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Tuesday, March 6, 1834
Daily Ncbraskan
Pago 3
1
iper planes propel professor's plans
Ey JlnBcnyiaan
After watching some classmates fly a paper air
plane in elementary school, Walter Erbach knew the
quest for the perfect hobby was no longer up in the
air. Or was it?
More than 50 years ago Erbach, a UNL engineer
ing mechanics professor, was intrigued by that glid
ing piece of paper. Today at C5, his hobby has grown
so big that he i3 recognized as one of the top model
airplane builders and flyers in the world.
"I was so intrigued watching them play with the
paper airplane that I asked my mother to buy me
one " he said. "It flew the first time I tried it."
Since then, Erbach's planes have become more
detailed and complex, requiring just the right mate
rials for flight, he said. Made of hollow cylinders of
wood and light paper material, Erbach's creations
are lighter than feathers. One plane weighs only
l30th of an ounce.
Most of the planes are powered by an all-natural
strand of tightly wound rubber4 similar to a rubber
band, he said.
About 50 other Americans build planes like Erb
ach's, he said, including one of his two sons, who
now lives in Canada.
Erbach has filled his trophy case with awards,
and set records at national model plane competi
tions. Because of a lack of time and money, Erbach
has not participated in any world competition.
However, his travels have taken him to Europe,
where he has made a name for himself among his
colleagues.
"Once in Austria, I went to the apartment of a
colleague," Erbach said. "I identified myself, and
practically had my arm pulled off by the man's wife,
showing her hospitality," he said.
"There's no one in the United States and damn few
people in the world involved with model planes that
do not know my name," he said.
But don't try to call him a celebrity.
"We're just a group of people w ho ail know each
other and respect each other," he said. "It takes a
reasonable amount of inteligence and desire to
accomplish this, but it's pointless to think that I'm a
celebrity."
While other model plane builders may be in the
field for a number of reasons, Erbach said, his rea
son which has kept him flying planes for more than
half a century, is the satisfaction he gets from
watching his prized planes glide through the air.
"I'm doing this only for the satisfaction of having
one something" he said. "There are no financial
awards. Just the satisfaction of being able to say
that my model was the best at that contest, or I
accomplished something, makes it all worthwhile."
Admitting that his hobby does turn heads now
and then, Erbach said he maybe considered a "nut,"
but, he said, he loves it.
"Unlike many people, everything interests me,"
Erbach said. "The world seems so full of things that I
would like to know about, but I don't have enough
time to explore everything. If I could live to be 200, 1
couldn't get to know everything I would want to
know."
As the final few students exit the Bancroft build
ing this May, Erbach will be making an exit of his
own. A UNL associate professor of engineering
mechanics for 37 years, Erbach plans to retire at the
end of the semester, and devote his time to his
life-long loves: planes, photography, and his wife,
Rowenna.
"I'm over-booked for the summer," he said, refer
ring to the two model plane events he plans to
attend. "I have so much planned that I've got to live
to be at least 200," he said.
Erbach said he will miss teaching, but he's off to
conquer new horizons.
'People ask me why I do this, and I always say the
same answer that somebody said after climbing Mt.
Everest: Because it was there. That's why I'm fasci
nated with model airplanes. Because they're there."
r VWorld Fcmcm"
TiTh
3&L 3. WO
Walter Erbach shows his cward-Tfirrdr.3 plane.
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