Category Archives: Family

Mr. Winston in front of an Alexander Eaglerock.
My Great Aunt Marjorie Winston Parker has been gathering old photos helping me to better understand our rather distinguished family heritage in aviation.  

Like my grandma, Marjorie was a true aviation pioneer.  Her father was Grandmother’s flight instructor and of course, taught his daughter to fly too, sparking a passion for flight that lead her to become a stunt pilot!
A larger photo of the Alexander Eaglerock. The plane has a tiger painted on the side — it was the mascot for the College of Pacific flight school.
“One of the photos shows my dad in the cockpit,” Marj says, referring to the photo on the right “…and a guy he hired to help with flight instruction standing outside. I don’t know that guy’s name.”  So maybe that’s the new mystery.  Who is that guy?

While I was asking about the several different fantastic airplanes Aunt Marj owned and flew, I learned she owned a Citabria stunt airplane!  How about that?  It’s a stunningly beautiful and powerful aircraft! She explained the roots of Citabria’s name, “It’s airbatic spelled backwards.”  She went on to describe the rolls and flight maneuvers she pulled over the criss crossing, perfectly straight California farm roads, far below. Marj is modest about her stunt flying days.  After she sold her Citabria she acquired several other mouthwatering sky chariots. 

When I approach 90, I would like to be in the razor sharp condition that my Aunt Marj is in today.  She is an inspiration for me and I hope by sharing these tidbits, my daughters will appreciate her more.  It’s a bonus that I get to share this with friends, as well as aviation buffs who are Hobby Express customers!

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I’m related to a pioneer pilot, Archibald “Arch” Hoxsey.

After the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina they started a flight school and Arch was one of their first four graduates.  He was considered in his time to be the most daring of professional aviators.  

“Arch was my grandmother’s 2nd cousin several times removed,” my Aunt Marjorie would tells me when reflecting on our great grandmother.  “He was one of the Wright brothers’ first 5 students.  Incidentally,” she adds, “Teddy R. was the first American President to fly in an airplane, and his pilot was Archie.”  Hoxey set the American record for sustained flight across country, making the non-stop 190 mile flight from Springfield Illinois to Clayton, Missouri on October 6th 1910.

From Clayton, he took former US President Roosevelt for a flight in nearby St. Louis. The flight is recorded in a silent movie – courtesy of The Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.  Imagine the technology 100 years ago when you watch this barnstorming video — I wonder if Roosevelt blew chunks In my mind, it makes Arch Hoxey the first pilot of “Air Force One”. It’s too bad that within ninety days of this historic flight, Hoxsey’s adventurous life ended. In that brief time he also set the world’s altitude record, flying his airplane to 11,474 feet,  He died 3 days later on December 31, 1910 “… when returning to earth in a series of perilous glides.”  As you could see from that video, every flight looked like a “perilous glide” to me. His crash site is documented in this photo published almost a month after the event.  In his short but exciting life, Arch was a bonafide celebrity in airshows and traveled extensively with the Wright brothers. Interestingly, the most famous early aviators (John Moisant, Ralph Johnstone, Charles Hamilton and Arch Hoxsey) were among the celebrities pictured on a media called “tobacco cards” that were distributed with packs of cigarettes in 1910-11. These cards were part of an interesting series called “Champion Athletes and Prizefighters” which competed directly with baseball cards from that era.  Archie Hoxsey flew most often with Ralph Johnston and together they were known as “The Stardust Twins” — filling newspapers with race reports, breath taking contests and adventure.

Connecting with history in this way, I feel like we honor his daring and legacy when we continue to build the great portfolio of model airplanes at Hobby Express

My Grandma, Esther Norbert Warner — later known to me as Betty Cleveland (or Grandma) was my father’s mother and she could fly!  In this favorite family photo, she stands tall at age 16, one of the first licensed female pilots in the State of California and certainly the youngest when she earned her wings.  Imagine how much of a renegade she was in her day!

Years ago, the family collected her goggles, flight boots, that cool jacket and other memorabilia as a donation to the new Museum of Flight being developed at the College of Pacific.  I believe that institution was the pioneer in flight training in the early period of the age of flight and that’s also where my Grandma and other relatives got their wings.  The School, flight historians and others in California have taken up a project to make this part of flight history come to life.  

In 2009 when I moved into my office at Hobby-Lobby International, Inc. (now Hobby Express) this was the mysterious photo I hung on the wall.  I should not have been surprised when the staff overlooked my grandma at the center of the photograph, and asked me what I knew about the air plane.  I was stumped!

Honestly, I had no idea what she flew until my great Aunt Marj broke the story… not one other person has ever had the answer until then: you’re looking at an Alexander Eaglerock. 

For all you flight historians, this aircraft was used in the College of Pacific Flight Training School where my Grandma took flying lessons from her uncle, the school’s only instructor.  I still think it would be a blast to introduce this airplane, something with a family tie, as one of our new Pilot-1 Golden Age Civilian series.   That’s in the skunk works now!

This bi-plane reportedly flew like a dream. The one pictured was crashed a few times and rebuilt. At Hobby Express we look for “under-modeled” airplanes because, at least it seems to me, everyone is copying everyone.  We want to deliver quality, but also something really different and interesting you WANT to bring to the local R/C flying field. 

I just wish I could go back in time and watch my Grandma fly!

