He loved airplanes, models, remote controlled ones, anything having to do with airplanes. He still loved to play with him, even though he was over 50.

And I met him today.

Here’s what happened: my dad and I were out for biking on a path behind our neighborhood. Nearing a small stream, we suddenly heard a strange noise.

It sounded like an airplane. As we looked up, we saw two airplanes. The first one was tiny, and it was pretty big, even though it looked tiny from where we were.

But we couldn’t believe our eyes after that. Because the other airplane was right under it. And it looked huge.

We were seeing a miniature!

The small one was strange. It made a loud constant buzzing noise. We heard it buzz as it turned around and looped back across the stream. Now it was flying above a grassy field.

My dad and I knew it had to be a remote-controlled airplane. We rode across a bridge over the stream, and then put our bikes in a parking lot next to the field.

I then walked towards a man who was holding a remote control.

“Is she yours?” I asked politely. Instead of responding, however, the man looked at me quickly and then said, “Don’t move any closer! I’m executing a landing.”

In the grass? I watched as it circled above, all the time getting slower and slower.

Suddenly, instead of circling, it went straight towards the grass. As it was one foot above the ground, the nose was lifted upward and the airplane “executed” a perfect landing. It buzzed hard as it revved over to the man, and he picked it up and walked over to the parking lot, where a truck was.

Putting it down on the truck, he looked at me. I asked again. He replied, “Yes. She’s mine.”

My dad came over and asked some questions about his airplane. 

It turned out his airplane looked like a Air Force jet and an old propeller airplane at the same time. The wheels “are freehanging… see them turn? They ain’t attached to a motor or something.”

The airplane used a propeller at the front, yet it had a fake little chamber that looked like one you could find in Air Force jets. A little doll girl sat inside, wearing funny-looking goggles. Her feet were next to the small fuel tank.

He showed me another plane he had… a jet. It still had a propeller on the back, and flaps, but this one looked more like a jet. It was made of Styrofoam and it was powered by electricity.

“This baby can achieve up to 80 miles per hour, you know.”

That left me amazed. He showed me it by holding on to the front (or the “fuselage”, as he called it). He turned up the speed on the remote.

Suddenly, a huge blast of wind came my way. Not something you’d get from those tiny little fans that you are supposed to put in your pocket. This was big air!

The air instantly blew me backwards, and I almost fell over. Peanut jumped out of the wind quickly. The wind felt like twenty office fans all put into one tiny propeller.

It felt good.

He held it up to his face to cool himself down, and then showed us how it flew.

We saw the plane go high and higher and higher up. However, when it landed, the nose broke off. He described it as “not executing a perfect landing” and not to worry, because he had “epoxy, so all I’ll have to do is stick ‘em back together”.

As we left, I couldn’t help thinking that I just absolutely had to try it out when I was of age. The man had said that 12 was the age to start.

Sweet airplane.

As we continued to ride away, I still heard the buzzing and whirring of the airplane as he steered it up and down.

It was a long time to wait.