Pa Pa Ramon A. Torres, as most of us
grew to know him, started modeling
airplanes in 1933 at the age of 10. He
made nonflying models from cigar boxes.
Young Ramon grew up with several kids
who became modelers and later selected
careers in the field of full-scale aviation in
their native Cuba. Ramon had wanted to
join his friends in this field, but parental
pressure and influence prompted him to
enter the field of electronics.
By the mid-1950s, Ramon worked for
AT&T in Havana, Cuba, and opened one
of only two hobby shops in the country.
His wife Victoria worked in the shop
during the day, and he worked there in the
evenings. Victoria became proficient with
Control Line (CL) models during this
time.
Pa Pa Torres was the first to fly Radio
Control (RC) models in Cuba, using the
old escapement systems in a model called
the Mambo. This was during the time
when many of the powered RC models
were still hand-launched. He was tagged
with the nickname “nine-thirty” because
he’d get to the field with the model at 9
a.m., and he would be heading home by
9:30 with all the pieces in hand.
Ramon came to Miami, Florida, in
1955 with a large contingent of Cuban
modelers to compete in the second King
Orange International competition. He took
second place in the “Radio Control Single
Channel” category. The trophy is still
sitting in the family trophy room. His son
Ramon duplicated the win 20 years later
with the same placing in the same
competition, but by then it was called the
Tangerines International.
Ramon L. Torres (Ramon Sr.)—the
second generation—was born in 1956 and
started flying CL models around the
hobby shop at approximately age 3.
Fortunately for his family, his father
realized Castro’s real intentions early
enough that he was able to sell the shop
and everything else he had. They
immigrated to Miami in 1960. Ramon’s
dad took a job with the Fontainebleau
Hotel in roughly 1961 as a lighting and
sound engineer, where he worked until he
retired in 1988.
Ramon Sr. says that the earliest time
he can remember flying in the US was in
1966 or 1967.
“We started with a single channel
model,” he said. “My dad somehow
managed to put together enough money to
buy me one of Testors’ ‘ARF’ models,
with the plastic fuselage and foam wings.
A little .049 Testors engine was included
for power. It didn’t last very long, but we
used the radio in several other models.”
Because of his dad’s electronics
background, Ramon was able to assemble
a Controlaire Galloping Ghost system,
which gave them rudder/elevator and
throttle. He put the radio in an Andrews
H-Ray, and they managed to fly the
airplane successfully without rekitting the
model, at least on the first flight.
Ramon watched for what seemed to be
endless hours as his dad assembled a
Heathkit proportional radio, which came
in kit form at the time. Can you imagine
that now? This was one of the first
economical proportional radios on the
market that brought with it reliability.
Ramon’s dad built several Heathkits,
which were used for many years.
Ramon Sr.’s first attempt at building
models was like that of most baby
boomers who were really into aviation of
any kind during this time. He built Free
Flight (FF)
and CL
models as a
youngster,
but after
watching
his first
model
catch a
thermal
and
disappear,
he decided
Free Flight
wasn’t for
him. CL
models
such as the
Ringmaster and other 1⁄2A kits were the
norm for many of us during that time,
including Ramon.
“Many of the modeling friends my dad
grew up with later became very influential
in Cuban aviation both before and after
Castro’s taking over power,” said Ramon
Sr. “Some of them were involved in the
Bay of Pigs and other covert operations
against Castro.”
His dad’s friends never lost their love
of modeling and are still active in the
hobby today. In the 1960s and 1970s
Ramon’s dad’s friends would come by the
Torres home when they were in Miami,
and Ramon Sr. would sit for hours
listening to stories about flying.
He built a variety of models with his
20 MODEL AVIATION
Three Generations of Scale Modelers
Ramon A. “Pa Pa” Torres hand-launches a
Mambo while spectators look on.
Pa Pa Torres is shown calling for his son in 1987.
In this next-generation shot, Ramon L. calls for his son Ramon
Jr. in Team Scale at the Scale Nationals.
Pa Pa Torres’s Miramar
Hobbies in Cuba. Victoria is
behind the counter, and
Ramon L. Torres is in the
foreground.
Continued on page 27
03sig1.QXD 12.19.02 2:20 pm Page 20
dad, including a Royal Cessna 310, a P-51
Mustang, a Sig Clipped Wing Cub, and
numerous Ugly Stiks. In the early 1970s
Quarter Midget, Ugly Stik, and Quickie
500 racing was popular in South Florida,
and most weekends were spent racing or
preparing for a race.
