My father was a passionate builder of balsa model airplanes. I literally have drawers full of the planes he built and kits he had not finished. It hurts me to see the new regulations proposed by the FAA to dampen interest in so fundamental a hobby for many of who enjoy model aircraft.

Thus, I gladly submitted a personal response to the U.S. government for the FAA to stop or reconsider the wording of the potential new regulations…

The need to educate children in the disciplines of STE(A)M [Science, Technology, Engineering, (Art), and Mathematics] is more important now than ever. Getting them involved in hobbies like model aircraft is part of the excitement of those disciplines.

My father and I bonded when my father took me to my first model flying event when I was five years old in 1967, continuing my father’s fascination with aircraft from his childhood during WWII. He and I built balsa airplanes together since I was six. I flew my first U-line plane when I was a teenager and was fascinated, even back in the middle 1970s, at the fun both adults and children had flying model helicopters, even though back then they were expensive and hard to fly.

Today, the hobby is still the same. Model builders and flyers still go out with their family to enjoy the hobby together and, thanks to lower costs, children can, under the supervision of adults, learn to build and fly their own aircraft.

Please do not remove the joy of building AND flying model aircraft for this generation and generations to come. We need today’s children to learn to become scientists and engineers through the fun of applying math and science principles through indoor/outdoor hobbies like model aircraft.