“I became enamored with the remote control hobby when I was just 8 yrs old. I started out with on track cars (hot wheels) at the age of 2. Then, electric AFX tracks at the age of 6 and suddenly noticed the remote control hobby appear. One Day,while I was walking home from school, I noticed an older gentleman with his garage door open to a back alley. I was interested to see, he had a lot of model airplanes! I stopped by one spring day and he invited me in for a Look. He introduced himself to me and his hobby, Remote controlled airplanes. This was in 1972, and I knew I was hooked. I started studying what was out there, and what I could acquire for starting out, with little or no money, as I was just a child. There wasn’t an internet yet, so when I could, I would ask my mom to take me to the toy departments of K-Mart, Woolworth’s and Radio Shack. I quickly added to my Christmas wish list “Anything Remote Controlled Please.” Meanwhile, my focus remained on electric track racing with friends and we would spend many happy hours customizing our little cars. Building model cars of all sorts became a big part of my intense interest as well. One day, for my Birthday, I had received my first remote control Jeep. I Loved that Jeep and played with it every chance I could get a fresh set of batteries. Eventually, I purchased a Ni-cad battery charger from Radio shack and played with that Jeep until it broke to the point It became toast. I sure got many hours of enjoyment from my Very First Remote Control Toy! I also began playing with paper air planes a lot more after I had been inspired by this kind older gentleman and his garage full of parts and projects and Remote Controlled everything! . Kites were always fun to fly, especially when there was a challenge of flying them when there was no wind! I became bored with my toys, because nothing could measure up to this incredible Remote Control Jeep.I wished for something a little more advanced. One beautiful April Day It happened! My brother, Todd and I, received the Best Birthday gifts ever! A gas powered cox line tethered air plane. It was Sooo cool and Race car fast. I had friends that had similar toys and we would get together on weekends to play with self propelled vehicles. We were about 10 years old. I have always had an interest for building and designing, I would sit in my room for hours, and design on paper, different flying ideas and even draft house designs. Art became a big part of my life in school. As I grew up entering middle school, a couple friends and I were building a lot of things like go carts and remote controlled model car kits. Back in the seventies RC toys were very expensive. We as friends, grew up with many interests and hobbies and especially loved outdoor activities like hiking, biking, camping and fishing! One of my most memorable moments was in grade eight. We had a teacher that was a small plane pilot and taught us some aeronautics and even took some of us up to fly his Cessna plane. As I was 14, I acquired my learners permit driving licence and began a project rebuilding a 1972 Datsun 510 car. I painted this car and rebuilt the suspension and rebuilt and installed a bigger engine and standard transmission. At 16 I was allowed to drive my very own car. After I graduated high school, I moved to the big city of Calgary Alberta, a flat long 3 hour Prairie drive from my small hometown of Medicine Hat Alberta. In Calgary, I apprenticed in automotive mechanics. During the first year in Calgary, I enlisted in the military to become a aero-engine, aero-frame and aeronautics engineer. After the amount of time it took for them to finally accept me, my life had changed and my plans had changed. I started working for a very creative company that worked with the hardest rock in the world “Granite”, at this point I apprenticed for this career. I had started back into my boyhood passion once again building remote controlled cars and trucks. I also started into building airplanes and multi copter models. At this point I would dabble in the hobby as I had time. After 15 years in my career, I decided to move back to my childhood home and help my mom after the death of my father and start my own granite manufacturing company. To this day I own and operate a mostly automated operation of granite manufacturing and have immersed myself deep into my hobby which includes auto cad design and 3D printing of my own parts and pieces. I now include my grandson of 6 and even my nieces who are 7 and 8 yrs old in a hobby that I believe has played an instrumental function in the success i have achieved in my life. Without this hobby my grandson and nieces would not have the opportunity I have had to experience such joy that started at a very young age. I share my passion with the world on instagram “granitemanaj_fpv”, email “rcgraniteman@gmail.com” My company “MTM Granite Ltd” website,” www.mtmgranite.ca” So…. Here you go! This is my story. I went from having nothing to achieving success in my business, personal and my hobby filled life. Please, do not take away from our future generations, the opportunity to enjoy a world inspiring hobby of flight. Respectfully, Arlen Jalbert 1-403-528-0070 Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada”