Week 28 - Leisure Time - Ken Conner
After a few long days flying Douglas DC-3 routes for North Central Airlines in the 1950s, Kenny found his way back to calm in a much smaller cockpit: the kitchen table. The DC-3 demanded constant attention—radio calls crackling in, weather shifting without much warning, and the steady responsibility of carrying passengers safely through an era when flying still felt a little raw and unpredictable. By the time he parked the real aircraft for the day, his mind was often still running at cruise power, full of checklists, engine sounds, and invisible crosswinds. That’s where model airplanes came in. Building and flying them in his leisure time gave him a different kind of control—no passengers, no radios, just balsa wood, glue, and the satisfying logic of something he could shape with his own hands. He would sand wing ribs until they were smooth as bone, fit the fuselage together piece by piece, and let the familiar smell of dope (balsa lacquer) and Ambroid glue replace the noise o...