In Memoriam

I regret to inform the membership that long time KRCM club member and original field owner Lloyd Shales passed away peacefully at Extendicare long term care facility on Monday January 3^rd. January 19^th would have been his 90^th birthday.

For those newer members that did not know him well, perhaps due to his advanced age and recent inactivity, I think it is important to make mention of the huge influence he has had on our club over the years. He has served as a friend and mentor to many of us in the club, especially some of the “lifers” such as myself, Rolly, and Martin etc. Lloyd has been one of the key players actively building and flying model aircraft in our region since the early 50s. Before the days of radio control, Lloyd won national championships competitively building and flying U-control models. Lloyd was one of the founding members of our club and one of the original field owners, going out on a limb to purchase the property for our current flying field in 1965.

Lloyd’s interest in aviation began when he was a small boy. His father had trained as a pilot during WW1, and flew the Sopwith Pup. Following the Great War, his father became one of the founding members of the Kingston Flying Club, flying out of the Kingston Airport, its location being where the Kingston Memorial Centre now stands. Lloyd’s first flight in an airplane was at the age of two, sitting on his father’s lap in the open cockpit of a De Havilland Gypsy Moth biplane. Lloyd’s father served as an instructor during WWII, and Lloyd was able to quietly log over 10 hours of advanced instrument flying before he was 11. He soloed in an Aeronca Champion after 2-1/2 hours of instruction at age 14.

Living in Toronto at the time, and as member #27 of the Canadian Gas Model Club, Lloyd heard about a new national organization being formed called MAAC. Not wanting to immediately part with the heavy $5.00 registration fee, he decided to wait until year #2 to see if this “fly-by-night organization” was going to get off the ground. Because of this hesitancy, Lloyd’s “high” assigned MAAC number is 230. Lloyd was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by MAAC in 1996.

Lloyd’s family returned to Kingston in 1950, and Lloyd started a hobby shop in the garage next to his parent’s property on 79 Arch Street, now Queen’s University property. A few years later, Lloyd relocated ‘Lloyd Shales Hobby Supplies’ on the corner of Princess and Division Street, a tiny shop, yet a cultural icon in the city of Kingston. Every “boy” in Kingston knew where “The Hobby Shop” was! Lloyd sold the hobby shop business to long time employee Peter MacDonald in 1992.

In retirement, Lloyd volunteered many hours of his time to teaching the theory of flight to elementary school students, it being part of the grade 6 science curriculum. He was able to demonstrate these principles of flight effectively by having the students construct and fly a small rubber band powered model aircraft that he had designed and kitted which he named “The Minnow”. Over the years it is estimated that he produced over 12,000 of these kits, one by one, for educational purposes.

Although a very skilled builder, Lloyd was never hugely successful in the field of R/C. His flying skills were certainly not near the level of his U-control skills. Perhaps this is because he was more interested in promoting his passion for the hobby by assisting others rather than flying himself. Lloyd’s last project was a 1/6 scale flying model of a De Havilland Gypsy Moth, finished in the markings of the Kingston Flying Club in 1928, and flown by his father. I had the privilege of test flying this model in the fall of 2019. After the successful maiden flight, Lloyd donated the model to the Kingston Flying Club where it currently hangs on display.

Lloyd was a gentleman, a lifelong model airplane enthusiast, and a friend to many. I was privileged to have been one of them.

Brian Perkins – President – Kingston Radio Control Modellers

“Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, and danced the skies on laughter silvered wings. Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun split clouds; and done a hundred things.”