How Old Are We ?

From the photos i see and the posts i read it seems like we are well along in years ;as a group.Does anyone have an idea as to the average age of cl enthusiasts ?I am 61, are we attracting many
younger flyers? I am a newbie and was just wondering.

Happy Holidays

Leon99

leon99:)

Hi Leon,

I don't know the stats, but I think at 61 you're just about the avarage age. Allot of guys are retreads coming back after either being out or flying RC for years. I came back after many years of free flight, at 53 I think I bring the avarage down by some small fraction. It doesn't matter though, there's no age limit on fun, high or low. Enjoy it and make freinds.

I am 45 as of December 14, 2003.
Chris McMillin

LAST EDITED ON Dec-24-03 AT 08:54 PM (CDT)
 
Chris,
You young whippersnapper!
You and Aaron (my oldest son) have the same birthday! LOL!!
Merry Christmas!
Bill <><

F2B, it appears to me that you are also among the "young whippersnapper" genre.
I have been flying and building models for the past 67 years and am among the very few who did not have a pause when I discovered girls and cars. Been competing since 1940. still am competing. no prospects of quitting anytime soon.

Bigiron

Hi Big Iron
Merry Christmas!
Yep, you got me beat, but I got Chris beat! LOL!!
I hope you have MANY, MANY more years of fun with this hobby.
And thanks for the connecting rod.
Bill <><

>I am 45 as of December 14, 2003.
>Chris McMillin

Happy Birthday!

Thank you Ted,
Merry Christmas to you and Shareen.
Chris and Laura...

Well, I'm old enough to know how, and still young enough to be able to!
Merry Christmas!!!
Bill <><

I am 67 years young and would like to wish all of you that you "Will live as long as you want to and want to as long as you live".

Merry Christmas.

I have to do this well I still can 39 years old and hanging on until August.I got 3 new flyers going last year,13,15 & 17 years old .we are starting another building class after New Years.All 3 are coming back and I do not know how many new ones yet.Have a Great Christmas and the Best to you all in the New Year!!!
Dennis Pedersen:)

im 46 just got back in to flying this past year after almost thirty years. flew in slow combat at the nats in 76 took 4th in senior. dont rember why i stoped flying beer and women i guess. after 3 kids all grown and out of the house im back. alot of thanks goes out to bob reeves and lloyd gregory for helping me get back into it. my wife says i act like a kid again i think im haveing more fun now then i did then.

46 Started flying at the ripe age of 4. Firebaby. Still have that plane and I still fly it once a year.

scott

Scott,

Me too! 46. Started flying at a much older age though. I think I was 12.

Understand completely. Planes are cheaper than beer and women. Also, finding ONE right woman will save you a lot of headaches. I can also occassionally afford a thing or two I only dreamed of as a kid. I did this from about age 8 until 15. Did 25 years of different things, some good, some not so good. Rediscovered this about 3 years ago when I saw a Legacy kit on a LHS shelf. Bumbled into a local group of CL flyers and love it now more than I did as a kid. Then, it was a means until I could fly a real plane. Now, I enjoy it more than ever.

>I can also occassionally afford a thing or two I only dreamed of as a kid.>

This comment from mcm struck a chord. I still feel lucky whenever I can buy something I need for my hobby now, because it wasn't always that way.

My first cl plane was a Cox Corsair - silver I think. After months of anticipation it came one Christmas. I admired it for weeks before the time came to 'fly' it. Lasted for one screaming half-lap down at the ballfield. Straight over the top into many gleaming pieces. I think the trauma was enough to make me determined to succeed. My first balsa plane was a Baby Ringmaster, and I still have that Golden Bee.

As a kid, there were no hobby shops in my small Minnesota town, and I never had any money for supplies or tools -- my lawn mowing (or snow shoveling) money always was always saved up for that next kit or motor. I had only a couple of drill bits (dull), I soldered with a candle, broke my dad's old double-edge razor blades to have something to cut with, and generally never had the right stuff.

Luckily a fellow named Jerry Caldwell worked over in Mankato and helped by buying things I really needed at Arnie Stott's 'Foam Flite' hut. I always made sure to pay him back. On his way through my town he'd drop the stuff off at a sporting goods shop down on the highway. It was a long bike ride for me but it was worth it to have some real veco wheels, or tanks, or spinners, props or whatever... Arnie was a treasure and Sig was very generous to us kids if we ever made it to a contest.

-Jerry Eichten

.......i think im haveing more fun now then i did then.
You "are" having more fun now, I watched you at Brodak's!!!!!!!
Roger V.

hey roger your right iam haveing a ball and it hasnt stoped yet cant wait to get back to brodaks.

