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Like father, like son, like grandson.

In the Blackwell family, three generations of men build and fly model airplanes as a hobby.

The patriarch of the clan, Cledith Blackwell, lives in Apex. He was always fascinated with airplanes and was a member of the Air Force, responsible for loading ammunition into F4 Phantoms in Anchorage, Alaska, and in Homestead, Fla. As a youngster, he taught himself how to build and fly model airplanes.

His son, Jay Blackwell, says of his father's house, "It looks like a hobby shop. He has several hundred model planes, including antiques. He's a collector, builder and flyer."

Jay, 32, who moved to Rockingham County a few months ago to manage Quality Gas on N.C. 65 just west of Reidsville, said his father was an excellent teacher.

Jay grew up learning the do's and don'ts of model airplane flying. The planes average 60 to 70 mph, with some able to fly more than 100 mph, so safety is important.

Once, when Jay was young, he took his training plane out without his father's assistance. It went out of control and crashed into a wood pile in a neighbor's backyard. It was destroyed and required four grocery bags to hold all the pieces. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The cost of the planes starts at $400 each to build. The kits come with a box of balsa wood and plans.

Jay uses a couple of ceiling tiles taped together as a base to build his planes, so they can be moved without damaging them during the building process.

Once the planes are built, a plastic film is stretched over them and adhered to give them color and add designs. If the planes are not perfectly balanced, they will not fly. It takes Jay about two months to build one in his spare time. The planes can be purchased in an almost ready to fly state, but Jay enjoys building his own. The engines are bought separately to fit the scale of the planes.

Justin Blackwell, a student at Reidsville High School, is following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps. His dad says, "He is anxious to learn and flies good."

Justin started flying remote control helicopters before he was 10 years old. That gave him a feeling of what it was like to fly model planes. He then started flying electric planes before he graduated to the gliders and training planes that fly on glow fuel, a mix of nitro and castor oil.

The model planes operate on combustion engines, complete with carburetors, pistons, rings and mufflers. They fly about 15 minutes on a tank of fuel. They have glow plugs that work like spark plugs. Some of the planes even have retractable landing gear.

Flying the planes takes a lot of practice and coordination. The five channels of radio frequencies, throttle, rudder and elevator have to be worked in unison. Jay flies his planes in the field behind Quality Gas. He can make them do loops and other tricks and often attracts the attention of drivers passing by who stop to watch.

Justin is still learning and doesn't do tricks yet but does manage to juggle everything necessary to take off and land.

With his father and grandfather and their experience behind him, he'll be doing aerial acrobatics one day.

Joni Carter lives in the Bethany community. E-mail: writetojonicarter@gmail.com