I Am The AMAModel Aviation contributing editorBy Jay Smith | jays@modelaircraft.org JAY SMITH: How did you become involved with model aviation?DICK PERRY: I’ve been interested in airplanes since I was quite young—my mother said that one of my first words was "airplane." My father was a mechanical engineer and a skilled craftsman who turned our basement into a workshop and recreation room, and he transformed our attic into my bedroom.He built toy airplanes for me and taught me to use his tools. When I expressed an interest in flying models, he bought me one of the early Cox ready-to-fly…