Model Airplanes Take To The Skies In Green Country

Tulsa is home to the oldest model airplane flying club in the country, the Glue Dobbers. Grant Wilson is an 83-year-old World War II veteran who is sort of the patriarch of the Glue Dobbers. He's

Thursday, July 26th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa is home to the oldest model airplane flying club in the country, the Glue Dobbers. Grant Wilson is an 83-year-old World War II veteran who is sort of the patriarch of the Glue Dobbers. He's taught dozens to fly models, and as The News On 6â€™s Rick Wells reports, learning to fly models can teach a lot about life.

"They called this the Peacemaker," said Tulsa Glue Dobber Grant Wilson.

They flew in the early days of the Cold War. The aircraft could fly from the U.S. to the Soviet Union carrying a load of bombs. Wilsonâ€™s model, like the original, has six engines. But does Wilson worry about crashing it?

â€œI've crashed every plane I've ever owned," he said.

Wilson says itâ€™s just like life; you get some glue put it back together or build another one.

"Sometimes my glue bill is higher than my fuel bill," said Wilson.

Grant Wilson has taught dozens of people to fly model airplanes over the years, folks like Cliff Magee. Cliff is still flying models and also his own full scale L-39 jet.

The Tulsa Glue Dobbers Club is holding it's Heatwave in the Heartland Model plane fly-in this weekend. Plane will be there from all over the country, including Mac Hodges huge B-29 with a Bell X-1, which launches from the B-29 in flight like Chuck Yeager did in 1947.

Many model pilots discovered a life long hobby of flying models, but there is more to this than that.

"Over the years you meet people out here and make life-long friends, so the social aspect of this is as important as the flying," Tulsa Glue Dobber Cliff Magee said.

The flying starts on Saturday morning, July 28th, and runs through the weekend at the Glue Dobber facility at 2800 S. Lynn Lane. You can get all the info you need on the club website, www.tulsagluedobbers.com.

Watch the video: Model Airplane Enthusiast Fly Into Tulsa