DieselGizmo
New member
Hi all. As the thread title suggests, I'm rustier than old barn nails. I haven't put anything up in the air in two decades so I might as well be a born-again newbie. My uncle got me hooked on R/C and basically all things aviation related when I was five years old.
Fast-foward some 40 years and my uncle's health is failing rapidly. He was in a steady decline but it quickly deteriorated. He had already started handing off some of his accumulated R/C gear to me earlier in the year but it was really difficult for me to take it. I hate feeling like a vulture but I knew I was going to be the person to preserve the memories of his passion. I'm the only person in the family with the R/C bug so he wanted me to get what I wanted or it would probably end up trashed. I made a couple of trips over for visits and brought home more gear and planes each time. Tools, planes, plans, parts. I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least but excited about getting back into something I really loved. But where to start?
Five weeks ago my introduction to FliteTest happened. Google up R/C foam airplanes (have I mentioned I now have about 75 foam airplanes?) and I see FliteTest as a top recommendation. Go to YouTube and I'm immediately hooked, all over again. Forty years after being lured into the hobby I was that little five year old nephew. That night I probably watched 10 videos of Josh and Josh before I turned off the computer and took my exhausted self to bed.
Four weeks ago my uncle entered hospice care. I made three more trips to his home to fetch more stuff. The guy was a prolific and well-respected builder but holy cow, man! I filled up a Town & Country minivan three times. I had room for me to drive and that was all the space that wasn't taken up by airplanes and related stuff. I think I lost 10 pounds in sweat just moving, loading and unloading all of the collection.
Two weeks ago my uncle passed away at 9:30 in the evening. I was sitting in my backyard with my dogs, tinkering around on an airplane trying to figure out how a prop saver works (don't laugh... okay laugh because I did) and what the heck else I didn't know about the hobby that had come to be in the last 20 years. Daylight was all but gone but I was a kid again, savoring every bit of the day that I could. That's when the call came. I sat there with a small bit of his work in my hands, crying. I started gathering up the tools I had with me and I noticed the screwdriver with a newly-familiar logo on it.
Well okay, that does make my weird-a-meter twitch but I'm rather fond of the strange serendipitous moments that life throws my way.
So yeah, thank you FliteTest. In a weird way I guess I was supposed to find you. I'm happy I did. FliteTest will always remind me of my uncle and eventually I'll make it to a FliteFest, probably next year. In the meantime I really need to get some time on the sticks and do my uncle proud.
Thanks for indulging me in this lengthy "Hey, New guy here!" post. I just wanted to let the FliteTest family know that they have made an indelible mark on my life. I'm forever grateful.
DG
Fast-foward some 40 years and my uncle's health is failing rapidly. He was in a steady decline but it quickly deteriorated. He had already started handing off some of his accumulated R/C gear to me earlier in the year but it was really difficult for me to take it. I hate feeling like a vulture but I knew I was going to be the person to preserve the memories of his passion. I'm the only person in the family with the R/C bug so he wanted me to get what I wanted or it would probably end up trashed. I made a couple of trips over for visits and brought home more gear and planes each time. Tools, planes, plans, parts. I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least but excited about getting back into something I really loved. But where to start?
Five weeks ago my introduction to FliteTest happened. Google up R/C foam airplanes (have I mentioned I now have about 75 foam airplanes?) and I see FliteTest as a top recommendation. Go to YouTube and I'm immediately hooked, all over again. Forty years after being lured into the hobby I was that little five year old nephew. That night I probably watched 10 videos of Josh and Josh before I turned off the computer and took my exhausted self to bed.
Four weeks ago my uncle entered hospice care. I made three more trips to his home to fetch more stuff. The guy was a prolific and well-respected builder but holy cow, man! I filled up a Town & Country minivan three times. I had room for me to drive and that was all the space that wasn't taken up by airplanes and related stuff. I think I lost 10 pounds in sweat just moving, loading and unloading all of the collection.
Two weeks ago my uncle passed away at 9:30 in the evening. I was sitting in my backyard with my dogs, tinkering around on an airplane trying to figure out how a prop saver works (don't laugh... okay laugh because I did) and what the heck else I didn't know about the hobby that had come to be in the last 20 years. Daylight was all but gone but I was a kid again, savoring every bit of the day that I could. That's when the call came. I sat there with a small bit of his work in my hands, crying. I started gathering up the tools I had with me and I noticed the screwdriver with a newly-familiar logo on it.
Well okay, that does make my weird-a-meter twitch but I'm rather fond of the strange serendipitous moments that life throws my way.
So yeah, thank you FliteTest. In a weird way I guess I was supposed to find you. I'm happy I did. FliteTest will always remind me of my uncle and eventually I'll make it to a FliteFest, probably next year. In the meantime I really need to get some time on the sticks and do my uncle proud.
Thanks for indulging me in this lengthy "Hey, New guy here!" post. I just wanted to let the FliteTest family know that they have made an indelible mark on my life. I'm forever grateful.
DG