Uhhhh, 58 and uh, what was the question again? I figure I started at about age 4. Joined AMA at 17 and maintained membership for all but a couple of years since, but didn't fly models for about 10 years or so. Steve

>From the photos i see and the posts i read it seems like we
>are well along in years ;as a group.Does anyone have an idea
>as to the average age of cl enthusiasts ?I am 61, are we
>attracting many
>younger flyers? I am a newbie and was just wondering.
>
>Happy Holidays

42 and counting.

In March, the big 50! Started with CL in 1962. Off and on with RC, FF, and more recntly, back to CL.

Merry Christmas, all!

>
> 42 and counting.
>
> Brett

(Dang! Wish I was 42 and know what you know now!)

56 Here.. I'm oooolllldddd.. Wuhhh.. huhhhh.. huh huh huh!

[photo not recovered: 3fea7d912debca78.gif]

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

"There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm 58, whippersnapper! But I get younger when things are going well; this is an exciting hobby with a lot of good guys to share it with. "Too soon old and maybe not too late schmart" about sums it up for me. I'll have to stick around a while to find out. Merry Christmas and a bright, happy future to all of you!

Serge

Well...... 56 next month. Flying 1/2A Combat again after a 41 years away from competition.

It's a total kick in the butt(thats a good thing) thanks to the great guys in the Rocky Mountain Aeromodelers.

I hope to be at Top Gun in March for my first meet in all those years.

Screamin' Cyclons and Nitro Fumes!...Hib

Did the big Five-O Nov.12 and have been reassured by my wife that I am not old. Started U/C at 15 after my numerous lawn dart tow line gliders. Gas powered is where its at!

Bill

52 years old

12-18-52
51 years young. HO Ho Ho ô¿ô I hope I can turn the rounds at 90. And if I don't have the shakes by then maybe a top point builder.

50 next July!

From the numbers posted so far, it looks like the average age could be a bit lower than Randy's guess of 61.

I'll be 60 next April 19th. The same birthday as my team race partner and pilot Norm Kirton. That is a properly matched team.

I am 53 and started c/l flying when I was about 11 mainly because my father flew it when I was growing up he gave me my first model engines and I really wish I still had them they were a radial mount Elfin 2.49 and an extended shaft Amco 3.5 I stopped flying for about 8 years and previously flew combat mainly FAI until I moved to the States in 1982 then had to learn how to fly fast and slow AMA combat had to quit because my team mates quit when Nelsons started to be used and they refused to pay close to $300 for engines they could loose in a combat match unfortunately I had already bought 2 Nelsons beautifully built engines straight out of the box still have one for old times sake.
Now am going to start flying stunt hence I come to this forum and boy have things changed since I flew it last, even down to the covering used.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-28-03 AT 01:23 AM (CDT)
 
> 52 years old
> John Leidle

Geeze John, what an old fart!

I hit 52 a few weeks ago (Dec 8)

LAST EDITED ON Dec-25-03 AT 04:20 PM (CDT)
 
In 6th grade I think I was about 11 yrs old I road my bicycle about 2 miles every weekend to watch the guys fly CL at a local shopping center parking lot in Lancing MI. My Dad bought me a plastic model airplane with an .049 engine, I thought I was in heaven. The plastic airplane didn't really fly, after about 3 rounds centrifical force kept it up. Dec 26, 1963 I was in 8th grade I used my Christmas money to buy my first 1/2a kit from the hobby shop on the corner of Mill Ave. and Broadway in Tempe AZ. I built the kit all by myself and was flying it a few days later. I bought a Sterling Ringmaster 1st year of high school with a Fox engine think is was a 35 combat special, I lived in Mt. Carmel, Illinois then. After high school I moved away to college I was a long hair hippy freak for 7 years. Girls, parties, school work kept me busy. I got back into flying 4 years ago I should have gotten back into it years sooner. I have never lived near anyone that flew CL I have always flown by myself with a stooge. My body is 53 years old, my brain still thinks I'm about 18. Time flies faster than my airplane.

66 last August, and I have been in this hobby since 1948. (still can't fly well, but I keep trying) Looks like I'm the oldest so far.
Control line activity has meant so much to me over the years. It has keep my sanity, enabled me to meet new friends all over the World, given me goals that so far are just out of my reach,taught me patience and most importantly allowed me to keep a child like approach to life in general.
Regards and blessings to all of you!
Joe Just

Marvin reports that he's been flying for 67 years. He was probably full grown by the time he started. Given the weather in his part of the country, he would have had to fill out a little before he could have gone outdoors.

