Welcome to my shop. This portion of our family website is dedicated to my interest in researching, designing, building and flying scale radio controlled aircraft. My interest in aviation began when I was twenty and started flying lessons in Angleton, Texas and matured during more than twenty two years of working on warbirds in the United States Air Force. I began building my first RC aircraft, a Goldberg Eagle II, in 1990 and soloed after a few months of instruction by my good friend Bob Bishop in Fort Worth, Texas. I enjoyed the hobby for three years, built a few more sport models, and learned quite a bit about the hobby from the many, many good friends I had made.
In 1994 I retired from the military and started a new career in the civilian sector. I was forced to take a break from the hobby as I experienced the trials and tribulations of learning a new industry, emabarked on a new relationship, bought my present home, and began building my dream shop. This workshop is something that has evolved over the last seven years and is still in the evolution process. I have accepted the fact that I will probably never truly complete it and I will probably never stop buying tools to put in it. About a year ago I realized the the pace of life had slowed a bit to the point that I could probably safely re-enter the RC hobby and decided to concentrate on the scale aspect where my true interests are to be found.
RC Scale aircraft models involve reproducing an aircraft that actually existed and normally one that was actually flown. The aircraft is reproduced at a point in time as accurately as is possible and efforts are made to simulate the effects of wear-and-tear, weather, combat damage, etc. as is appropriate. My chief intererest is the World War II era, and mainly the German Luftwaffe aircraft. However, all warbirds, from all countries and periods of time do interest me.
The radio controlled aircraft hobby is technical in nature. Many different disciplines must be learned, and learned well. Among these skills are carpentry, metal working, welding, blueprint interpretation, principles of design, electronics, electrical, pnuematic, hydraulics, aerodynamics, structural design and fabrication, vacum forming, resin molding, and machining. We must, when appropriate cut, glue, file, sand, bond, align, space, finish, cover, coat, polish, grind, or drill a variety of materials that may include balsa wood, hard woods, ply-woods, fabric, string, wire, carbon-fiber, glass-fiber, epoxy or polyurethane resins, plastic, styrofam, paper, cyanoacrylate glue, wood glue, polyurethane glue, tape, and paint. To accomplish this also requires more tools than you want to know about and more money than I can really afford. Anyone who desires to enter this hobby should first throw their wallet away as the will never have enough money to really need one and get to be good friends with their local hobby shop owner, as they will be spending more time with them than anyone else they know. As you may have figured out by now, this hobby is not just a passion thing, it quickly becomes an obssession.
By using the links on the "My Workshop" page you can navigate through this site. In the "My Shop" page you will find pictures and info about my workshop. The "Current Projects" and "Future Projects" pages will contain info and pictures of what I am currently building now and what I plan to build next, or in the near future. The "Gallery" section contains pictures of the planes in my hanger, planes belonging to my friends, pictures of special events, or just a picture that I thought was cool.
In the "Important Links For Modellers" page you will find hot links to websites I find to be valuable and I visit myself frequently. The sites I will included will be primarily centered on the scale aspect of this hobby. If you are interested in RC Scale I urge you to visit these sites as I think they are the best.
By selecting the "Home" link you travel to the family portion of this web site where you will have the opportunity to learn a little about my family and see the latest picturesn of the little ones or our last vacation. Again, thanks for stopping by and come again as often as you like. Contact me by email if you have any comments or suggestions, and in addition I can be found on YAHOO Instant Messenger under the screen name RBERG1369.
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WELCOME TO MY SHOP
