1988 Model Airplanes

1988 Our lives in America
Probably January 1988   Yes the weather really is this good in mid-winter Lost Angeles. I go flying my Kareela II at Mile Square Park. Probably circa February, 1988   Paintwork on new plane is finished. ModelAirplanesUSA 0043 a I even put a few ink lines on it - my hands don't shake at this time of my life.
Powered by an ST.60 with a chrome liner. Early 1988   I have a brand new plane that has never flown and I take it to Clovis. Bob Whitely flies it and says, "Do this, this and this and then go fly it."   I duly do as I'm told and fly it for the first time in a contest. I score 492 points which is pretty reasonable. Bob is out of planes having crashed his Laser in Tucson so he retrieves this old plane, shoe-horns a .60 in it, and flies that. Jim's new plane is finished and it looks immaculate.
My new plane is finished April 30, 1988   We are on our way for another a contest in Fresno. Ted Fancher asks me to stop in and see a stunt legend, Bob Palmer, and pick up one of Bob's models. Ted will the take it back east with him to put it in the AMA Museum. He was delighted that his plane was to be honoured in such a way. When I created our Kuringai Model Flying Club logo later on in Sydney, I used the Thunderbird as the focal point of the logo. The club still uses the logo in 2022.
He is very fiendly and here, he chats with Bob Whitely. Kaz Minato is with us and later comments that he has met a legend, a person that he'd read so much about as a youngster in Japan. My plane is newly finished and poses with a famous plane, now 28 years old. Jim Armour at Marie Callender's in Fresno. Marie Callender's is a restaurant chain with 29 locations in California, Nevada, and Utah. Its main claim to fame is its pies. Me and Kaz
Jenni and Jim Bob and Jim The new plane has its first flight this day in Fresno Bob flies it first and says, "Do this, this and this and it will be ready to fly." This plane still exists in the roof of our house in Mount Colah.
I name my new model Kareela III and power it with an ST60. Kaz also brings a new model. Jim brings a new model. Jim's designs are simple but perfectly executed. Bob is building a new model for the forthcoming US Nationals at Virginia Beach in August 1988. He calls it L.A. Heat and it has twin engines; this is most unusual.
Ted with his Citation V chatting with Kaz. Kaz wins. This is Gid Addkison's new Laser, number 3 in the series. This is his lightest so far at 72 ounces. One day, when flying at Mile Square Park, the plane feels weird so I run it around and around until it runs out of fuel. I discover, on landing, that a pin has fallen out of the control system and the flaps are disconnected from the elevators.
Sunday July 24, 1988   I attend the 1988 Nationals in Virginia Beach and shortly after, my aeromodelling activities in America cease.   End of this segment