That is why there are rocks in the area where I grew up.
Bigiron

I'm up to 62 and have been building and flying since 1955. I'll be retired in just a few more weeks. I think I'm one of the LUCKY ones that has a women that loves to build and fly control control line! She even helps me out cutting kits when I get swamped. She cuts wood as well as I do! It's been over 16 years! I guess I should marry her or something? Getting back to the original question, I don't think there's enough younger kids coming into this hobby to back us all up as we start to fade out. MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you and thanks far all the info and help over the past year.

55 this November - did it as a kid and then found cars and girls. Retread and back into it about 5 years.

I started building in 1947. Flying in 1953. AMA MEMBER 1955.
Never completely quit but Korea and Vietnam sure slowed me down.

62

DICK BYRON
3325 GALAWAY BAY DR.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TX 75052
972-336-0445

Well, Looks like we are a bit younger then I thought, I know the average age in Free Flight is higher. I went through the posts three times and got 3 different averages 51, 56 & 55, so I averaged them and "we" appear to be about 54 years old, so in my (very) small way I'm still bringing the average down, at least until next April!

Merry Christmas all!!

I turned 63 in Novemeber. I got started in 1947. My first u control was a Firebaby, then a two for one Scientific kit and then the Barnstormer. Did combat, fast and slow, and lots and lots of free flight. I've belonged to clubs in New Bedford,Mass; Pocatello, Idaho; San Diego, Cal; Kirkwood, Mo; St. Louis, Mo; and now in Huntsville, AL. The best part is the people with the exception of one old grouch. Ha. Keep trying to bring in the younger ones.

WOW, three post while I was typing, the average has gone up.

>WOW, three post while I was typing, the average has gone up.
>
>Randy Ryan
>AMA 8500
>SAM 36
>I fly 'em all and love it!

37 and the youngest to post so far. I am sure that when Aaron Little and Steve Fitton drop in, I will be dethroned. Hope this doesn't put you over the edge Randy......

Will be 49 this January and having a blast. I started with my Dad's help. We would build several kits but never flew them. My Dad gave me my first motor, a Fox 049 that I lost. Bought 4 of them to make up for it. When I was a kid I would buy those Cox planes. I used to buy the same kind so that I could switch the parts after I broke one. Can't remember how many I had, but I still have most of the motor since these were the ones with the metal backplates. My Dad gave me a Fox 29 and I built a Ringmaster for it. Another plane that I never flew. Having 3 brothers and a sister meant nothing was safe. I got back into it after college and running into the Piston Poppers in Mpls MN. Moved to Flint and faded out due to OTR trucking. Ran into Johnny Paris a few years ago and now I am trying to work my way up the ladder. Sure is great to be out there with the guys burning fuel and crashing planes. Hope to keep going as long as Lew Woolard. I think he is around 78 the last time I checked.

Jay

LAST EDITED ON Dec-25-03 AT 10:14 PM (CDT)
 
Well Jim,
Aaron probably isn't the youngest (I'm sure he's younger than Steve Fitton), but he turned 28 on the 14th of this month. ;0
Bill <><

Edit: His Daughter, Alex, is almost three. We're gonna get a handle in her hand ASAP.

11-30-52; now 51 and some days. Have been blessed with good upbringing, good education, good health, and a great family. Learned my many skills from my Dad, including modeling. Started flying in sixth grade; still have a Cox .010 powered single channel escapement R/C sailplane that Dad built for me in high school. Started back in C/L in 1993 due to the influence from a corporate pilot friend based at my FBO. I think the combination of memories of the good times from "back then" and the ability to build better airplanes now makes the enjoyment even greater. Fortunate to be part of a really great club - MCLS in Huntersville NC.

How old are we?

We be old enough to remember when:

AJ Walker 74 Fighters were a dime.

A 1/16 by 1/16 by 3 feet stick of balsa was a penny.

When you heard a model engine running, every kid in the neighbor ran toward the sound.

Printwood Comet kits for a dime.

OK Cub ruled the 1/2 A world.

Testor's 39 Fuel.

Currell, How about O & R fuels #1, #2, #3, and #4. Do you remember what each one was for?? I still got an old picture of me fueling up a model with #4 fuel.
Bigiron

51 - Started in '60 & stuck with it thru college. Became a retread in the early '90s with my son's fleeting interest in the hobby. Now a re-retread just for myself, hope my sidewalls hold up!

Steve ..

LAST EDITED ON Dec-27-03 AT 12:27 PM (CDT)
 
I turned 63 years of age in June of this year. Started flying in 1954 with a Cub .049 powered Scientific Little Ace. Went on to:

Baby Barnstormer with Cub .049
B-C Trixter with K&B .29 greenhead
Ringmaster With K&B .29 greenhead
Half Fast with Fox .35
Sassy Saucer with K&B .35 greenhead
Guillows Reactor with K&B .35 greenhead
Smoothie with Fox .35
Cudgel with K&B .35 greenhead (my own plank wing combat design)
Veco Thunderbird with Johnson .35 smallcase
Bat with K&B 35 greenhead (triangular wing design by Ace Shoney of
Kansas City, Mo)
etc., etc, etc, etc.

