Flying Site Assistance
Joe Beshar | [email protected]
This month I want to share correspondence I’ve received that may be of interest to you.
Letter of appreciation from Ron Kaplan
It is very rare that I write to any publication to report on any activity, good or bad. But once in a while something really good comes along and I believe it is worth mentioning. The club is the Metropolitan Sport Squadron that flies out of the Teaneck Armory in New Jersey.
This was my second attempt to join a flying club in the area. Boy, am I glad I found these guys. They are the most helpful, giving, and generally just a really nice bunch of guys that I have come across in a long time.
I am new to the hobby of model aircraft flying, whether it’s indoors or outdoors. I had tried a gas trainer plane at another club last summer, but to no avail. I couldn’t get the hang of it and didn’t get the proper support from the club members.
One day, surfing the Web, I went to that club’s Web site and noticed a picture of a friend of mine who was helping young kids learn to fly. I called him and told him of my problem and he invited me down to his electric club the following Wednesday.
Enjoying model planes of any type, I was taken immediately by the electric planes. Flying indoors you always have great weather and no wind! I am now a wonderfully pleased member of the Metropolitan Sport Squadron and have not missed a Wednesday in a year.
If it were not for some really great guys at this club, I would have given up the hobby. Most particular to mention are Tom Schiavone (whose picture I saw on the Web) who literally hand-fed me into the hobby and helped me greatly when I built my first biplane from scratch. Paul Conti, whom I believe has the patience of a saint, has been wonderful to me and has become an instant friend.
Art Valand, club president and just another really nice guy, has also helped with his constant comments (mostly good) and flying assistance. Others of importance and very helpful, whom I will miss, are Frank Pisano and Paul (Frank) Tumminia who have helped me with plans and general knowledge. And of course, Leon Shulman, my parts man, whom I also consider a friend. A special mention to Ken Carchietta who builds like no other modeler and flies as well as he builds. All are class acts.
This is what a club should be—a bunch of guys getting together to fly and help one another. Metropolitan Sport Squadron deserves recognition. It is, in my opinion, the best of the best.
Unfortunately I am moving out of the area soon and will sorely miss my Wednesday flying and the friendships that I have made in such a short time. Again, congratulations to the guys who have made Metropolitan Sport Squadron the club of clubs.
Tony Rossi — interview excerpt
Tony Rossi, ardent AMA modeler and employee of the Federal Insurance Corporation, was interviewed by Edward Ciocys. His views of the world of aeromodeling were expressed in the corporate newsletter.
Tony Rossi has been interested in radio-control (RC) flying since he was eight years old. Says Tony, “I was in a hobby shop in Newark, New Jersey, saw my first model airplanes, and knew that someday I wanted to build and fly them.
“A few years later, it was time. My father took me to a hobby and toy store called Tiny Tots in Greenbrook, New Jersey. I saw a model airplane I had to have, but couldn’t afford it. My father said I could get it once I’d saved enough money for it. So, I saved for about six months, and bought the plane.”
Tony didn’t get off to an auspicious start in the hobby, though. That first airplane took off, flew over the trees, then over the horizon, and was gone. When it came down, it came down hard, crashing in a remote field. It was then that Tony began saving up for his second RC model airplane.
With RC flying, it seems the biggest problem isn’t projects that don’t get off the ground, but what happens when projects do get off the ground. Tony’s second...
(Note: the interview excerpt provided here is incomplete.)
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
