About SMSRC
Well, ok. Since you asked. :) It all started a long time ago in a garage far, far away. I was not the airplane nut I am today. For that matter, I was no airplane nut at all. I hadn't the slightest clue of the variety of plane types that existed, let alone how one worked or what made it stay in the air. My name is Sean Shumaker, by the way, and I was still young and fresh in middle school. At one time, I had been through a tech class where the instructor had us build airfoils out of a small chunk of insulation foam and then put it to a vacuum hose to see how effective it was. At the time, I had nothing more than a book my Uncle Tim had given me chocked full of military plane cut aways showing what one looked like on the inside.
Now one might think, what the heck do airplanes have to do with model railroading? Yeah that's right, I was semi-heavy into building model train layouts. Semi because I did not have the funds to see any of my ideas through or even the craftsmanship. Then, one night in my dad's shop, my entire hobby life and dreams had been turned completely upside down, unbeknownst to me of course. At one point I had taken the time, with what little knowledge I had, to cut a 2X4 down into sticks and a few ribs and glue it all together into the undeniably obvious shape.....of an airplane wing.
So, the next day my dad, proud of his son, told his boss at work of what I had done, how quite literally it came out of, well, no where. His boss, at the time, just so happened to have a completed .40 size trainer plane that was not being used and had never been flown. So he gave it to us. To this day, and I'm just more than 24 and a half, I still cannot figure out for the life of me, why it is that man gave up such an expensive toy only for my dad and I to do the inevitable.......crash. Both of us were complete strangers to the hobby, not knowing a lick of how to fly or how it worked. But my fearless leader (also known as Daddy) did not give up. He, with his nifty craftsmanship and shop full of handy tools, put the plane back together based on the plans we had and tried and tried again. Yeah, me and him are self-taught how to fly RC planes. But that Carl Goldberg Eagle trainer plane will never be forgotten.
Of course it was not too long before it was my turn to try. And with every effort I had in me, I took the remains, and the plans, of my dad's final crash with our first plane, and rebuilt an entirely new fuselage. And, yes, it flew. Though I crashed the first time, I tried again and in my second of all flights, mustard up a rough but successful landing. And before you know, the railroad tracks on my bench gradually became covered in saw dust and airplane parts. And though I dabbled a bit here and there in the model rail industry, my focus from that day on remained on the planes. My interests grew and along with it my knowledge. High school flew by and along with college came the opportunity to take up flying lessons. And so I did. I completed 39.5 hours 3 of which is PIC or pilot in command. The rest was dual received.
I'm sad to say, that no I still have not completed my pilot's license due to finances. I never did well in academics, I've always hated studying and homework unless it's airplane related. But I took a drafting course in high school, two whole semesters of it actually. So I've not only had an interest in flying RC planes, but I've also got a knack for figuring out new designs and trying to make them work. My dad actually from time to time has come to me for help with graphics design, though simple, or even just looking how to modify something.
And so I here I stand. Happily married to my beautiful wife, Angela, of almost two years and enjoying life. Enjoying her company, and in my free time when she's not home, and I'm not at work, enjoying the hobby of RC airplane models, bringing you the best of my best. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
Now one might think, what the heck do airplanes have to do with model railroading? Yeah that's right, I was semi-heavy into building model train layouts. Semi because I did not have the funds to see any of my ideas through or even the craftsmanship. Then, one night in my dad's shop, my entire hobby life and dreams had been turned completely upside down, unbeknownst to me of course. At one point I had taken the time, with what little knowledge I had, to cut a 2X4 down into sticks and a few ribs and glue it all together into the undeniably obvious shape.....of an airplane wing.
So, the next day my dad, proud of his son, told his boss at work of what I had done, how quite literally it came out of, well, no where. His boss, at the time, just so happened to have a completed .40 size trainer plane that was not being used and had never been flown. So he gave it to us. To this day, and I'm just more than 24 and a half, I still cannot figure out for the life of me, why it is that man gave up such an expensive toy only for my dad and I to do the inevitable.......crash. Both of us were complete strangers to the hobby, not knowing a lick of how to fly or how it worked. But my fearless leader (also known as Daddy) did not give up. He, with his nifty craftsmanship and shop full of handy tools, put the plane back together based on the plans we had and tried and tried again. Yeah, me and him are self-taught how to fly RC planes. But that Carl Goldberg Eagle trainer plane will never be forgotten.
Of course it was not too long before it was my turn to try. And with every effort I had in me, I took the remains, and the plans, of my dad's final crash with our first plane, and rebuilt an entirely new fuselage. And, yes, it flew. Though I crashed the first time, I tried again and in my second of all flights, mustard up a rough but successful landing. And before you know, the railroad tracks on my bench gradually became covered in saw dust and airplane parts. And though I dabbled a bit here and there in the model rail industry, my focus from that day on remained on the planes. My interests grew and along with it my knowledge. High school flew by and along with college came the opportunity to take up flying lessons. And so I did. I completed 39.5 hours 3 of which is PIC or pilot in command. The rest was dual received.
I'm sad to say, that no I still have not completed my pilot's license due to finances. I never did well in academics, I've always hated studying and homework unless it's airplane related. But I took a drafting course in high school, two whole semesters of it actually. So I've not only had an interest in flying RC planes, but I've also got a knack for figuring out new designs and trying to make them work. My dad actually from time to time has come to me for help with graphics design, though simple, or even just looking how to modify something.
And so I here I stand. Happily married to my beautiful wife, Angela, of almost two years and enjoying life. Enjoying her company, and in my free time when she's not home, and I'm not at work, enjoying the hobby of RC airplane models, bringing you the best of my best. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
Mission
Model aviation is something that is a wonderful and exciting adventure! My hope is to enlighten you. My goal is to help spark an interest in something far greater and more spectacular than anything you have ever seen. Model aviation is something that is meant to be shared. It is meant to be explored and learned. It brings together communities and builds friendships. It brings out the kindest of the kind and exposes the kid inside each of us. And that is exactly what this site is for. So take your time to explore this site and see what you can find. You never know what lies around the corner.
As always, thanks for visiting SMSCustomRC.com!
As always, thanks for visiting SMSCustomRC.com!
Sean M. Shumaker