April 12, 2023
To: Bob Noll Via e-mail at bobrc@aol
Dear Bob,
I enjoyed reading your article’ 50 Years Ago, in April in the
April issue Model Aviation. I Especially enjoyed your reference to
Reinbeck. 50 years ago and I was there flying the mission event with
Nick Ziroli’s stand-off scale Morane Saulnier (See attached
picture). It was guided by a black box Orbit system and an
inexperienced pilot, me. I ended up in the “plane eating” trees
along the runway. A young man climbed the tree and lowered my
undamaged ship to the ground. I flew it in another round later that
day.
But my fondest memory of Reinbeck fifty years ago was pictured on
the May 1972 cover of Flying Models magazine. ( I’ve attached a
photo of the magazine but I was unable to get a good photo as I got
a lot of glare from the cover.) The plane on the cover is the
Proctor Nieuport built by my brother, Norman Jacob. Norman was a
meticulous builder and in his later year he became a full-scale
pilot. Flying Models describes the May 1972 cover as , “ The warm
and sunny summer flying season is about upon us. And we can look
forward to flying activities of all kinds like the Rhinebeck WW1
Jamboree. Gene Fuller attended last year and shot Norman Jacob’s
Proctor Nieuport 11. Webra .61 Blackhead and Micro Avionics radio
gave this ship a slow and realistic flight. Kodachrome by Gene
Fuller.” . It was my older brother Norman who got me into this
life-long hobby. It stared as many of us did with control line
aircraft and in the late 60’s I transitioned into RC. Norman is not
with us any longer but my memory of him flying RC is edged into my
mind forever.
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