Baron’s Hobbies – Online Hobby Magazine

My Name is Aaron Shell Part 1

Posted on June 28, 2008 by aaronredbaron

Wednesday June 25, 2008 West Linn, Oregon- Welcome to Baron’s Hobbies. This is Aaron Shell’s autobiography, Aaron is the publisher of Baron’s Hobbies. Baron’s Hobbies is the culmination of a lifelong pursuit of all things that fly by radio control. Watch for posts in the Aaron’s Biography category for the next chapter in my diverse exposure to the world of RC. Let me take this opportunity to introduce myself and tell my story. This first chapter covers the time I was 5 -12 years old.

MY STORY

Aviation triggered something inside me at a very early age. My first word may well have been “airplane,” and most of my firsts indicated I had flying on the brain. My first lego models, drawings and stories written in grade school, were all about airplanes. I have been a participant in the fascinating world of radio control flying since I was in the second grade. Sitting on my cousin Leon’s knee during a family event when I was about 5 years old, he told me stories of radio control gliders circling in bubbles of warm air and climbing without power with the birds. Images of those majestic lumbering floaters traversed across my minds eye and continue to drift across my sub-conscience to this day.

I began flying when Leon sent me an electric Cox EZ Bee Trainer in 1988. The model was actually pretty advanced for its day; with a foam airframe, a polyhedral glider type wing, a geared electric motor turning a big prop and smallish servos, the model had potential. But alas, mine survived approximately 3 seconds. I learned very quickly why the manual stated to launch the model straight out. My throw pointed the model nearly straight up, which resulted in a short climb, a stall, and impact with terra firma. The model never flew again.

Shortly after my failure with the EZ Bee, my uncle showed up for a visit with a huge package from Leon. For a kid who never celebrated Christmas, waking up and being led to the guest bedroom to see my new RC plane sitting there was the best gift I ever received during my childhood. Sitting on the guest bed sat a unbelievably well built and finely detailed Midwest Aerostar 40 trainer. It had an OS .40 FP engine, a Futaba 6 Channel AM radio, and it was detailed EXACTLY like the picture on the box. My cousin had spent countless hours adding pin stripping and stickers, even rivet details were included. The tail to my perfect airplane, however, had been ripped off during transportation. After several trips to the local hobby shop for advice, parts and tools, I repaired my airplane with a white patch that didn’t look all that bad considering a 7 year old had made the repair himself.

I found someone who worked at the local hobby shop who agreed to meet me and help me fly my airplane. When the young man showed up at the agreed upon location, I was entranced by the way he knew everything about my plane without a second glance, and I admired his model collection packed in his car which included a HELICOPTER! My flight instructor only flew my model once before we moved to Oregon, but the idea of having my own fleet of models began to entrench itself in my brain.

When we moved to Oregon in the summer of 1990, I attempted to find clubs to fly with, but was unable to find a place close enough where my parents would take me. In an attempt to make sure everything was okay with my Aerostar, I accidentally destroyed the engine, and so went my trials with radio control flying for some time. I spent six months building a Carl Goldberg Gentle Lady glider, on which I omitted the step where I was supposed to fiberglass the center of the wing. During my first outing at Molalla river state park, I met Robin Robinson, who had returned to pick up his high start which he had forgotten on the field. Robin helped me trim my glider, and suggested we try putting it up on the high start (a rubber bungee). My glider arched up beautifully, and then suddenly, CRACK! The wings folded and it was pulled into the ground by the still attached high start.

Robin was not at fault, it was my build error that caused the crash, but he surprised me a month later when he called and said he had a brand new Gentle Lady for me. Robin met me at the same park, and also surprised me when he pulled out a complete setup with an old radio he no longer used. I was ecstatic! The new glider had purple covering on the wings, and transparent red on the fuselage and tail. It was built much stronger and lighter than my first attempt, and flew like a dream when we boosted it to altitude on the high start. Robin taught me how to fly rudder and elevator models on that glider, and I was soon flying it on my own every chance I got, even if that meant just gliding in a straight line in the front yard.

I added a Cox .049 engine to a pod on my glider so I could fly it without the high start, and I took every chance I could to fly. Camping trips, family picnics, my little Brother’s baseball games, and more all provided a chance for me to get some stick time. I got back to building and constructed about a dozen 1/2a (.049 powered) airplanes both from kits and from my own ideas. None of them lasted more than a few flights, but I always had my trusty Gentle Lady to fly. Most of my new airplanes were way too fast or nimble for me, and if they survived the test flight, they usually got stuffed into the ground or strained through a tree. Before long the my Gentle Lady began to look like a patchwork quilt with repairs made with any color covering material I had on hand at the time.

By the time I was in middle school I was getting frustrated with the little engines and using only two channels. I was ready to step back up the plate with a four channel trainer like my first Aerostar, but this time I was really ready for it.