Doug Robertson has been fascinated with airplanes as long as he can remember.

His Uncle Eldo flew Curtiss JN-4 “Jennys” in World War I. Nearly nine years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he spent the war years building every model of aircraft used in the war, both by the Allies and the Germans and Japanese. He also built many of the civilian models of the time, including the Stinson Gull-Wing SR-10 Reliant, the Piper J-3C Cub, and the Rearwin Speedster.

He’d then “fly” the airplanes, using a long rubber band that came with the models.

“Little did I fully realize at the time I was picking up the aerodynamics of flight and learning what made planes fly,” he said.

[Read more…]