“Ever since I was a kid I wanted to fly model airplanes. Unfortunately, growing up, my parents did not share this desire and I was not able to get into the hobby. School, college, early career, life took over and I find myself with two kids of my own. A couple of summers ago, my oldest, now 12 started watching the flite tests videos and it really took off from there. We both must have watched all available videos on the channel. It almost feels like you all are part of our family. Dinner conversations often start with: “Did you see the latest FliteTest video? I can’t believe they…”. My son really wanted to build one of the planes and we helped him het the foamboard, print the plans and let him build the FT Simple Cub. Well, in the end, it kind of provided the excuse I had needed to get into it myself. We got him the required electronics, motor, esc, servos etc. for Christmas that year. Flying has been a very different story. Without the assistance of experienced pilots I have to say that the learning curve to fly has been difficult for us, so I we have now joined a local club. We live in a pretty densely populated area which limits the areas we feel comfortable flying in. The best opportunities so far has been the local playground/baseball field in the dead of winter, when only crazy people are outside. So that is where flying at the AMA field will be easier soon. Even if we weren’t really flying, we kept building more models. To date, we have built the FT Simple Cub, FT Simple Soarer, FT Simple Scout, FT Mini Mustang, FT Mini Corsair and FT Tiny Trainer. The last one I was actually able to keep in the air for a more than a few minutes and even buddy boxed with my son for a few seconds. It was the most exhilarating moment! It would really be a loss in our life if the hobby dies before we even really get to enjoy it. I would like to express my profound gratitude for all the things you guys do. It is abundantly clear to everyone watching the channel how passionate you all are and how devoted you are to the hobby. If you find my story useful for your discussions with the FAA, you are more than welcome to quote me. It’s not the story of someone who has done this their whole life, but someone who would like to get started without having to jump though a whole bunch of hoops. Again, thanks for all you do!”