John Fodor has won “firsts” in the model airplane world, both for design and flying performance. But he holds one first that is unique.
“I was the first person to fly a radio-controlled plane in Nepal,” said Fodor. “That was in 1973. The country had only opened its borders a few years earlier. I was working there for the World Health Organization as a special adviser to the Ministry of Health & Population.”
Fodor recalls the local reaction to his model airplane flights.
“The Nepalese people were amazed and, when I landed the plane, one person studied it very carefully, then asked me, ‘but how do you get the people inside such a small plane?’”
Given the great care and detail that Fodor builds into his model planes, it isn’t surprising that they should be mistaken for the real thing. Take his ⅛-scale replica of a Cessna 180 that includes a pilot at the controls, complete with his navigational sectional map sitting on the dashboard and his exact reproduction of a 1930 Tiger Moth.
“I really enjoy the challenge of trying to replicate everything down to the very last detail on my scale planes,” he said.
“My interest in planes all started when I was 8 years old,” he continued. “I had a little rubber wind-up model plane. In my teens I flew U-controlled power planes, and when I was in my 30s, I got into radio-controlled power planes and gliders.
“Back then the power planes had motors that ran on a fuel consisting of methanol and nitromethane mixed with special lubricants, and castor oil.
“However, today’s planes are powered by gas motors and electric motors. Some gliders are also powered with electric motors and, with these, you just kick in the motor when you need to get some lift to another thermal,” he said with a smile. “I really enjoy flying scale models, more so than high-speed aerobatic planes where you have to do maneuvers that are both accurate and realistic.”
The “hangar” where the model planes are born, stored and brought home for repairs is John’s garage. Situated directly under the house and made with stone-lined walls edged in rough rock, the garage has the look and feel of a cool cellar.
“It is made out of the boulders they cleared away to make room for the house,” said Fodor, “and it was built in 1930 — the very year I was born.”
Looking around at all the planes straddling the rafters or hanging from his garage wall, Fodor says he’s lucky.
“I still have most of my planes,” he said. “I haven’t made too many mistakes that I couldn’t fix.”
Fodor does remember one spectacular failure with a power plane, however. He recalls when, under full throttle, “the plane inexplicably made two violent maneuvers and then plunged to earth. There was debris scattered over at least a 40-foot radius.”
Shaking his head at the memory, he admits, “I couldn’t repair that one.”
Fodor believes he inherited his resourcefulness and love of woodworking from his father.
“My dad was a cabinet maker,” he said.
When the elder Fodor came to America, he brought his big wooden toolbox from Hungary.
“It contained a whole variety of saws, wood planes that he made himself, chisels and hand drills,” said Fodor, pointing out some of those tools now adorning his garage wall.
“He never had a power tool or owned a car. He went to his jobs by bus, carrying his wooden toolbox, and he worked all his life. My mother died when I was 14 — of kidney failure. I have lots of great memories,” said Fodor, who mused, “that was an amazing generation — but many died at a relatively young age.”
At 82, Fodor is going strong. He often, flies his gliders on the thermals off Ellwood Bluffs and on most Sundays powers up his scale-model planes at a local flying club airfield. Several times a year he participates at giant-scale fly-ins, and puts his floatplane through its paces in special events held at local lakes.
Does he still have his “Nepalese” plane?
“No!” said Fodor, before pausing and laughing at the reason.
“When the batteries eventually died, it crashed and the locals ceremoniously cremated the plane and scattered its ashes,” he said.
Click here for more information on Fodor’s Web site.
— Noozhawk columnist Helena Day Breese is a freelance writer and photographer, and author of Guys and Garages. Click here to contact her.
