Art Schmalz

HOW many times while driving to work have you wished that you could have stayed home to putter with your new model? Or better yet, wouldn't it be great to have a job that actually paid you to design, build and fly various types of airplanes and helicopters along with radio equipment, propulsion systems and accessories? Well for the last 16 years, this is what Dave Gray has been doing-making his hobby pay for itself and enjoying every minute of it. Dave recalls the first airplane he built back in 1943 when he was seven years old. It was a 25¢ version of the famous Hellcat, then making quite a name for itself overseas. Unfortunately, balsa wood was scarce, so the manufacturers resorted to cardboard and hardwood substitutions. The little rubber-powered planes were fun to build, but also very discouraging, since the glide angle resembled that of a brick. Dave took to carving "solid models," forerunners of today's plastic shelf models and kits usually were nothing more than several blocks of wood and a 3-view drawing.