In 1972 Ramon Sr. bought a Sig
Chipmunk, which resembled the current
crop of purpose-built fun-fly aircraft with
a profile fuselage and plastic shells. This
airplane would have a significant, lifelong
impact on Ramon, but he didn’t know it at
the time. Ramon and his dad started to
work with fiberglass and vacuum-forming
to improve the model. They learned new
processes which resulted in a new canopy
and cowling for the model. The modified
Sig Chipmunk was used successfully in
competition for several years.
Ramon started college in Gainesville,
Florida, in 1974. He continued with racing
for approximately a year, but the rules
started changing and he didn’t have the
time or money that it required while in
college. He had a greater interest in
building Scale models at that time, and he
still pursues that interest today.
Ramon’s modeling background led him
to a degree in aerospace engineering and
an MBA. He won an AMA scholarship for
$500 in 1974; some people wouldn’t think
that was much, but every bit helps.
Modeling is a great influence on kids in
many aspects.
In roughly 1975, a friend of Ramon’s
dad from Cuba named Fred Campos was
visiting his parents in Miami. Fred is a
master Scale builder, and at that time he
was working for the Beech Aircraft
Corporation in Wichita, Kansas.
“He saw that dad and I had an
unfinished Sig T-34A kit hanging from the
wall,” said Ramon. “He told us that
Beechcraft was about to deliver the new
turbine-powered T-34C to the U.S. Navy
and he would send us photos and scale
information on the aircraft.”
Fred made sure that they had photos
and three-views of the T-34C before the
Navy had received its first delivery. The
Sig kit was quickly modified to the C
version, and they competed with it at the
1976 National Championships. Ramon Sr.
placed fifth in Sport Scale that year.
According to him, he was beat out of
fourth place by a “big, old guy” named
George Buso who flew a Piper Navajo.
(George later became team manager of the
1990 and 2000 FAI Scale teams, of which
Ramon Sr. was a member.)
Later, Ramon Sr. made 1⁄5-scale threeview
scale drawings from the ones Fred
Campos provided. He drew these on his
desk in the college dorm. While attending
college, he would commute back home to
Miami on weekends with drawings and
fuselage plug in hand. He and his dad
made the molds there. The new T-34C
flew in 1978, and Ramon Sr. graduated in
1979.
Other models followed the T-34, such
as the Beechcraft King Air, Baron,
Bonanza, and the Cessna O-2A
Skymaster. Marriage and kids came along
during that time, as well as new business
opportunities in full-scale aviation and as
a model-kit manufacturer. Ramon Sr. has
completed engineering work on
everything from Cessna 150s to Boeing
747s while flying many types of civil
aircraft. He enjoys flying and working on
the full-scale aircraft, but he says that he
still receives more satisfaction and
enjoyment from building and flying Scale
models.
Ramon Sr. competed into the 1980s
and 1990s, and his achievements included
two Scale Masters Championships wins,
several Nationals wins, a Top Gun
Designer Scale win, and membership on
six FAI Scale RC (F4C) teams.
However, the team of Torres and Torres
broke apart abruptly with the passing of
Pa Pa Torres in April 2000. Ramon Sr.
competed in the 2000 World
Championships in Switzerland, but instead
of having his father at his side, his caller
was 11-year-old Ramon A. Torres.
In a sea of graying hair this year, there
was one Junior AMA competitor at the US
Scale Masters Championships; Ramon
Torres Jr. came to compete as the third
generation of Torres family members who
enjoy Scale competition.
In July of this year, Ramon Jr. flew his
dad’s T-34C to a second-place finish at
the RC Scale National Championships.
That was only his second Scale
competition. He also flew Ramon Sr.’s A-
36 Bonanza to a first-place finish in Fun
Scale Novice. The first contest in which
Ramon Jr. competed was earlier this year
at Sarasota, Florida.
Ramon Jr.’s mom let her guys take a
week off from school and work this fall to
attend the Scale Masters. The 13-year-old
eighth-grade student attends Renaissance
Middle School in Miramar, Florida. That
week in October, he flew his dad’s design
to a win in Team Scale, continuing a
family tradition of aeromodeling
competition which goes back to the 1930s.
I believe their results and success
surprised even his mom.
Look for Ramon Jr. in Sportsman or
Fun Scale Expert next year at a contest
near you. I hope he inspires other young
modelers to get into competition. Ramon
Sr. says that it is very satisfying to see
Ray Jr.’s successes, and that his only
regret is that the “old man” isn’t around to
see his grandson win.
Inspire, mentor, and teach young
people about model aviation!
My thanks to Ramon Torres Sr. for his help
and cooperation in writing this piece. MA
—Stan Alexander
March 2003 27
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Continued from page 20
Three Generations …
03sig1.QXD 12.19.02 2:22 pm Page 27
