Can you afford to buy and maintain a full sized aircraft, especially a valuable vintage model ? If you can then read no further.

The rest of us fly scale radio controlled aeroplanes to get as close as we can to the thrill of controlling the real thing.

There is something particularly magical about fighter aircraft. Perhaps we know that young men risked all in aerial combat to defend their countries. Manfred Von Richofen in WW1 who shot down 80 allied aircraft or the South African  in WW11 who had 51 victories and revelled in the name of Marmaduke Pattle. However no one comes close to the German ace Erich Hartman who, in WW11, had an almost unbelievable 352 kills !

Many modellers build static models going to huge lengths to get every detail right. Using acrylic and enamel paints applied with brushes or airbrushes they replicate even oil marks, exhaust stains and chips on wings and propellers. They are sometimes finished in matt gloss to protect all the artwork then dulled down, by various means, to look more realistic.

I am a great admirer of this type of modelling and have spent many hours inspecting their work in museums and special exhibitions, however one thing is always in the back of my mind - they do not fly.

An aircraft is a flying machine and needs to be up there, climbing, diving and rolling. It comes alive when the motor is started and is hand launched or takes off from the ground. Scale radio controlled model aeroplanes are, for me, the answer. Make them as realistic as possible but make them fly !

Radio controlled airplanes can be made so accurately that when they take to the air they will have the same flying characteristics as the real thing. I have even seen a WW1 model, with wire wing braces that were so accurate, that the wind made the same noise blowing through them as the full size version.

Retracting undercarriages, working bomb doors and lights add to the realism. Flying makes them much more likely to be damaged than the display-only versions but surely the risk is well worth it.

Electric rc planes have brought a whole new dimension to our favourite hobby. By using the latest brushless motors and lightweight, yet powerful, batteries we can enjoy rc planes that can be propeller or jet driven. Does this mean they are slow flyers ? Far from it, there are prop driven scale models doing 30 to 40 m.p.h. and jets achieving speeds of 90 m.p.h. or more !

No fuel to spill and ruin the planes paintwork or catch fire. Less noise to upset the neighbours and yet a full 10 to 15 minutes in the air on a single charge. Scale electric radio controlled aircraft, are huge fun and can do anything their liquid fuel cousins can but with less fuss.

We may not be legendary fighter aces but why not join me and fly your own scale model fighter plane as it weaves it's magic in the sky above you and all under your control.