The Charles River Radio Controllers (CRRC) club was founded in late November 1964 in a basement in Newton. For several months, the original “Thirteen” met in various cellars throughout the area. In those days there were only about 35 RC clubs registered with the Academy of Model Aeronautics and less than 12,000 AMA members.

By 1965, CRRC had come out of the underground to start meeting at the Newton YMCA. Membership climbed to 17! In these early years, there were no officers, only a chairperson. The newsletter was a postcard announcing the next meeting. No one knew how to fly an RC model except, perhaps, Bob Fish, who moved from Arizona.

We flew, sort of, at the Wayland High School soccer field. RC gliders hadn’t yet been imported to New England and digital proportional radio was a new kid on the block. People used to fly with radio systems called Reeds and Galloping Ghost. The big names in radio were Citizenship, Bonner, Orbit, F&M, and ACE.

By 1966, CRRC had grown to 25 members, the AMA to 16,000 members, and some of them could actually control a landing! Monokote was just being invented. We flew all year long, on skis, in snowstorms, off the ice, in rain, and even below freezing.

In 1967 we had our first contest. The New England Radio Controllers gathering in Orange, MA was one of the biggest RC events in the country. Phil Kraft, Ed Izzo, Jim Martin, Tony Bonetti, and Ernie Huber, all of the greats, flew. Bob Fish began to win the New England All Events RC Championship.

Radio control specialty items were hard to come by so Bob Fish started a store in his basement and sold these items at a discount.

By 1970, CRRC sponsored and ran the New England Championship with Bob Fish as CD. In 1972, we exceeded 100 members for the first time. We secured our first real flying field, dedicated to RC. This field later became the Callahan State Park. In 1973 we ran 4 AMA sanctioned contests: Scale, H-Ray racing, a fun-fly, and a soaring contest.

CRRC, incorporated in the State in the late 70’s, and is now one of the oldest New England RC clubs. Our strength has been the ability to find and maintain good flying fields, help new RC enthusiasts to learn, and hold interesting club meetings and events.

CRRC now enjoys the use of separate AMA sanctioned fields for flying power-planes and gliders. Trips are organized to slope soar on Cape Cod, and an indoor athletic facility is booked during the winter months for flying R/C out of the snow and ice.

We continue to grow and offer great events and competitions in the area. We are continuously in the search for new potential flying sites. And most importantly, we consistently promote and enjoy the sport, education, and hobby of radio controlled scale flight.