About the author of Hobby-Zone-Airplanes.com
I was fortunate to grow up near a busy airport in Southern Oregon. My parent's house was about 1 mile (and aligned perfectly) with one of the busy runways at Klamath Falls International Airport. While growing up, I watched all kinds of airplanes, airliners, helicopters, and even fighter jets from the Oregon National Air Guard take off and land. Home to a busy fighter pilot training school, the fighters are always buzzing around. This quickly drew me into the world of aviation. I have fond memories of riding my bicycle to the airport and looking through the airport hangers. One year I watched Air Force One bring former President Ronald Reagan in for a landing during a visit to our town. At 14 I began taking flying lessons paying for them by mowing lawns. At 16 I soloed and I obtained my pilot's license by the time I was 18. Today I fly a Cessna 172 and Cessna 182 through my local flying club here in Eastern Oregon. I am blessed to still live close to aviation action. I have a busy helicopter pad used by the U.S. Forest Service in my backyard, and I am only a mile from Enterprise airport. My First Model Airplane Experiences: During my childhood I had a Cox model airplane that was controlled by line and it made you real dizzy to fly it. You had to spin around and around while you could control altitude only. I also had a foam R/C glider with rudder only control that I crashed on the first flight. (The wind was blowing around 30mph but I couldn't wait any longer to fly it so I did it anyway). I always wanted to fly radio control airplanes but the fact that you had to build them and the high prices kept me away from the hobby until one day........ A few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Hobby Zone Airplanes. He had also wanted to get involved in this great hobby so we each purchased a Hobby Zone Firebird IIST and flew them together for the first time the next morning. Needless to say, I was hooked! The feeling of piloting your very own model airplane brings a sense of accomplishment and freedom that you have to experience to understand. As I became more involved in flying R/C airplanes I realized that my area of Eastern Oregon didn't have a hobby shop or any good place to buy model supplies and other hobby related items. I decided to start Red Rocket Hobby Shop, and opened it in August of 2004. Today, we love to help new pilots get started flying model airplanes and helicopters. It is my hope that this website will help more people discover this great hobby. Let's go flying...... Matt Cross
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