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Taking to the air
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:04 AM EST
Argus-Press Photo by Cheryll Warren DAVID Jones, right, leaves some model airplane magazines at Jim Corrin Barber Shop, where he began his project. Barber Chris McGuire checks out a magazine.
CORUNNA - David Jones loves model airplanes. His love for model planes began when he was a young child. Now, as an adult who has enjoyed flying model airplanes for years, he is sharing his love with others.
“I'm 60 years old, and I've been at this for 50 years,” Jones said. “I've been fascinated with aviation ever since I was a kid.”
Jones began leaving copies of his old model plane magazines in a barber shop a couple of years ago.
“I'd leave a couple of magazines with a tag on them that said ‘Take home and keep,'” Jones said.
“I began a thinking, ‘Why not put the magazines in hands of kids?'” he said. “I got permission from schools to leave the magazines in their multimedia centers.” Jones said the idea inspired his club members and they began supplying him with magazines. Now he leaves magazines monthly at school libraries around the community.
“I've never gotten anything from the kids,” Jones said. “I don't leave my name or phone number.”
However, he does leave a name on the tag he places on the magazines: “Johnny Model Seed.”
“I have had good comments from the schools. They'd rather see kids reading magazines and playing with model airplanes than playing computer games,” Jones said.
Two years later, Jones leaves model airplane magazines in barber shops, dental and doctor's offices, as well as schools.
“I leave a total of 50 magazines a month at public schools,” he said.
He leaves the magazines at five area schools.
Jones said his own club, Chesaning Area Model Flying Club, cannot supply him with all the magazines he needs for this project, and another club, the Capitol Area Radio Drone Squadron, also helps by donating magazines.
He leaves a map in each magazine with directions to the Chesaning Model Flying Club grounds, 2 miles north of M-57 on Lincoln Road, and east on Chesaning Road less than a quarter of a mile.
His hope is some interested youth may came to the club's airport grounds and become involved with the hobby.
“I love the excitement of flying model planes,” Jones said. “I love taking a pile of loose lumber and cutting the pieces, fitting them together, making the plane strong and flying it. I love the excitement of constructing planes and flying them. I love bringing the pieces together and realizing, ‘These things actually fly.' I hope some young kids will enjoy flying as much as I do.”