My entry into the world of RC modeling came late. In September of 2007 I commandeered a corner of our unfinished basement and set out to create a work shop for producing the flying models I’d been daydreaming about since childhood (See Photo #1).

Enthusiastically, with little experience or clear concepts I gathered tools, references, supplies and some models. Some of these efforts turned out to be “learning experiences.”

I learned that micro-planes are not easy and inexpensive to build because they’re tiny. More likely the opposite is true – they demand painful precision and unforgiving exactness; and their electrical components tend to be more expensive than their larger brethren.

I learned that little mobile kitchen utility tables (four square feet) do not make for suitable building benches. The opposite is true – larger is better. Small building surfaces are a limiting compromise for construction.

I learned that this is an “expansive” hobby. Models come in small boxes, but the planes that emerge from those boxes tend to grow by the square of the box length. The cost of the finished model grows by at least the cube of the model cost, if not by some greater exponential.

I was blissfully unaware of environmental consequences. Everybody knows that model glue is hazardous, but this hobby can be down-right smelly, dusty, noisy, dangerous, and seriously unhealthful. It’s not an activity to casually bring into the house; especially, if one’s spouse is not...Continue Reading