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I’m related to a pioneer pilot (and considered in his time to be one of the most daring of professionals) Archibald “Arch” Hoxsey. At one time, Arch set the world’s altitude record when he rose to over 11,000 feet. He had the American record for sustained flight across country, making the non-stop 190 mile flight from Springfield Illinois to Clayton, Missouri on October 6th 1910, and there he took ex-President Roosevelt for a flight in St. Louis. The event is recorded in a silent movie you can watch below.
Imagine the technology 100 years ago when you watch this barnstorming video. I wonder if Roosevelt blew chunks?  Arch was a celebrity in airshows and traveled extensively with the Wright brothers. Four of the early aviators (John Moisant, Ralph Johnstone, Charles Hamilton and Arch Hoxsey) were among the celebrities pictured on “tobacco cards” that were distributed with packs of cigarettes in 1910 and 1911. These cards were called “Champion Athletes and Prizefighters” and they competed with baseball cards of the day. Archie Hoxsey flew most often with Ralph Johnston; together they were known as “The Stardust Twins” — filling newspapers with race reports, contests and adventure.

In the words of my Aunt Marj, “Arch was my grandmother’s (your great granny’s) 2d cousin several times removed. He was one of the Wright brothers’ first 5 students. If you Google him on the internet you will find many articles and photos about Archie, including several with president Theodore Roosevelt. Incidentally, Teddy R. was the first president to fly in an airplane, and his pilot was Archie.” This photo says it all…

You might say Arch was the first pilot of Air Force One. Archibald Hoxsey died on December 31, 1910 “..when returning to earth in a series of perilous glides.”

My Grandma, Esther Norbert Warner — and later known to me as Betty Cleveland (or just Grandma) was one of the first licensed and certainly the youngest female pilot in the State of California when she earned her wings at the age of 16. 

The family is collecting her goggles, flight boots, that cool jacket and other memorabilia as a donation to the new Flight Museum being developed at the College of Pacific. That institution was the pioneer in flight training in the early part of this last century and it’s where my Grandma and other relatives got their wings. When I moved into my new office at Hobby-Lobby, I hung only one family photo. Of course, everyone asked me about the air plane… Honestly, I had no idea what she flew until my great Aunt Marj broke the story… not one other person has ever had the answer until then.


You’re looking at an Alexander Eaglerock.  For all you flight historians, this aircraft was used in the College of Pacific flight training school where my Grandma took lessons from her uncle, the school’s flight instructor. It struck to me that it would be a blast to introduce this airplane, something with a family tie, as one of our new Pilot-1 Golden Age Civilian series. What do you think? 

This bi-plane reportedly flew like a dream. The one pictured was crashed a few times and rebuilt. At Hobby-Lobby we are looking for “undermodeled” airplanes because, at least it seems to me, everyone is copying everyone. We want to deliver quality, but also something really different and interesting you WANT to bring to the local R/C flying field.  Back to Grandma… I am told that the School, flight historians and others in California are taking up a project that will include collection of memoribilia to set up a new Museum of Flight. 

People always ask me why I bought Hobby-Lobby. I’m having as much fun as my Grandma was in this photo.. imagine how much of a renegade she was in her day!

My Great Aunt Marj is awesome! She is gathering old family photos and helping me better understand our rather distinguished family heritage in aviation. Sharing these notes with friends, interested scale pilots and our R/C customers who have been in the Hobby-Lobby family for over 44 years is a real bonus! 

While I was asking about the several different fantastic airplanes Aunt Marj owned and flew, I learned she owned a Citabria stunt airplane! How about that? 

Knowing her as I do, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Even still, I was amazed…”It’s airbatic spelled backwards,” she said, and then went on to describe the rolls and maneuvers she pulled over the criss crossing, perfectly straight California farm roads, far below. Marj’s stunt flying days were limited (who knows, it may not have been exciting enough for her) and eventually, she sold that airplane and acquired several other mouthwatering sky charriots. 

I hope I live to be 83 and I would kill to be in the kind of razor sharp condition she is in… she is an inspiration for me and my daughters for sure.

Check out the photo of Mr. Winston, my Aunt Marge’s dad and my Grandma’s flight instructor. He is standing in front of the school’s Alexander Eaglerock, their training airplane. The plane has a tiger painted on the side — the mascot for the College of Pacific. “One of the photos shows my dad in the cockpit,” Marj says “…and a guy he hired to help with flight instruction standing outside. I don’t know that guy’s name.” So maybe that’s the new mystery.

Eight years ago today, my father passed away after a long battle with cancer. It was on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Rotary International. Richard W. Cleveland was an attorney, my coach and my hero in so many ways. He was an instrument rated recreational pilot and very serious about preparation, safety and teaching his kids about the importance of being a life long student. I learned to fly because he wanted to be sure that my brother and I would be able to land in an emergency. Of course, we never had one of those, but we sure had fun!

As a little boy, there really is nothing more exciting than being weightless in transition as dad pulled back the stick and pushed it over again, or after stalling the aircraft on purpose, we were living on the edge with our fingers buried in the sheep skin seat covers as dad recovered from a shallow dive. It was pretty dramatic at the time, but as I look back, it was not much of a knife edge in our Piper Cherokee…

Dad used to pay us $.25 for each aircraft we spotted before he did. “Aircraft at three o’clock low…” we would yell out in a never ending competition. There was a time when I thought chewing gum had only one purpose – to defend my ear drums from the pain of descent. No matter where we were going, the voice of they guy in the tower always sounded the same (strange) on the radio. The pre-flight check list and routine was a killer, insufferable delay from my point of view in the co-pilot’s seat, but he never hurried it… Night flying scared the crickets out of me, for no reason at all.

Calm winds and open blue sky over a blanket of white clouds on a sunny day; probably the best day in memory. That’s where he is today.