was just about stir crazy because he had not done any building a flying for quite a while. He had no real building materials at his disposal at the small helicopter air base he was at, so he attempted to build a free flight glider from the only material he had available in abundance, and that was elephant grass and some bamboo! I'll have to dig that issue out and reread it for details, bu I think the high light was that he couldn't get it to tow up, so he dropped it from a chopper! It got clear of the rotor wash and glided out nicely, and landed in a mine field! I don't think he was able to retrieve it. When you contact Sean, ask him about retieving a F/F glider outside the camp wall in Afghanistan!
      HAPPY VETERANS DAY TO ALL YOU VETS!!!!
      Dan McEntee

[Paul Taylor]

Matt
Way cool.
I like the blue engine.  


You will like the way it flys.
Keep us posted with the flight report.

[david smith]

That is awesome. I did kind of the same thing when i was in "college" and it was just a technical school. I was living in a small 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate that thankfully wasnt bothred by the noise of tools running and balsa dust. I didnt build any arfs but I did scratch build a Class 2 Navy Carrier plane in my bedroom. I had a shop vac hooked up to the band saw and belt sander to keep the dust down. I dont think I have any pics of it but anyone that was at the Nats around the Carrier circle in 2006 might have saw it. it was a SO3C Curtiss Seamew/Seagull I think around a 40 inch wingspan with a Rossi 45.

David

[Randy Powell]

I built HLGs and a couple of P-30s in college. Well, later (when I was a senior) I built a couple of CL planes in the in the school shop. That was fun. I flew at an expansion area in a local grave yard. got some funny looks, too.

[john e. holliday]

Never got to college, but attended a lot of telephone schools for Southwestern Bell.   One of the reasons I would opt to drive to school instead of flying when I could.   Some schools just did not give enough time for driving.  Also working out of town on job growths in this sate of KANSAS.  Had a special box for what was needed to build.   Also had planes for flying when I could get out.  Motel rooms were the worst to build in for me.  Glad you are having fun in school/college.

[Tim Wescott]

I worked through college, so I didn't get a lot of planes built.  A few rubber powered thingies, a Ringmaster, a self-designed series of planes on which I learned to fly RC, and that was about it.

I helped my dad on building a buck for the Wescott's Auto Restyling 1939 convertable body: we ended up taking temporary molds off of each body panel of the metal car, then hand-building a fiberglass body that we used to take the real mold.  (Keeping in mind that "we" consisted of my dad doing most of the real work, and me alternating between being his hod carrier and arguing about where to take measurements to make sure the thing came out square and true)

http://www.wescottsauto.com/WebCatalog/B-Body/B22-26-CustomConvertibles.pdf

[Dan McEntee]

  I don't want to hijack Matt's thread, but I'll bet there are ENDLESS stories of things getting built in hotels and dorm rooms by guys attending the NATS. I read several in old magazines about guys building microfilm jobs and covering them with film poured in the bath tubs of the fancy hotels in Detroit at the old Plymouth meets. More of the good old days that probably doesn't get done as much any more!
   Dan McEntee

[Mike Griffin]

Matt I spent way to much time in college drinking beer and going to frat parties. 

Mike

[Dan McEntee]

Matt I spent way to much time in college drinking beer and going to frat parties. 

Mike

       Well, as long as you spent the time productively and supported the local economy!

     I didn't go to  college. My dad always told us kids, "Learn to earn your living with your hands and you'll never starve." So, I went to a technical school for my last two years of high school in the fitter/welder program and have acquired other skills along the way and currently work as maintenance tech in a large commercial printing plant. i have managed to keep a job where lots of others have not. I have always made a decent living by knowing how to do a lot of things pretty good and never saying "No" than knowing how to do only one thing well and saying "That's not my job."  I wouldn't mind going back to school for a few things, but my schedule and life in general just won't permit it at this point in time. My work experience from last 35 years or so ought to help me better than trying to learn something first then apply it later.
      Stick with it Matt, and just make the best of what ever situation your in, and it sounds like you have that idea already.
   Good Luck and have fun,
   Dan McEntee

[Howard Rush]

I wasted too much time building model airplanes, time that could have been spent on sex, drugs, and rock & roll. 

