When did you start and what did you fly??

As the title really, tell us all when you started to fly and what did you learn with!

I started flying as a small boy around 10 or so I flew some battered old thing my dad could't bear to throw away, but never went solo, I gave it all up to follow my dream of being a drunk footballer, that failed so i took up RC cars and really enjoyed it, however once i started to compete the costs spiraled and i was getting the hump!

So one fine september about 5 years ago (2002/3) Myself, Dad and Rich were at the Llyn flyin and they talked me into a Wildthing EPP glider, I twiddled and crashed that many times on the orme before being let loose on one of dads other "I'll keep that for a rainny day" models a Hooligan with I think a Irvine 52 up frount, I used that right through to my A!

M

Started flying control line around the age of twelve down in Towyn with John Bowman and a few others we used to fly on the land between the railway and the sea wall. We used to keep crowds of holidaymakers entertained flying bouts of combat. Eventually progressed to R/C with Futaba "M"series gear in a Kamco Kadet for my trainer. I still love to play with a C/L model now and again as there's something about that feeling of being phyically connected to your model that hits the spot for me

Started aeromodelling at the tender young age of 11 with chuck gliders followed by a Keil Kraft Playboy rubber powered cabin jobby. Next big step was onto C/L with a Keil Kraft Phantom Mite powered by a Davis Charlton Bantam glow engine.
Then in 1975 I took the plunge into the wonderfull world of R/C with a DB Tyro fitted with a Futaba Digimax 27 Mhz RX and massive servos (they had five wires, some earlier servos even had seven!). The engine was a trusty Enya .09. As a point of interest that was in the days when the club used to fly up at Pen-Y-Bryn farm just outside St. Asaph. This model served me well until the day I flew it into a tree. Since then have been in the hobby on and off and built and crashed many planes.
I also got into slope soaring around 1977 my first soarer was a Ripmax Ivnghoe, (a pig to fly used to tip stall like blazes), followed by the famous Veron Impala and a string of others including a scale Slingsby Skylark IV.
I clould go on but I won't bore you any longer.

I started flying RC a feew years back now, when I was at University (doing an Aero Engineering degree that finished 6 years ago now!). Having a little full size flying under my belt, I foolishly thought that I could teach myself to fly RC planes....

After a trip to Steve Webbs, I came away armed with a Zagi 480Si, a pair of suitable battery packs, and a Hitec transmitter. The build was dead easy, flying was not! It took me a good few weekends to get the hang of not trying to fly through the ground, but once it all clicked, that was it! Since then I have made it my aim to try all branches of model flying, and I am slowly discovering what I enjoy the most.

Currently I seem to really like flying gliders off the flat field (especially ones with an electric motor on board, and enough power for "brisk" climbs). 3D flying is not really my cup of tea, and this year I'll be trying helicopters (Trex500) good and proper, and also Jets

Cheers
Andy

Started aeromoddeling young with various rubber powerd ff models, still remember watchin my kk senator dissapear over the hedgerows towards dyserth never to be seen again......

Began rc flying about 5 years ago with a zagi and taught myself to fly on a local football feild, crashed a lot.

It's funny how a lot of Aeromodellers start off with a Rubber Fetish....

I'm a bit different though, I have a strange affinity for electricity.... Shocking!

Andy

I started model flying quite late by todays standards at the ripe age of 29 17years ago, I had an old tyro major I bought of a work colleague to be honest during my learning years I thought I just wouldn't get it together to fly solo let alone get the dreaded "A" cert. Second model was a Flair Hooligan this didn't help at all after numerous crashes I bought a Cosmos trainer Charlie Cornes had finished with (in the company colours of Blue & yellow I'm sure he still has some of that covering left today) this was the turning point for me with me passing my "A", "B", & Examiners tests, I must say I owe a lot to Lester Watkins, Gary Gilmore, Charlie Cornes, Jeremy Matthews & several others long left this planet, what excellent tutors they all were, nothing to much trouble.

From then on it's just keep learning, practice & of course spend a lot of money.