Raymond Welch

RAYMOND WELCH is the lad who for three years and a half gave promise of becoming Bapst's most pronounced misogynist ~ but he has finally been converted t0 the society world. Bommy has been a model airplane man for many years and more recently has turned to photography and gadgeteering. Bommy is a C.Y.O. enthusiast and has done much to extend its successful growth these past several years. Ray is going to the U. of M. and take the engineering course.

Ray's 70th year photo of being on this earth!

After graduating from John Bapst, I began classes at the University of Maine in September and started dating Leslie Thibeau, class of '55, that same month. Attending the University didn't seem to be what I wanted, so I left and took a position at Darlings Auto as Parts Manager and soon moved to Service Manager. In 1970, I received Toyota of America's award for Service Manager of the Year.

Leslie and I dated for two years and in October 1955, after her graduation from John Bapst, we were married.

We have three sons, Raymond Jr., Timothy and Richard, and six grandchildren, three girls, Samantha, Katherine and Sydney, and three boys, Brendan, Patrick and Timothy.

I became interested in flying at an early age, when I opened a box of Wheaties and found a balsa wood airplane inside. In my mid teens, I built and flew control line model planes and entered the State Model Airplane Contests sponsored by the Bangor Daily News and Chrysler Motors. In 1950, 1951 and 1952, I won all expense paid trips to the National Model Airplane Contests in Detroit, MI.

I earned my private pilot's license at Brewer Airport in 1954 and then went on to acquire my commercial and instructor's ratings. I taught flying at Brewer Airport and the Aero Club at Dow Air Force Base from 1956 until the base closed in 1969. My flying time was accumulated before and after my regular work day at Darlings and on weekends.

In 1971, I was offered a job with American Motors as a Service Representative and we moved to Massachusetts. While with the Corporation, I moved up from Service Representative to Owner Relations Manager, Service Development Supervisor, Warranty Administration Manager and finally, Field Service Manager.

I always wanted to build my own plane and started the construction of a 2/3 scale, WWII fighter, P-51 Mustang in the basement of our Massachusetts home. (Yes, there was a door in the basement where I could take it out, without the wings on, of course.)

Nearly the entire basement of our home was finished and I soon ran out of room in my little workshop, so I had to take down the wall to one of our son's bedroom and extend my work area into it. Having little storage in my small workshop, I also had plane parts around the house, like the tail section sitting on the livingroom floor, in front of the fireplace, for a few years. It was a real conversation piece.

It didn't take long for me to run out of room again. This time I built an attached oversized two-car garage completely finished on the inside and put the wall back to our son's bedroom so he could have some privacy again.

This was my relaxation at night and on weekends. I puttered away for the next fifteen years and had the plane three quarters finished, when American Motors started to have problems and I was transferred to, of all places, Maine.

In December of 1985, Les and I moved to Maine, just outside of Bangor in Carmel. By this time all the boys had graduated from college and were on their own.

I had no shop, again, and stored the plane in the car garage. Maine winters are long and cold and I couldn't work on the P-51. I wanted something to do, soooooooooooo I started another plane, in the basement. A low wing, experimental, Mustang II. When spring finally came, I built another oversized two-car garage, completely finished on the inside, next to the house and concentrated mainly on the Mustang II, as I was having trouble with the retractable landing gear on the P-51.

In the meantime, American Motors went under and I took a job locally in Bangor. We had planned to move back to Massachusetts after Les became eligible to retire.

I continued to work on the Mustang II and finished it just before Les retired in June of 2000. Our house in Carmel sold faster then we had anticipated and we moved back to Massachusetts in July. The Mustang II has never been flown and is stored, along with the P-51, in Bangor.

P-51 Mustang

Mustang II

The local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association
displayed the Mustang II, without the wings, in the 4th of July Parade in Bangor.