[November 2, 2024] The small model plane engine was really loud as it sputtered to life. Dad and I readied the control-line model airplane to fly that early Saturday morning. Neither of us had any experience flying model planes, and stupidly, I’d purchased a high-powered model, the most difficult to fly. My Dad’s advice before takeoff was, “flaps up.”
He let the plane go, and it immediately shot straight up into the air, performing a perfect loop and slamming at full power into the playground dirt. All this action took place in about two seconds. I was eleven years old, and my many dreams of flying were shattered.
Thanks to my Great Aunt Marie, I finally saved enough money to purchase the model airplane at a local store. The cost was $7.77 plus tax, and I have no clue why I remembered the amount, but I do remember paying the store clerk in nickels and dimes.
I smiled as I left the store. I was happy. Finally, I was about to experience some well-deserved excitement that my friends and I had only dreamt about. The weeks leading up to my first real flight were full of talk about my new airplane, a Cox “real flying model” Stuka, and considered “one of the most spectacular scale-stunt aircraft ever built.” I was heartbroken after the crash. That ended my first foray into flying and my last.
My childhood was full of many small, part-time jobs, attending school and church, and going where my feet could take me, so there was little time for hobbies. However, I built a few plastic models, usually army tanks and planes, and hand-painted them with the correct camouflage color pattern.
A few years ago, I noticed in my parent’s home an old child’s painting of a WW1 aerial dogfight between German and American biplanes. On the back, in pencil is written, “Doug, age 9.” At the time, I would fancy myself a great artist, but those talents would eventually wither on the vine of school studies.
I liked things – big things like airplanes and small “things” like lightning bugs. My curiosity was plain to see. How did these things work? Once, I’d found an old radio in my neighbor’s trash, disassembled it, and tried to get it to work again, and although I failed at that task, I was gaining an understanding of the principles of radio reception and later of radio transmissions. I was reluctant to ask others why or how something worked, and that was a personality flaw that would haunt me later throughout life. The upside was that once I figured out the principle, I could explain it and use my knowledge to figure out more complex machinery.
Early that summer, strong thunderstorms were a common occurrence and having just heard about Benjamin Franklin’s famous 1752 kite-flying experiment, I wanted to know more. I’d learned how to build a kite the previous year, and I was going to put those skills to good use. With an old skeleton key borrowed from my Bigmama – made of iron – and my kite, during one particularly powerful storm, I ran down our neighborhood street to get my kite into the air.
The next thing I knew, my Dad had scooped me up in his arms and gently carried me into our home. My kite and key disappeared into the sky. It would have never worked anyway because there was no metal wire connecting the key to the kite where the lightning was to hit. I was heartbroken; no kite, no key, no excitement.
Mom was frightened that I might be killed by lightning, a realistic possibility. A couple of weeks later, I was given a beautiful Hubley “kiddie toy” model airplane that I had wanted for years. I would run and run with that plane, making “airplane sounds,” zoom zoom, but not when it was raining. I must have worn the paint off that plane because I held it so often.
Each year, I would buy a balsa wood, propeller-driven toy “Sky Bandit” airplane. Wind up the propeller, and the long rubber band would last a minute as the plane cruised along. Wow. That balsa wood plane was the greatest toy invention ever and inexpensive. I owned many as a kid. They always bring a smile to my face, even today.
My grandfather taught me some of the best designs for paper airplanes, the advantages of modified wingtips, stubby noses, and makeshift ailerons. The trick to get a paper airplane to stay afloat the longest time was to make it short from nose to tail. Longer-bodied paper airplanes fly straight and fast and are good if you launch one in the classroom and immediately look away innocently … “Who, me?”
I built hundreds of these paper airplanes and got darn good at it and learned that a properly placed paper clip can make a big difference in stability. Practiced experience matters, and my gym teacher praised me for having the longest flight time in the class that year.
I learned the hard way that “flaps up” does not work in small model airplanes, paper, plastic, or metal.