[Hoss Cain]

Very interesting thread. I'm glad to hear that others also skipped the college route. Dad was a welder and fitter and did contract pipeline mostly. Mom was very sickly and passed away at age 39 a few months after I finished high school in 1954. I had worked each summer on pipelines from 14 to then, and had some funds. I stayed home after Oct. and kept my younger sister in school. She was really bonkers after losing Mom.
Came Feb. 1955, after attaining the ripe old age of 19,  I qualified for USAF Aviation Cadets, and accepted Navigator so as to get in quickly. Good choice as I had a medical problem come up. I would have washed out of pilot training. Someone convinced the Flt Surgeon that I needed to stay in Cadets. After graduating from Nav. school, I wound up in Bombardier school. Then in a couple years I finally got into Pilot Training. At 26, I held all 3 Aeronautical ratings. I kept volunteerring for SE Asia in any roll. I was transferred into a career killer assignment, definitely not for me. The future of a pilot without a college degree was very bleak.
With 3 kids looking at college down the road I had the opportunity to say Good Bye USAF and sign on with United Airlines. Best I could have ever done would be Major at 20 years. Not Good!!!

Well my 3 kids finished college. Northwestern, Perdue, and University of Chicago. Daughter, finished at Northwestern, spent 10 years with American Airlines and raised 3 children, all now married and settled. Hubby is a very well done business man. Elder son is a retired USAF Lt. Colonel and now an airline pilot. I have a grand Daughter that is an Ensign in the navy, a grandson finishing law school this year, another grand daughter that is a CPA and Computer Auditor, another a school teacher, and a grandson that was a great model flier and fishing buddy until the "G and G disease" caught him. You know "Gas and Girls!"  He is in the ROTC and second year in college. There are 4 younger ones all will finish college.
Younger son graduated as a Managment Accountant, has 2 daughters and owns his own Land Acquisition Company.

I like to think that had I gone to college, none of these blessings  would probably have happened. Kind of like someone was watching out for me. You know, I never quit modeling during my lifetime. Well maybe so, 3 times but the time span was very short, like 6 weeks. I even built a CLer when I was a Cadet. The Tach Officer was not very appreciative of that so it only happened once.

[Claudio Chacon]

I wasted too much time building model airplanes, time that could have been spent on sex, drugs, and rock & roll. 

 

[Marvin Denny]

  What did I do in college?
  Studied my B*** off.  While raising four kids, Being Cubmaster of a cub scout pack, working one full time job and managing two auto repair shops.  All this after being out of high school for 17 years . (and not studying even then)
  I did manage to get a little model flying in though.

  Bigiron

[Gerald Arana]

And to counter Howard's comment:

I spent to much time on woman, drugs and roch-n-roll!  Should've been studing something other than anatomy..........

LOL, Jerry

[Tim Wescott]

  What did I do in college?
  Studied my B*** off.  While raising four kids, Being Cubmaster of a cub scout pack, working one full time job and managing two auto depair shops.  All this after being out of high school for 17 years . (and not studying even then)
  I did manage to get a little model flying in though.

One of the things that I liked about Portland State University in the 1980s was that there were a lot of older returnees -- man, those folks were focused.  I could have never gotten that much done all at the same time -- my hat's off to you.

And -- don't you mean auto despair shop?

[FLOYD CARTER]

There were a couple other model builders at California Polytechnic U. in San Luis Obispo.  We flew C/L at the college private airport strip, whenever no planes were in the air shooting landings.  As I understand, Burt Rutan entered just after I graduated (1962) and he also flew at the college airport.

I didn't live in a dorm. I was married, so we lived in a rented house.  My "shop" was a piece of plywood in the garage.
Floyd

[Robertc]

My freshman year, I worked at a hobby shop and built my last plane then until 17 years later.  After freshman year, I restored a Jaguar XKE and was into heavy
competitive table tennis ( playing around the world)  Would still fly at one contest a year, but hardly ever flew.

[Sean McEntee]

