Beat Summer Boredum---Build Model Planes

Grandpa & His Crew Getting Ready for Flight

Long before the Wright Brothers made their famous flight at Kitty Hawk, people were fascinated by the idea of flying through the air.

                                                                                                                            

Although model airplanes as we know them are a rather recent development, kids through the centuries have used different materials to make and fly their own versions of flying machines.

                                  

As a kid, I bought small model airplanes made of balsa that were simple to construct and that gave us endless pleasure competing with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood to see whose plane flew the highest, the longest, and the straightest. Most of our planes eventually crashed and were rendered useless after a few flights, but that didn’t faze us. As soon as we could scrounge up a few more pennies, we were back at the local dime store, choosing our next model airplane.

                                                                                                                          

These early model airplanes were printed on very thin sheets of balsa and could be punched out easily. Most of them had a slot in the middle where we inserted the wing and our plane was ready to go. Over the years, model flying has become much more complicated, but also much more fun.

                                                       

My husband, a model airplane enthusiast from long before I met him, has probably built a replica of every plane ever made up until about 1965 when he succumbed to another passion; actual flying, which led to him becoming a pilot and eventually purchasing his own plane.

                                                                     

Before this happened, though, he was so engrossed in working on his latest model, that I often had to call him twice or three times for dinner. I can tell you for sure that a person who really gets interested in building model airplanes will never be “bored.”

                                            

If this sounds like a practical solution to the, “I’m bored,” problem in your house this summer,  I’ll be back tomorrow  to offer a few suggestions on how to start.