I
started out in the hobby together with my dad, in Germany, in the late sixties.
Our first sailplane was a Graupner "Clou",
a 2.4 m ( 95 in ) 2-channel sailplane, and a Graupner/Grundig "variophon"
non-proportional RC set.
Of course, with both of us being total newbies, the Clou did not survive out
attempts for very long, and it was crashed,
repaired, crashed, repaired, etc.
Eventually, we built another Clou, and managed to get our first "real" flights
with it.
After that, came a long succession of Graupner products: the Amigo II, Foka,
Cirrus, and the Cumulus.
Then my father brought an Astro-Flight ASW 17 with him from a business trip to
the US, and from there on, I was
hooked on scale sailplanes ! At the time, we considered it our first "real"
sailplane !
After these beginnings, came a lengthy absence from the hobby, but I started
again in the late 80's .
We were now living in Caracas, Venezuela, where all the flying was on the slope,
mostly with a Graupner Cumulus, and
later with the Bob Martin Coyote and the SR-7.
I just wish I had known the these slopers would become classics and kept
them....
But then came girlfriend, marriage, kids, so the planes and radio gear got
another lenghty rest, until I started again in 98,
and have been at it ever since.
I now fly with the
VOA Silent Flyers
in Cincinnati, Ohio. Our flying
site is located on the area where the VOA
installation used to be, which is now a public park.
The VOA field is restricted to electrics and sailplanes, so once every month,we
head over to the
GCRCC
( Greater
Cincinnati Radio Control Club ), where we do aero-towing with our scale
sailplanes.