My son’s first C/L build

Well, my son finished the first C/L plane he’s built, a Sig Skyray.  He painted it black and red, and we mounted a babe Bee with an 8cc stunt tank and TD P/C set, and a 5x3 safety prop.  We took it out this morning and he put a couple of flights on it.


I started out having him put a couple of flights on an Osbourne Platter to get him loosened up.  Then I gave him the choice of doing the maiden flight himself or having me do it.  He wanted me to do it so I flew it and trimmed out the control handle for level flight.  Then I fired it up and let him go.  He was a little nervous, and did a nice figure 9 on launch.  That was his first introduction into how tough the plane is.  The only damage was a broken prop.  A Cox 6x3 prop was bolted on and two more flights went well.  But, he’s used to Babe Bees, and the three minute flights were a little long for him.  We called it a morning, and we’ll go back out tomorrow after he does his college placement exams.  Here's his second full flight on the plane:


When we were out there, my son said something that made me more proud of him than I’ve ever been.  More proud than when he was the ring bearer the day I married his mother.  More proud than when he received his H.S. diploma a couple of months ago.  He said what every father dreams of someday hearing his son say: “You know what?  I’m really getting to like this smell.”    


The Button Popping Mark