Joined AMA first time in 1956.
Also had a lot of fun with sport 1/2A free flight(1950's)
Flew my first contest summer of 1956-2nd Open Combat-Ringmaster/K&B.35.
Flew a lot of competitive combat in the 1960's with Fox .36xBB/Super Tigre G-21 .35 powered Riley Wooten Vampires, Voodoo's and Sneekers (5th place in 1968 Nats in Open Combat, Riley was 1st of course). I also flew a little competitive stunt with a Top Flite Nobler powered by a Fox .35.
Slowed down a lot from 1973 thru 1987 and then dabbled in R/C, which I never really learned to like (although, I have several R/C planes, kits, etc.)I even took a turn at throwing professional quality boomerangs which was interesting. Today, retired teacher, mostly a sport flier, buy what I want, build what I want, fly when I get ready. I have been a member of AMA continuously since 1987 and a member of PAMPA for the last 8 or 9 years. C/L was and continues to be a great hobbysport for a lifetime....T.Durrill

I am 67 -- good grief!! - I learned how to fly in 1950 or maybe it was 1951 - on a Testors Freshman 29 Trainer -- club trainer. The club was the Lufberry circleers in Wallingford CT -- That's where Major Raul Lufberry, a WW1 ace, was from. Then I went right up the Testors rank from the Freshman - to the Sophmore, which I learned inverted on - to the Junior, which I learned the rest of the '51 pattern on - to the Senior, which was a great flying airplane. All of these were powered by my trusty McCoy 29 Sportsman. I subsequently have gotten my son involved and most recently my grandaughter and grandson involved. --- Bob Jones

Bigiron: You got me on the fuels. I didn't like anything about O & R, including their diet. Currell

I just checked to see what I wrote and I figured out that I am 68 not 67 - there goes the average!! Born in 1935 joined the AMA in 1950 at age 15 - I flew my first contest as a junior. and watched Lou Andwews fly an orange Barnstormer to first place in open.
Bob Jones

12/30/53 First time I ever saw a c/l plane I was 5 and was hooked.
Great fellow by the name of John Davidson would take me flying with him when he was in port.(Guess he didn't own a stooge). Messed with 1/2A until Jr. High School and then discovered motorcycles, guitars, and girls. Didn't return to c/l until a year and a half ago, and sometimes it really makes me mad that it took so long.

I'll be 67 in March. Been modeling since 1968. I helped launch JB of J B's Hobby in Plainview, TX in 1946, but he wouldn't let me fly.

43 and started flying in Memphis/Millington in about 72 with the Sterling 049 profiles and graduated to a Shark 15 with a Fox 19 for power.

Zuriel

Ron B.
F4Fguy

I was born on Jan.1,1934.If my brain is still working,I figure I'll be 70 in January,'04.My mother always claimed I built my first model with the wood from a strawberry box when I was four.In any event,I've been at it a while.Unlike most,I never stopped (completely).and over time,I've pretty much "done it all",but CLPA is still #1.On the other hand I still enjoy free-flight scale and old-time,mostly rubber powered.I also do some(ugh)RC

As to your other question,my club,SLO-flyers has had a summer day camp for ages 9-14 for the last five years.It is held on the CALPOLY campus under the aegis of the AERO department.The class runs for two weeks,six days a week,and six hours a day.We have provision for 32 kids,and are,usually,way oversubscribed.
During this time the students build and fly :Delta Darts;HL Gliders;a 1/2 A profile Spitfire;and a .15 profile Mustang.Time is scheduled to allow approximately two hours flying and four hours building time per day.For those with no prior experience(most)we use club trainers until they solo.
The most interesting thing,to me,is that,while most of these kids will return at least one time to the next year class,of about 125total taking the class,only two that I know of continue any modeling activity between sessions.It is my belief that,kids and parents today simply havn't an interest in any activity that's not highly structured and directed only to themselves.Whatever the activity,it must lend itself to being worked into the "Day-Planner"along with Soccer,Music lessons ,Little League,Pop Warner Football,Swim lessons,etc.
Our kids are being regimented into little MBAs.They've ruined our commerce and manufacturing,now they're after our youth.

Your only as old as I think.

Ancient one.

33, 11/7/70. Been flying something since I was four!

>33, 11/7/70. Been flying something since I was four!
>
>John

At last, someone that is younger than me. Was starting to get worried.