     Hey Matt,
            Good to see you got it in one piece.  I did an barracks-build a few years ago of an ARC Vector.  Accidently put my size 10.5 tan summers through the inboard wing.  It was impossible to seperate the parts to rebuild due to that glue they use, so I had to to cut new ribs and stuff.  The end product was a less-than-symetrical wing, and trimming was a headache.
            The first model I built, completely on my own without any....parental intervention/oversight...was an RSM Ringmaster.  I hated building when I was a kid, and dad can certainly attest to almost having to duct-tape me to a chair in the garage to get me to build anything.  But I had a blast building this ringmaster.  The familiar smells of, well, everything involved in modeling brought back memories of days gone by where modeling was a more integral part of my life.  The finished product turned out pretty good and flew great.  I still have it, though its in much need of a facelift after years on the contest trail.
            Over time, you'll discover that building and flying is ALOT more fun now that you have ALOT less time to do it.  I've been all over the country and flown with allot of clubs while im stationed at one place or another, but its always great to go home and fly with youre home club and hang out with the people who knew you when you barely came up to the height of the picnic table.  Getting home to fly with family is a greater thrill still.  Just enjoy it when you can.    I'm starting to run into that again.  I come home from work and pass by my building table, and think of the laundry list of FF models that I want to build this winter, and want to sit down and pick up some wood.  Then I remember that I have monthly counseling statements to write, Army-mandatory classes to take online, and other stuff that comes with wearing the Stripes.  Finally I know what my dad was talking about when he talks about building this model or that one, but "..earning a living keeps getting in the way."!!  So when you do get to sit down and build, its allot more fun.  
            Probably my best recommendation for building away from home, is to create an environment similar to where you built in at home.  Building is a parishable skill to a point, and by going long periods between builds, certain things tend to be forgotten.  So a familiar environment helps jog your memory.  Dispite having a comfy, air-conditioned spare bedroom that I could build in, I still sweat/freeze out in the garage because thats where I built when I was a kid.  Also my dad has a stereo in his garage that he keeps tuned to St Louis's classic rock station, and I used to turn it on for background noise.  Now when I build, I stream that station off the internet onto my iPod.    It all just makes your building space more familiar and more fun, and probably does prevent a few "Hey dad, how do I..." phone calls home.

[Perry Rose]

You should check the installation of the elevator control horn. Mine wasn't glued and caused a pancake crash.
 after 30 flights or so. It's only held in place by the covering.

[MarcusCordeiro]

I wasted too much time building model airplanes, time that could have been spent on sex, drugs, and rock & roll. 

I did the opposite...

Marcus

[John Sunderland]

I carried a rifle, spent lots of time playing war games and lived in a general state of too little sleep for six years. Then I and got married and got way to busy with a family for much else but work and sleep for many more years. Stay in school, stay focused and get yourself a real career before doing anything else...you wont regret it. These days I find myself feeling way to intelligent for the economic circumstances I have wound up in and have spent lots of time with folks who are not my necessarily my intellectual equal while making a living doing things I would rather not!

[Wynn Robins]

chased girls and drank beer....... 

[Paul Walker]

Matt,
I spent my time working my way through college. When I wasn't working, studying, I was chasing girls. No time for model planes.

Floyd.  CPUSLO....Nice...... I graduated from Cal Poly Pomona, a year or two after you!

[steven yampolsky]

well, I know what I've been up to! For the past couple months I've been putting together an ARF vector bit by bit when I had free time.  Last night, I decided I was going to get the airplane done.  Starting at 5:00pm, ending at 3:15 in the morning, and with only a break for dinner and ice cream, I got it done!

Matt,

You are attending the school for PLANE NUTZ! You guys should have your own club and a build shop! What could be better than meeting a girl when she asks you to help alight "wheel pants" on her "landing gear" or to get the motor started, squirt some fuel in the venturi. Yeah, I went there! 

But seriously, ERAU is an aviation school. I am sure the school would look positively on a model aviation club. They provide club space for all sorts on-campus clubs. Providing an area where you can come and build model airplanes and a field to fly is a relatively small investment but the benefits are tremendous. Model airplane club will help student apply what they learned in aircraft design, teach hands-on engineering and provide an outlet from the academic load. Why should you build in your dorm by yourself when you could build in a well lit room with proper flat surfaces, tools and other modelers to help you.

Pretty much every aviation college in Russia, Poland and Ukraine has a model aviation club organized by students. All the school has to do is provide space. They even held contests when during school break one aviation college club traveled to compete with another aviation club. They competed in every class: free flight, CL and RC. The Yatsenko brothers learned their craft while attending college.

[Bill Heher]

I attended A&P School in NW MN. Wasn't in a dorm, had a room in the basement of a 100 yr od farm house we rented after we got married. Spent most of the time in class ( by now you know the mandatory hrs of classroom / practical training foreach Certificate is FAA mandated )' or working at the school for minimum wage doing building maintenance

As far as small space, I've assembled ARFs, re- built planes, and built kits in many a hotel room. A 2X4 foot piece of shelf board and an acoustic ceiling tile make a good portable work surface, a Dremel  and some small hand tools can get you through almost anything, just takes a bit longer.

