10th annual SMALL Steps Fly-In

Model Airplane News, Jan 1998 by Sharp, Debra

The quintessential lover of small airplanes, Randy Randolph showed off a Cox .09-powered Jodel Bebe, an FD-24 and his newest creation, the Cheetah-a 53-inch-span, sport-scale model of a Cierva CE .43 Guepard powered by an O.S. 15. (Randy and Joe Wagner have been the unofficial hosts of the SMALL Steps Fly-In throughout its history; this year, Joe took his daughter to college the weekend of the fly-in and was missed by all.) On Saturday evening, Randy invited everyone back to his house in Dallas for the infamous "bull session" in his shopa privilege extended only to SMALL members. (The top-secret SMALL initiation: simply place your right hand over your heart and say, "I promise to build and enjoy small model airplanes.")

While we talked in Randy's shop, I spied a cute little red-and-yellow model sitting on a shelf. "That's a Handful ... think you can carry it back home to Connecticut? Take it!" Talk about Southern hospitality! On the flight back East, I stretched out and chuckled, thinking about what I was bringing home to the Model Airplane News office: some great memories, a cardboard box with a Handful inside and, I hope, some of that good ole SMALL attitude.