70 here. Do I win? And what is the prize?

59, been doing models of one sort or another since 53:+

Sorry Floyd, Curtis Comer is about three years older. He is the VP of our huge CL club here in Rocket City.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-26-03 AT 02:26 PM (CDT)
 
>Sorry Floyd, Curtis Comer is about three years older. He is
>the VP of our huge CL club here in Rocket City.

Sorry Ty, Clyde Case is the V.P. of the Tulsa Gluedobbers
He is 81 and a Vet of WWII
Was the top turret gunner on a B24 in European Theater.

He still gets out in the center!
I have two of his scratch built planes.

I'll be 47 in Mar

regards,
Rick "catdaddy" Blankenship

btw
TGD age ranges from 11 to 81

Darn! I was hoping to win: a lifetime supply of Viagra.

I got my first model aircraft for my 11th birthday(after months of nagging, according to my Mother) It was an Airsail Sportsman with a Katipo 1.5cc diesel. My memory of how well I built it is probably now viewed with rose tinted glasses I spent a loooong time with my mates at the local park one Sunday flicking and flicking with not even the odd "burp" until an old guy (in his twenties..... ) came over and started it in about 10 seconds. He was God-like to us, showed us his RC scale model in his car boot. The first flight was not quite a complete lap, but by the end of the day I was running out the tank. I have been hooked on model aircraft since that day, mainly free flight power, but with plenty of control line and a bit of silent radio as well. Tomorrow I'm driving to Carterton for the New Zealand National Model Flying Champs which last for 5 days. I'll be flying F2B, classic stunt, 3 RC classes, and 7 Free flight classes

All this and at 46 I even help drag down the average, although, hopefully I'll eventually help to drag it up a lot

42 in February... Some of my earliest memories are of my dads planes, he was the king of fingers in the prop! I was his stooge for many a year until he bought me a solid balsa trainer with a old beat-up McCoy .35. He had a few planes and powered them with the best engine ever made... a Stallion .35! It layed open his fingers and hauled anything he put it on. I still have it to this day. One day his cousin, Hoyt "Hawk" Hawkins came by and gave me an OS Max steel finned .35 and I then had the best engine ever made. I still have the trainer plane, too. I built it when I was 11. Unfortunatly, the OS Max was stolen. It was Hawk who taught me how to fly, at least how to keep a plane in the air! I used the same technique Hawk used with me to teach my son Aaron (8) how to fly this fall. Just last weekend he flew out his first full tank of fuel.
I owe a huge thanks to Hawk, if not for him I would probably not returned to the hobby anytime soon. Two years ago he sent me a Brodak Zero, I pulled the contents from the box and said "Oh no!" way too nice a plane for my skill level... I am ready to build 'er now though! I have a couple other planes in the works, but The Zero will be very soon.
My dad died in 1983 and I miss flying with him terribly. He would be having a ball with his grandson/children!

Phil, how is Hoyt doing? I live "up the road" from him and haven't heard from him in a while.

Ty, Thanks for asking about Hoyt...

Parkinson's continues to rob him of the ability to do the things we (most) take for granted. He keeps on keepin' on though. I had the extreme pleasure of visiting him, with my son Aaron, this past October and we had a great time... Something to that Alabama hospitality! Hoyt gets out and golfs almost every morning (weather permitting) not only does he seriously enjoy golf, it is good for him to stay active with the Parkinson's. On our visit, we had a chance to fly... He stepped up and flew a profile Texan A-6 with an OS .40 four stroker... Even though he has some difficulty going around in circles he can still fly the pattern with competition precision. It was the first and only time I ever got to see him fly. (since I was a kid, anyway)

I wish I could say that he got to see me fly beyond a few seconds, but I crashed the **** out of his Sterling Hellcat... I shipped the pieces home and it's on my (re)building table now...I am building him a Ringmaster that I will send to him as soon as I can finish it.

Hawk sure stays busy, probably more than I would if I was in his shoes. But you don't retire an Air Force Major by being a whimp!

The only drawback from visiting Alabama is now I want to move there!

If you do move here, you can join our club, the North Alabama Controline Association. Hoyt is an associate member as are Tom Morris and John Simpson. How's that for name dropping??

Well,

I guess that I will turn middle age in another year and a few days. I define middle aged as someone who has passed his 60th birthday!
Well lets see exactly 381 days I guess?

I was beginning I was the oldest one here but a few of you are close to my age.

Born in 1936 makes me 67. I have a photo of me at about 2 yrs old standing next to a wheel of a biplane and the wheel is taller than me. My dad was a coal miner and mom a housewife. Airplanes have been a hobby of mine almost all my life. We have 3 sons that were exposed to the hobby and only one has stayed with it.