Think about storage for assembled planes too. Hanging on the wall takes about the least space, and gets them off the floor, ceiling hung may work depending on structure.

[SteveMoon]

Drank!

[John Stiles]

What did you do during college?

I forfeited my scholarship for an all expenses paid Ho-hunting trip to....VIETNAM

[FLOYD CARTER]

Yeah Paul.  I spent my Sophomore year at the Pomona campus.  My most terrifying moment was when I played a violin solo during graduation exercises for the class of '58. (it was held outdoors--no microphone for me-  I think nobody heard me play except myself and the pianist accompanying.)

Floyd

[Matt Colan]

Matt,

You are attending the school for PLANE NUTZ! You guys should have your own club and a build shop! What could be better than meeting a girl when she asks you to help alight "wheel pants" on her "landing gear" or to get the motor started, squirt some fuel in the venturi. Yeah, I went there! 

But seriously, ERAU is an aviation school. I am sure the school would look positively on a model aviation club. They provide club space for all sorts on-campus clubs. Providing an area where you can come and build model airplanes and a field to fly is a relatively small investment but the benefits are tremendous. Model airplane club will help student apply what they learned in aircraft design, teach hands-on engineering and provide an outlet from the academic load. Why should you build in your dorm by yourself when you could build in a well lit room with proper flat surfaces, tools and other modelers to help you.

Pretty much every aviation college in Russia, Poland and Ukraine has a model aviation club organized by students. All the school has to do is provide space. They even held contests when during school break one aviation college club traveled to compete with another aviation club. They competed in every class: free flight, CL and RC. The Yatsenko brothers learned their craft while attending college.

Hi Steve,

We do have a model airplane club, and as far as I know, the first one to have a CL airplane bigger than a 1/2A.  I got people moderately interested in flying CL, or just saying they want to learn how.  When I'm working on the plane, I generally spend my time with three other freshman who are big into RC.  Two of them split the cost of a 1/4 scale Extra 300, and have that in their dorm room.  We share tools, share knowledge, and help each other out whenever we can.  For instance, my dremel set I bought while I was down here is being borrowed by one of those friends, who is working on another airplane.

BTW, I flew the Vector for the first time yesterday.  The outboard wing was very high so I didn't do any maneuvers with it.  Today, I made a trim tab, made a handle adjustment and tried it again, for one flight before the field had to be taken over by rugby guys.  The trim tab did the trick with leveling the wing, and did some wingovers, loops and inverted flight with it.  Next trim changes I made tonight was sealing the hinge lines, and also adding a 1/4 ounce of tip weight.  Hopefully tomorrow I could try it again and see what that does.

It's nice to finally be able to fly while I'm here.

Oh, and another BTW, I had my first solo on Friday November 2nd.  I dropped my instructor off at Deland Municipal airport in N477ER, and did some traffic patterns on my own!!!  Today, I had my first cross country, and have another flight tomorrow, then another cross country on Friday. 

Hopefully I'll have my license by the end of the semester!

[RC Storick]

My best memories of a dorm room situation is Millington TN. 1973 I had a 100 MPH Ringmaster I use to fly between the barracks and the Hobby Shop on base. It drew large crowds. But I was in the Navy then.

This was the A&P school for the Navy fighters. Back when we could paint on the flight line. (inside joke)

[Larry Fernandez]

I joined the navy after high school.
Right out of boot camp I was sent to electronics school in San Diego. As luck would have it when I was check into my barracks (a dorm room for three)
I could smell buterate dope as soon as I walked into the room. Turns out that one of my new roommates was building baby Ringmaster.  Instant friends. I had been modeling since the third grade so I felt right at home. There was a hobby shop on the base so I quickly Purchesed a couple of Top Flite Combat Streaks and sent home for a couple of motors.
We built a bunch of planes in that room over the next six months. I was told that the smell of dope hung around for months after we left.
Afterward I was stationed aboard a submarine tender in San Diego where I was assigned to the antenna shop. I built a bunch of planes in that shop and got a few sailors involved building also. I met the executive officer of the Naval Training Center, at the base bowling alley one night, and he gave us permission to fly on the graduation marching grinder. Exept on Friday afternoons when they held boot camp graduation.
It sure made my Navy hitch a lot more enjoyable.

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team   

[john e. holliday]

Matt, you are having way too  much fun.  But, I'm glad for ya as well as your Grandpa is too.

