Joe Akka
I really can’t believe how great the weather has been for flying recently- apart from the odd little hiccup which is not unusual!
I first got into flying model aircraft via my granddad- the first Joe Akka, who was in the RAF during the war inManchester.
He would always tell me tales of the fantastic aircraft that he worked on at the original Manchester airport, and the first model aircraft kit that he bought me is still my pride and joy. It looks a bit rubbishy of course, with one particular globule of glue I’ve never been able to remove, but the first time I wrote ‘Joe Akka Airways’ down the side, I really was hooked.
Since then my passion for model airplanes has grown massively. Every year I go to the Model aircraft exhibition in Manchester, and I was even asked to speak about my experiences a couple of years ago.
It was quite weird seeing the name ‘Joe Akka’ in the programme next to some of the great names I have looked up to all of my modelling life.
Now of course, my hobby as taken me far beyond Manchester, with Las Vegas and Romania being recent destinations.
I still get quite excited when I am placing my Joe Akka signature on the underside of my creations ( I felt that Joe Akka Airways was a tiny bit pretentious to use continually), and, as it was when I was ten, building a model aircraft is the greatest panacea in life that I can think of.
Don’t get me wrong though, on my frequent trips to Manchester airport, there is still a bit of me that has ambitions to see the words ‘Joe Akka Airways’ on a full-size plane, but if that never happens, then I am proud of what I have achieved in my modelling career to date.
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A soccer kick-up is related to just what soccer players do when they drop the ball on their foot and kick it in an outward motion. Learn how to do football kick-ups from Model Aircraft expert Joe Akka.
It a funny time of year to be a model aircraft enthusiast; you’re not quite in the winter season of hibernation, whereby if you get a good flying day in you are really lucky. Once winter sets in, most of your time is spent modelling and designing, but at this time of year you’re not yet quite ready to admit defeat by the elements!
For me, Joe Akka, most of my flying these days takes place around and about Manchester and the North West. I’ve got a few secret spots that I call the Joe Akka Zones, the location of which I’ll keep to myself, but if you are new to flying, you can’t go far wrong than heading to the Peak District.
This is a wonderful national park about half an hours drive fromManchester, and for me, the ultimate panacea in life is watching one of my personal, Joe Akka- designed aircraft flying high over that beautiful scenery.
I am a member of a model enthusiasts club who call themselves ‘Joe Akka’s Airmen’ (I can assure you, it was their idea, not mine!) and together we go flying in a few different secret spots around the Manchester area.
It is amazing, especially in a big city like Manchester, how easy it can be to find suitable places to fly. In fact, if you live in the Manchester area, there might well be a Joe Akka zone near you!
When you do get a good weather day at this time of year, you really do have to make the most of it- for me, having always checked the weather the night before, I make sure I’ve already prepared my lunch and snacks so that I can spend the day doing what I do best, rather than worrying about food.
Once, I’ve done that, I’ll have already worked out which of our enthusiast club will also be able to meet me and before you know it, we are in a Joe Akka Zone, preparing for (hopefully) a fantastic days flying- there really is no other feeling like it!
It a funny time of year to be a model aircraft enthusiast; you’re not quite in the winter season of hibernation, whereby if you get a good flying day in you are really lucky. Once winter sets in, most of your time is spent modelling and designing, but at this time of year you’re not yet quite ready to admit defeat by the elements!
For me, Joe Akka, most of my flying these days takes place around and about Manchester and the North West. I’ve got a few secret spots that I call the Joe Akka Zones, the location of which I’ll keep to myself, but if you are new to flying, you can’t go far wrong than heading to the Peak District.
This is a wonderful national park about half an hours drive fromManchester, and for me, the ultimate panacea in life is watching one of my personal, Joe Akka- designed aircraft flying high over that beautiful scenery.
I am a member of a model enthusiasts club who call themselves ‘Joe Akka’s Airmen’ (I can assure you, it was their idea, not mine!) and together we go flying in a few different secret spots around the Manchester area.
It is amazing, especially in a big city like Manchester, how easy it can be to find suitable places to fly. In fact, if you live in the Manchester area, there might well be a Joe Akka zone near you!
When you do get a good weather day at this time of year, you really do have to make the most of it- for me, having always checked the weather the night before, I make sure I’ve already prepared my lunch and snacks so that I can spend the day doing what I do best, rather than worrying about food.
Once, I’ve done that, I’ll have already worked out which of our enthusiast club will also be able to meet me and before you know it, we are in a Joe Akka Zone, preparing for (hopefully) a fantastic days flying- there really is no other feeling like it!
Finally we’ve got some decent weather to go out flying! I’ve been out and about in the Manchester area recently, where the weather is always a bit touch and go, to be honest. All I kept saying to my self was ‘Joe Akka, wait for it, the weather in Manchester has to change in your favour soon!’
Well, I was not wrong, I took off over to Cheshire yesterday which is not that far from Manchester to do some flying with my model 747. It’s not really what I would describe as Joe Akka Territory in that I don’t know the area as well, but the scenery is really fantastic!