Tom Wilk - Steve Wilks Dad
Duluth, MN}>

I'm 18 years old. Been flying CL planes for 6 years now and loving it!

06-06-40 make me 63. flew free flight from 46-75,contest free flight from 56-75. started in rc in 1955 and have flown controline from 49 till now. I did very well in the notheast in free flight some of you may remember me. I tried for the us team didn't make it but did qualify for the Canada team in the 60's.

well im 46 and counting and got my 16 yr old son into it as im just getting back to it from back in highschool when i was learning to fly back then in the early 70's

steve

the superglue kid}>

44 last July, C/L since about '70 or '71, had some rather lengthy lapses from the circle, but always had a plane either under construction, or in repair. Some of the repair jobs took over a decade!Still have a modified Ringmaster that I last crashed in 93 or 94, almost done fixing that ugly beast, it suffered more in being moved cross country 3 times than the damage from the original crash in Detroit.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great new year of flying and friendship.

Bill Heher

If it's broke - fixit
If it ain't broke -
let me see it for a minute

I am 35. I have been flying since 1991 and learned the pattern in 1994. My brother got me started in this CL thing and I cant seem to shake it, nor would I ever want to.

I am 62 and plan to live forever or die trying!

11-03-65 That makes me 38.

First C/L experience were in 72. Mom worked in the hobby store in Methuen Mass mall and would bring home a trunk full of Christmas returns, amoungst them were a Cox Mustang and the infamous red plastic job that would snap back together after you dorked it. Never had much success getting those engines running, shortend the lines and just whipped them around alot.

Moved to Florida, met up with Ed Ruane & Bill Whitson (Bill's now gone) and they took me under their wing and showed me the ropes of real control line. Got married, put down C/L for 14 years or so, picked it back up again about 6 years ago with a call from Ed to come fly one weekend. Am hooked for life now.

I consider myself a retread, and feel that is the actual way we will pick up youth. Expose it to them when they are young, and even if a brief or poor experience, they will remember it fondly (funny how time plays with memories) and may become a sort of retread themsleves. Our club has picked up members that may have only had one good flight as a kid, remember it vividly, and now want a shot at doing it right!

I really don't feel we will get many kids into our clubs, since it will require parental involvement, unless the parent is already a flyer. The new members we should be looking for are the baby boomers and Gen X crowd that have already had a taste and want to come back, while at the same time doing things like Doug Dahlke does to get the kids exposed to C/L for the first time.

My .02 cents

I'll put my post down here with the "youngsters"... I like what Gary said: "...my brain still thinks I'm about 18."

My body (such as it is) will be 48 in April...

Tim

Hey guys, I'm 52 and I think I started flying when I was about 12 or so. Back yard stuff 1/2a Flite Streaks, Ringmasters, Lil Jumpin' Bean etc.. My Dad and my older brother were my inspiration as their building skills were so much better than my own. I stopped flying c/l when I got out of high school and went into the service. I've tinkered with R/C for many years and never could get really hooked. About a year ago my brother and I decided to build a control line model just for the heck of it. Now I'll tell you that first trip out to the center of the circle was so exciting I can't begin to describe it! It's like I'm 12 years old again! Anyway I'm back and it appears that I'm of about the average age. Thank you Leonard for this forum and thanks to all the people that participate on it...this site has been a major source of knowledge and inspiration for this "retread".

I’m 38 years old. I started flying at 12 with a foam wing Cox Crusader. After crashing that one dozens of times I started building CG Jumping Beans, Lil Satans and such. My father used to fly CL in the 50’s and 60’s. I was lucky enough to learn the basics from him. I still have a couple of the models that he built (Magician, Half Fast and a bashed Ringmaster). We got out and flew his Magician last summer and it flew great for a plane that has been hanging on the basement wall for approximately 40 years.

A look like I’m in with the babies of the group pulling the average down, but that’s a good thing.

I am 43 and getting older. Thank God.
When you stop getting older, you're death.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-26-03 AT 03:40 PM (CDT)
 
I'm 37.......will be 38 May 3Rd.

Started flying around 10 as near as dad and I can recall. Been in and out of the hobby a couple times and even tried R/C for a short while. Been back about 4 years now and loving stunt more than ever.

I am 23 years old and have been flying since I was about 11yrs old. My first airplane was a COX Cessna 150 Aerobat. I flew actively until I was 19 and then I discovered girls and cars. I started flying again when I was 22 and am still loving it. I don't know how I was able to walk away from it because I had a blast this past summer. I am looking forward to having fun for years to come!

I'm 29 for another three weeks...
There are at least three younger lads in the vicinity who fly CL and a few only a little older. Started aeromodelling at 11 or 12 years old and entered CL with a Cox baby bee a year later. Now I'm a year back into it after a 10 year break and about to head off to the NZ Nationals...