[Chuck_Smith]

I graduated High School in 1975 so sadly, but in the spirit of total disclosure I'm forced to admit, I studied by day and...



DISCO'ed by night.



Flew a lot of Fast and Slow combat those years and got more into R/C for a bit. All the cool kids were doing it.

[Matt Colan]

Trying to chase girls at this school is a hard thing to do. The ratio from girls to guys is 4:1.

I managed to just squeeze in another flight today in between the rain drops (only one class today), and I managed to get half the pattern in with it.  Still need to make a couple changes to it to get it to fly better.  One issue is having a very sluggish outside corner, so I moved the trim tab a little bit and also went one hello kitty clip shorter on the down line on the handle.

This college, is seriously the perfect fit for anyone who loves aviation.  That's because everyone here loves aviation just as much as you do!!!

[RC Storick]

I joined the navy after high school.
Right out of boot camp I was sent to electronics school in San Diego. As luck would have it when I was check into my barracks (a dorm room for three)
I could smell buterate dope as soon as I walked into the room. Turns out that one of my new roommates was building baby Ringmaster.  Instant friends. I had been modeling since the third grade so I felt right at home. There was a hobby shop on the base so I quickly Purchesed a couple of Top Flite Combat Streaks and sent home for a couple of motors.
We built a bunch of planes in that room over the next six months. I was told that the smell of dope hung around for months after we left.
Afterward I was stationed aboard a submarine tender in San Diego where I was assigned to the antenna shop. I built a bunch of planes in that shop and got a few sailors involved building also. I met the executive officer of the Naval Training Center, at the base bowling alley one night, and he gave us permission to fly on the graduation marching grinder. Exept on Friday afternoons when they held boot camp graduation.
It sure made my Navy hitch a lot more enjoyable.

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team   

Those are my fondest memories of control line. I still think back in 1969 starting my Voodo on the back patio when they moon walked. And at the barrics at NAS Miramar. We flew everyday. I sure miss those easy times.

[Mike Keville]

1962-1963 (age 22):  Drank beer; chased women; flunked out.

1980-1985 (age 40-45):  Studied my ass off; obtained a Bachelor's degree while working full-time.

What a difference a couple of decades makes!

[Bill Little]

My first two years of college were spent at football practice (in one form or another), or trying not to flunk out.  Then I got married and we moved into an apartment.  Started building and flying again!  Even worked some part time in a Hobby Shop since we had Saturdays off for most of the off season.  Found out that the less time I had, the more I could get done! LOL!!

Three years after I graduated we had our first child (Aaron) and I have been at some kind of flying almost constantly ever since, with a few forced breaks caused by work getting in the way.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

[Matt Colan]

My first two years of college were spent at football practice (in one form or another), or trying not to flunk out.  Then I got married and we moved into an apartment.  Started building and flying again!  Even worked some part time in a Hobby Shop since we had Saturdays off for most of the off season.  Found out that the less time I had, the more I could get done! LOL!!

Three years after I graduated we had our first child (Aaron) and I have been at some kind of flying almost constantly ever since, with a few forced breaks caused by work getting in the way.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

Hey Bill!

Little fun fact for you.  Embry-Riddle's football team has been undefeated since 1926 when the school was first established! Pretty crazy isn't it?














We don't have a football team........

[Joseph Patterson]

      I took up space....
        Doug

[Howard Rush]

Trying to chase girls at this school is a hard thing to do. The ratio from girls to guys is 4:1.

Matt, the first thing you need to do is bear down on math. 

Next there's physics.  You should now be familiar with the conservation laws.  You may have slept through the lecture on the Law of Conservation of P....... To wit, for every Purdue, there's an Indiana University.  Enter "Liberal Arts" in Google Maps.

Another plan would be for you to mention your acquaintance with the Jive Combat Team on the social media you youngsters use.  Would-be Jivettes will beat a path to your door.  It's like being a roady for the Rolling Stones, but without the heavy lifting. 

[Bruce Shipp]

Spent my last three years at Parks College of Aviation Technology in St Louis.  Similar to ERAU but smaller.  1500 students...only 300 girls.  Our flying field was the 1500' grass runway 100 yards behind the dorm.  We flew several days a week, almost every week.  Mostly RC but some control line. 

