One Man's Model Airplane Legacy

My husband is an avid builder of model airplanes. Our attic is full of finished models; an unfinished model is always on his work desk waiting for him to spend a few free moments working on it; and our garage is a museum of large models hanging from every foot of ceiling space he can find. You might say that model airplanes have taken over our home.

Not long ago, I asked him what he wanted done with them after he was gone. After all, we are getting up there in age so it is probably past time to give some thought to these things. He wasn't sure since our only grandson doesn't seem interested in the hobby, and most people don't have room for such an extensive collection. A couple of days ago, I ran across an article about a man who found the solution.

Jim Lehmann, of Corvallis, Oregon, had trouble sleeping after he was diagnosed with cancer, so, to keep his mind and body occupied during those sleepless nights, he began to build balsa wood model airplanes.

After Jim passed away, his wife donated one of his models, a B-240D, to the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis. Her husband had volunteered at the club several years ago until his health forced him to quit and Mrs. Lehmann thought the model airplane might inspire kids to stay strong when facing hardships, as many of the club's members were doing.

Jim felt that building model airplanes from scratch, using balsa wood, was a dying art; that pre-formed plastic kits for model airplanes robbed the kids of the learning experience provided by learning to cut out, sand, and glue each piece carefully into their modeling project.

Because of this, his wife has also established an endowment fund to help the Boys & Girls Club purchase balsa wood model airplane kits so children at the club can learn to build model airplanes with wood, not plastic.

The club is looking for volunteers who have experience in working with balsa wood to teach classes for the children.

The article about Jim Lehmann inspired me so I passed it on to my husband. He shares Jim's belief that, in the rush to get things done "right now," many young people today are missing out on the real fun of having a hobby. In the case of model airplane building, he says, "Only half the fun is in flying the finished model; the other half is building it."

We don't have a Boy's and Girl's club in our town, but he's putting out a few feelers to local youth group leaders that might be interested. I think he might even be willing to do a little of the instructing, himself.