A.

I am 42 and have been building and flying since I was around 11. I had been flying R/C only up to a couple of years ago when a friend got me flying C/L again. I Dusted off the old airplanes and had a blast. This brought back feelings I had when I flew as a teenager. I enjoy the different challenges that C/L stunt offers as well as the people I meet.

Robert

36 (born before the classic cut off but just barely)

Soon to be 62 (Feb, 04) and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!

Started in '53. Flew off and on until 1960 (Mostly off after I found cars and girls). Around '65, I started flying again with a group of guys in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Dropped out again around '72 but flew some RC thru about '84.

Just recently retired and decided to get back into control line for something to do. Thru this forum, I have reunited with the old gang from the "Falls" and we are back at it again. The guys are members of the North Coast Controliners and I joined too. Meeting a lot of nice guys who all share a love for control line flying. We have a pretty diverse group with varied interests. I can't tell you how much more fun it is at this age. (Guess I don't need to ! )

A quick chart thru 81 responses and 60 definite age declarations shows the ever present 'Baby Boomer Bulge'. The simple average age - 51...

You missed mine as I forgot to put my age on it. only how many years I had been flying.

My age is 73. Going to fly til I'm 90.

Bigiron

Actually, your age is the only one I took a stab at. You've been flying for 67 years, I figured you started at age 4, made you 71.

Steve ..

> You missed mine as I forgot to put my age on it. only how
>many years I had been flying.
>
> My age is 73. Going to fly til I'm 90.
>
> Bigiron

Nah, I got a late start in life. I was a whole six years old when I finally got started.
Bigiron

WOW !!!!

leon99:+

59 years old and modeling for at least 50 years of that.

I will be 64 in February. Started with solid models (Strombecker) when I was about 7.
Steve

January 4, 1959. I'll be 45 years old a week from this Sunday.

Learned to fly CL with a Swordsman 18 . Then learned more with a Jr. Flite Streak, and a Goldberg Shoestring. Have played with models all my life, never really quit. And I did discover girls too (managed to hook up with a very nice one, and she is "airplane friendly"). I've always had wide ranging interests: Contest FF, Indoor FF, CL, rockets, and RC gliders.

I'm double nickle, but since I was born again in 84 I can say I'm 19.

Started flying at 14, with a small model powered by a Fuji engine.

Soon I bought a WB .15, a lousy made in Brazil diesel engine.

I was living in Brasilia, my dad was making the physics department of the University.

I started flying "combat" with a neighbor called Alex Ribeiro, who later became a Formula 1 pilot and now is the leader of "Atletas de Cristo", an evangelistic organization.

http://www.atletasdecristo.org/index.cfm

Well, our field was the parking lot of the condo were we lived, and we had important guys living there, congressmen, judges of the Supreme Court, etc.

After a dozen "combat" sessions the big shots that ran the country noticed that their black official cars were turning into a "God knows what" color, due to the stuff that came from our engines...

Alex bought an Enya .29 and I got me a fox combat engine, but then his dad gave him a 50cc bike, and I lost the friend, he stopped flying and was very busy chasing the local chicks with his new wheels.

Frustrated because my pop didn't hive ma a moped ("no way, son, you can get killed!") I sold all my stuff and bought a bunch of jazz records, started learning the sax and became a musician.

Some 5 or 6 years ago I was strolling by the field were I fly today

All I needed was a whif of that metanol/castor smoke; I ran to a hobby shop, bought me a fox .35, a Jupiter kit, and I was back to business!

This age thing is funny, I have a friend my age that gave up stunt because of his "loosing his reflexes", the same ones that I am now aquiring. Go figure that!

God bless you all!

In Christ,

Almost 57. I flew for a short time when I was about 29, but didn't start again until about 2 years ago. After watching Bob Gieseke fly at 70 years old, I thought, Man he is really still just about 29. I decided I must tap into his fountain of youth. I do have an 11 yr. old grandson who flies with me occasionally.

I just turned 35 in October. Getting old I suppose.

If somebody is still plotting this data, Kent Tysor should be entered, he is 36.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-30-03 AT 04:19 PM (CDT)
 
As someone may actually be putting this information to use, I am 58 years old as of November.

One of my goals is too not mature into any sort of curmudgeon, thus on the weekends I make it a point to listen to NPR (National Palestinian Radio).

41 years old, too young to know control line, old enough to not let it bug me.

Paul H.

Happy New Year to you too Dan and don't worry about maturing into an old curmudgon. Can't happen.

You are already one except for the OLD.

Marvin aka Bigiron

Women never tell their age...