We built lofts for our beds so we could put work benches and building boards underneath them.  Jim Allen of pylon racing fame went through a whole box of bandaids one night as he worked his way through a six pack while cutting parts for his latest creation.  Every beer resulted in several more nicks or a slice on a finger.  He lived to laugh about and no stitches were required.  He painted RC car boddies for the LHS in his room.  His technical writing project was getting his Blue Max fun fly model published in Model Aviation.

We did silly stuff like a Piped Rossi 91 on a Quicky 500 pylon racer.  We would run the rossi in the dorm room by holding it in our hands, turning it with an electric starter and spraying WD-40 into the carb.  I suspect beer was involved then as well. 

We tried to fly some in the winter .  Blow torches on on the engines in the winter didn't work all that well.  During the fall and spring when the days were short we would run 1/10 scale electric off road cars on the sidewalks in the quad after dark. There were several triangles of sidewalks that made good tracks.  We would fly hand launch RC gliders under the lights on the soccer field until all hours of the night.

We skipped class one afternoon to fly control line.  We were flying two-up and had a massive mid air.  The professor teaching the class we were missing could see the flying field out the windows in the back of the classroom.  When we hit, he stopped his lecture mid-sentence and said in disbelief "those airplanes just blew up!"  We were too far away for him to recognize us and I don't think he ever figured it out, but our class mates did. 

We had a full scale airshow and fly in on campus's every summer.  We were on a trimester schedule and were is school almost year round.  We always had our bit of time.  Can't remember doing CL in the show but lots of RC:  pylon planes, fun fly planes (all the rage in the 80s), a space shuttle glider that would release off the mother ship in flight and do rolls on the way down.  We even did an aero tow with an Aquila and a quarter scale J-3. 

We flew Coot IHLGs in the gym during the winter.  We messed a bit with parlor plane indoor rubber.

The senior aero engineering students had a glider design competition each year.  Span and area was set but everything else was up the the designers.  Whoever flew farthest across the gym won.  Those that came to us for building and finishing help kicked butt.  While most gliders would barely make half court, ours routinely hit the wall on the far side do the gym.

On top off all that I managed to do ROTC, was an RA, physics lab TA, flying team, worked several part time jobs,  and even managed to get a degree. 

[Matt Colan]

On top off all that I managed to do ROTC, was an RA, physics lab TA, flying team, worked several part time jobs,  and even managed to get a degree. 

I'm a member of two clubs, the Sport Aviation Club and the Model Airplane club. This week I've gotten 3 flights on the Vector, hung out with the RC guys and watching some insane 3D helicopters.  I also went to Spruce Creek with the Sport Aviation Club for an EAA meeting.  All this in between classes, two tests, and flying.

I have a cross country tomorrow and based off the weather forecasts, I don't think I'll go, so instead I may had to the Commemorative Air Force hangar in Deland with some friends.

[Bill Heher]

if you haven't been to Kennedy space center you need to go. The Saturn V mmon rocket is worth the price of admission alone.  you should check and see about a class trip or Club Run down the coast to KSC. Plus there if Fantasy of Flight in "Orlampa'', ( Kermit Weeks has a sense of humor- Google "Orlampa")

Get practicing with that plane,  K.O.I. is comng up fast!

[Matt Colan]

if you haven't been to Kennedy space center you need to go. The Saturn V mmon rocket is worth the price of admission alone.  you should check and see about a class trip or Club Run down the coast to KSC. Plus there if Fantasy of Flight in "Orlampa'', ( Kermit Weeks has a sense of humor- Google "Orlampa")

Get practicing with that plane,  K.O.I. is comng up fast!

Haven't been to Kennedy space center since I was 5. The sport aviation club is looking to head to fantasy of flight at some point.

Speaking of practice, I definitely need to get the plane trimmed out and start practicing!! Im gonna be home for a month and then have two weeks to practice before KOI when I get back. Still very excited about it though!!!!

[Serge_Krauss]

Congratulations, Matt. You're doing it right! I'm happy to see that your interests and education are so well intertwined. 'hope you're really into your physics and math! AND...you have started one of the best threads ever - 'lots of interesting and well-conceived responses.

When I was in college, I was and had to be an over-achiever. That is, I had to study long and hard. Also, studying physics at a school that also srtressed liberal arts, I was fascinated by a lot more areas than I'd ever studied deeply before (Asian studies, literature, philosophy, history...) in addition to my music. So my time was spent in many adventures of the mind, with a bit of touch football thrown in. Of course certain young women were important too. The victim during this time, unfortunately, was CL flying.