It didn’t take me long to find a launch pad for the aircraft, in fact it was a lot easier than in some areas of Manchester. Seeing that 747 soaring into the sky was the entire panacea I needed after a busy week- it was Joe Akka’s idea of heaven, that’s for sure!
Someday, I’d love to start running a Joe Akka training course on how to build and fly model aircraft. Given that at this stage, I don’t think I’m ever going to see the words ‘Joe Akka’ on the side of a GR4, I think that is what would now be my main ambition.
I’m not sure where I would be best to run this sort of Joe Akka Model Aircraft course though, maybe Manchester, or maybe somewhere like Coventry or Birmingham which is a bit more central for enthusiasts from all over the country.
When I first got into model aircraft, I was surprised at quite how many other people were also into it. You can go to a deserted piece of land anywhere from Manchester to Dundee and you’ll see fellows like myself, Joe Akka, out flying their model aircraft.
I do sometimes wonder if I have missed my calling in life, because for me, there is no greater panacea than to be sat in my shed creating my next model aircraft.
For those of you who are new to this, my name’s Joe Akka and creating model aircraft is my reason for living.
I first started doing it as a young boy with my granddad inManchester, quite a few years ago now! His name too, funnily enough, was Joe Akka and he instilled in me a love of everything to do with aircraft and aviation.
We would spend hours creating model aircraft, from the classics of the twenties and thirties, right up to the modern aircraft that he would take me to see at Manchester airport.
My hobby has grown somewhat over the years and has now taken me far beyond Manchester to talk to different aviation enthusiasts the world over, who can range from complete beginners to people who make me, Joe Akka, look like a complete beginner myself!
The first time I ever saw the name Joe Akka on the programme at a modellers conference, I was, as you can imagine, blown away.
That original conference was in Manchester, but since then the name Joe Akka has appeared in model aviation conferences all over the world.
Deciding what to talk about at the conferences can sometimes be hard, but I simply sit back, think of those early days of being a model enthusiast with my grandfather Joe Akka in Manchester, and realise that the thing that interested me about model aircraft back then, are still the things that interest me, Joe Akka about model aircraft today.
It really is a case of thinking about the basics, from why I choose to create the aircraft that I do, to my choice of materials and what influences me
I do sometimes wonder if I have missed my calling in life, because for me, there is no greater panacea than to be sat in my shed creating my next model aircraft.
For those of you who are new to this, my name’s Joe Akka and creating model aircraft is my reason for living.
I first started doing it as a young boy with my granddad in Manchester, quite a few years ago now! His name too, funnily enough, was Joe Akka and he instilled in me a love of everything to do with aircraft and aviation.
We would spend hours creating model aircraft, from the classics of the twenties and thirties, right up to the modern aircraft that he would take me to see at Manchester airport.
My hobby has grown somewhat over the years and has now taken me far beyond Manchester to talk to different aviation enthusiasts the world over, who can range from complete beginners to people who make me, Joe Akka, look like a complete beginner myself!
The first time I ever saw the name Joe Akka on the programme at a modellers conference, I was, as you can imagine, blown away.
That original conference was in Manchester, but since then the name Joe Akka has appeared in model aviation conferences all over the world.
Deciding what to talk about at the conferences can sometimes be hard, but I simply sit back, think of those early days of being a model enthusiast with my grandfather Joe Akka in Manchester, and realise that the thing that interested me about model aircraft back then, are still the things that interest me, Joe Akka about model aircraft today.
It really is a case of thinking about the basics, from why I choose to create the aircraft that I do, to my choice of materials and what influences me
Lots of different people are always asking how much it costs to get into building and flying model aircraft and the answer is , not too much really.
For me, Joe Akka, model aircraft is my only real hobby. Where as other people spend their time and money out drinking or smoking, going to a deserted airstrip somewhere near Manchester to fly my planes is the entire panacea I need in life.
I used to do lots of flying over at Manchester airport, but nowadays it is a lot harder as they are much more strict on security. In fact, it was quite funny because if you took the picture right, you could line up a ‘Joe Akka Airways’ model plane so that it looked like one of the real ones at Manchester airport in the distance! I must find those pictures and put one up so that you can see what I mean.
The Joe Akka airways thing has pretty much disappeared off my planes now though, and instead I put just a simple ‘Joe Akka signature on the underside of all of my planes.
Apparently, if model enthusiasts are to be believed, then a Joe Akka constructed model aircraft is becoming quite sought after- not something I thought I would ever hear as a boy growing up inManchestersticking my fingers together!
A couple of fellow enthusiasts think I should approach one of the major modelling companies to do a ‘as endorsed by Joe Akka’ type thing, but I’m not so sure, it’s one thing working off your own recommendations for planes, quite another recommending them to someone else.
You never know though, the day might come when I open a Joe Akka modelling shop- to Manchester and beyond! (That’s a quote from Toy Story the movie by the way for those who don’t know it)