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NOTE: See all my letters here: https://www.theleadermaker.com/granddaughter-letters/
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Please read my books:
General Satterfield hits another homerun with this letter about his experience with model airplanes, from balsa wood to powered plastic aerobatic controlled plane, he gives us an inside look at the dreams of flying and of his imagination. Both success (with his paper airplanes) and failures (Stuka stunt plane), he continues to push both the limits of his aircraft and his own understanding of aerodynamics. The lesson I see in him is to never give up on your dreams of quit trying to understand how things work. Well done, General. 👍
Just gotta appreciate these love letters to his granddaughter. This series of letters is one of the reasons I keep coming back to his website. A story in each letter. And an easy read too. I can not wait until then next letter.
Looking through the eyes of a young boy. AMAZING.
For those new here, you can find all these letters here:
NOTE: See all my letters here: https://www.theleadermaker.com/granddaughter-letters/
I recommend you read them from the beginning. Note the beginning letters are at the bottom. Patience. They build upon each other. You will, for example, learn about his maternal grandmother, who was called “Bigmama.” Enjoy.
Thank you, Pastor Jim. 🙏
Another letter #99 in a now-long series of letters that tell the tale of a small boy growing up in rural Louisiana and then in to Arkansas and Texas. We are able to follow along as he tries to find himself (he doesn’t call it that) as he moves from a small town in the a Deep South to bigger and bigger cities, learning that there is more to the world than fishing and floating down the Mississippi River. Gen. Satterfield might have “been born in the bayou” but he became a soldier posted all over the world and working alongside senior officials in many countries, across many cultures and languages. I salute Gen. Satterfield for his success.
More letters, please.
I found this part both funny and nostalgic. I did exactly the same thing and my dad taught me how to make great paper airplanes.
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“ My grandfather taught me some of the best designs for paper airplanes, the advantages of modified wingtips, stubby noses, and makeshift ailerons. The trick to get a paper airplane to stay afloat the longest time was to make it short from nose to tail. Longer-bodied paper airplanes fly straight and fast and are good if you launch one in the classroom and immediately look away innocently … “Who, me?” “
Thanks Edwin. It does take us back in time to a simpler place with our family.
Makes me smile.
Makes us ALL smile each time a letter from Gen. Satterfield is read.
Makes me smile too. Many of us have suggested, as you have lydia that Gen. Satterfield turn these letters into a book, sort of a pre-adult autobiography. Now that would be interesting for regular readers of his blog and esp. for those who grew up in the South and in those times. However, most will be able to identify with him, being there “as my friend blew his toe off with his shotgun.” and other such events. The entertainment value is high and makes it worthwhile.
Nailed it, New Girl. 👄
YES! I too hope these letters become a book. 🫥
💌 LOVE LETTERS ❤️ from the past of General Satterfield. 😂 Making us laugh. 😭 Cry. 😁 Smile. 👀👀👀👀👀 And see the world in a different way. 🙏 praying for Gen. S’s full recovery from his recent surgery. 🏩 I know that we all can expect more like this tomorrow and beyond. 💕!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice emoji comment. 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 and, yes indeed, we love these love letters.
Great letter about how our desires/wishes can exceed our abilities/skills and then seeing our future change for it.
Hey, sir, well written. Your letters are the best!!!!!
I am now wondering what you have in store for your next series.
These letters gave us tremendous the hope that we might also write letters too.
Keep more like this coming our way.
Loved each letter.
THANK YOU.
🙏
Thank you Gen. Satterfield for this series and so many letters to your grandkids. I know, per earlier comments by you, that these letters are actually for all your children and grandchildren so that they may see and hopefully understand what your childhood was like and, more importantly, how your growing up influenced you to ultimately become a soldier and a General in the US Army. As well, distinguished as a combat engineer. I’m sure your granddaughter will come to appreciate each letter and it will give her hope for her future when times get tough for her.
Yes, Yusaf, nothing like a live letter to show that we took on difficult circumstances and overcame them. 😉
Straight forward and to the point. “Flaps Up” … got it. I will miss this series. Clearly a big winner and highly popular.
No. 99. —— Gen. Satterfield’s next-to-last letter to his granddaughter is here, and I love it. Sir, well done. I look forward to reading the next letter and any follow-ups you may have.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Sadly, this is so.
But, we still have Gen. Satterfield’s two books.
“Our Longest Year in Iraq”
“55 Rules for a Good Life”
Yep…….. Get them today and enjoy.
Yep, great books easy to read and understand.