When I was home for the summer, I built some rat racers, a couple FF's, and a lot of HLG's, which I enjoyed immensely, because I could chase them and snatch them just off the ground as I ran along side. I loved to run. My favorite models then were my Roy Clough slotted saucer and a couple over-done HLG's with satin smooth wings. They glided fast and long. 'learned about turbulators. My first year had been at Purdue - excellent in engineering and science, but not so good for my other side. As a freshman, I never had time to find the modelers there. I was in the honors classes with a lot of "kids" smarter than I.

During my senior year at Oakland, I drove back to Purdue often to visit my GF and an ex roommate. That's when I visited the old armory and saw the 1/2-A tether racers that Howard may have been flying. That inspired me to build my last CL model and start another, when I was teaching my first couple years out of college.

Life intervened then, and even though I hadn't thought I was leaving the hobby, I didn't build another CL model until I saw a Brodak advertisement for Bob G.'s "Olympic" in about 2001. That's when I finished an old Sterling Yak-9 I'd begun 40 years earlier. That probably won't happen to you. Anyway, college did slow down my modeling, even though physics made it more interesting and helps sustain my interest now.

Well, I hope this thread has eased some of Mike K's and others' pain with the bickering. This is where the joy of modeling and great memories have joined with new experiences to remind me of why politics is not the only thing left in life. Congrats on the solos and also being one of the most able writers on the forum. Oh, and I think you meant 1:4, an unfortunate number, although that has to be improving. Even in 1963-4 at Purdue, the best math and physics student in our bunch was female. I always thought that pretty sexy, myself. My special female interest at O.U. was a great musician who was also a physics major. We shoulda built planes together!

SK

[phil c]

Great job, Matt.  Keep it up.  Take John Sunderland's advice, get that degree with good grades,  but don't stop modelling.

I went to a boarding school for high school and kept a plane in my locker.  Flew a few times at school(none in the winter in Minnesota!) built a few rockets, etc.

College was easier, despite working 20-30 hrs a week I still managed to build a bunch of combat planes, a couple of RC planes, and assembled a Controlaire MAN special radio that actually worked for a couple of years.

Don't stop flying even for GGB, or  BGRnR.

[Matt Colan]

Congratulations, Matt. You're doing it right! I'm happy to see that your interests and education are so well intertwined. 'hope you're really into your physics and math! AND...you have started one of the best threads ever - 'lots of interesting and well-conceived responses.

...

Well, I hope this thread has eased some of Mike K's and others' pain with the bickering. This is where the joy of modeling and great memories have joined with new experiences to remind me of why politics is not the only thing left in life. Congrats on the solos and also being one of the most able writers on the forum. Oh, and I think you meant 1:4, an unfortunate number, although that has to be improving. Even in 1963-4 at Purdue, the best math and physics student in our bunch was female. I always thought that pretty sexy, myself. My special female interest at O.U. was a great musician who was also a physics major. We shoulda built planes together!

SK

Thanks Serge!  I'm in Calculus right now, and its a little on the difficult side, but I'm managing to get through it with no problem.  Physics I is next semester.  The most difficult class I have is English.  First reason it's difficult is trying to stay awake and you can't really figure out what the instructor wants.

Got the battery charging for tomorrow morning.  Getting up bright and early at 8:30 to head to the field and get some flights!!

[Jim Thomerson]

I flew models, both CL and FF, while at Univ. Texas.  I met George Aldrich the summer after my sophomore year, and got into flying contest power Free Flight.  I went to Texas Tech for MS. I got into a bad situation; but flew model airplanes and managed to stay sane.  I was in a the club with Riley Wooten, Jim Mears, and many others whose names I don't recall.  When I went to Tulane for PhD, I had a research assistant ship, and gave up modeling to study fish (my other obsession),  This was 1961.  Along about 1975, I was a tenured professor at SIUE.  My son Austin got interested, so I took up modeling again.  I stayed with it until 1986 when I got a fairly intensive research program going in Venezuela.  I got the Venezuelan program fairly under control; accepted the Department Chair job, and took up modeling again as a sanity protection.  I retired in 1997 and flew at my first VSC in 1998.

[Steve Helmick]

"Trying to chase girls at this school is a hard thing to do. The ratio from girls to guys is 4:1. Matt C."

This must be "new math"? It would imply 4 girls to every guy, when I took math. Twice as good as "Surf City", if I remember the Beach Boy's song lyrics correctly. Howard?  Steve