Mary- I know I've lowered the average!

Just a guess=29?

I turned 47 last august. My father gave me
my first control line model when I was six
years old. I'm not sure of the make but I
remember it being a yellow Corsair.
I never in all those years took a prolonged
break from control line flying. I did get
into r/c for 10 years but kept up the c/l
flying.
Now is one of the best times in c/l history
to be involved in the sport.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I'm 20. Have been flying for nearly eight years. Not so active right now because of college (second year at Virginia Tech in aerospace engineering... really cool stuff!). Currently on the Design, Build, and Fly Team there. Building a Dove-60 (hybrid of Stan Powell's Dove and Randy Smith's SV designs) at home (slowly but surely). Hello again to everyone!

Kevin Stewart
"Carolina Gang" aka Metrolina Control Line Society
Rock Hill, SC

I'm the "pretend" speed limit, for another month anyway.

I'm 46. Scratch built 1st plane at 14 and pretty much built planes on and off since. Very little flying, however. Saw the pattern for the 1st time at Brodak 99 and been hooked ever since.
Dave Reyes

Are we talking at heart or physically?

Whatever you are comfortable with divulging...

leon99:P

30. Went to my first contest in Union, NJ in 1983 and have been hooked on stunt ever since then.

56. also fat. median age (and weight) for my club.

I'm 40, and back with the hobby after a 22 year absence. Now, I cant get enough "airplanes", and I'm an A&P mechanic. These forums have only made this hobby better, good to be with a great bunch of guys........

LAST EDITED ON Dec-31-03 AT 09:25 PM (CDT)
 
I'm 68. Learned to fly CL with great difficulty in '53 and been at it, with a couple of gaps, ever since. I have also done some FF glider and power, and CL racing. I'm in a second (maybe third or fourth) childhood and glorying in doing things, particularly with model airplanes, that I only dreamed of when I was young and vigorous.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-01-04 AT 01:31 AM (CDT)
 
Forty eight. Happy 2004

Sixty-Three and counting...

46 and still having fun.

Is 61 too old to learn how to fly ?

LAST EDITED ON Jan-03-04 AT 09:34 PM (CDT)
 
Not in my book. 61 and counting!! Transfered out of beginner last year. And if I learn any more this year I may be transfering out of Intermediate.......To old to learn is not an option!!

Only if you are way over 61 in spirit!! Only thing stopping you is 1. wife. 2. desire. 3. too involved with toy trains. 4. chasing gurls.

I'm 45 and still can't fly worth a hoot.

I'm 53 today - got another one coming up in 16 days - along with Robert E. Lee, but he stopped having them I think. My first C/L experience was with my oldest brother at the church parking lot in 1958 (age 8 then) - I launched his Barnstormer for him and remember clearly the smell of the exhaust from that Fox .35. Today that motor is installed in my cardboard (no joke) version of that model and it flies well............smells the same too! Picture here is of me at age 9 with MY first airplane - rubber powered balsa kit of the Cessna 150. First C/L model was a Buster in about 1960 - and it got "busted" after its first quarter lap - learned about soldering leadouts! Good times! You're as young as you feel / think.

Just Joe

Hi Leon,

Oh to be 61 again! I am 69 and still hacking balsa and flying. However my 30 year old planes are a bit heavy now. Have to build my next planes lighter and have them fly slower.

I can't see getting too old to prime a Fox 35 and pull the prop thru. Just trust that is way down the road for all of us. A young friend did loan me his electric starter at the Brodak Fly-In so I could get my Stallion going in the Corsair. It started it fine but I didn't get in the air before I got in the water. That's what I mean about my planes being too heavy!

Hope we all have a lot of building and flying time left before we go to that star spangled control line circle in the sky where Fox 35s and Cox 049s all start on the first flip, there are no warps, the CG is always correct, there is no water in the fuel, and all paint is fuel proof!

Keep 'em Flying (it makes Uncle Sam Happy)

Not as old on average as I thought. To add to the pile:

Bowman: 57, Kennedy: 67, Minor: 61, Me: 61, Finnigan: 50, Mustion: 46, Faith: 55-56 (not sure) Cooper: 62, DJ: 14, Whitson: 14.

John, you young punks just clutter up the place. I wasn't here before dirt, but I got a collector's sample saved back from the first batch. It will be antique some day.
Bigiron.

Lew Woolard is somewhere around78 or 79 I think.

Bigiron

Old as dirt! Reminds me of the same type sayings we used in the fleet such as: I remember when Christ was a mess cook (Army version was when he was a corporal). I was a seaman on the ark and Noah was just an ensign.
When I turned 50 my wife enrolled me in AARP, I did not think it was funny. Still "ain't".