A little about my home, it was in Point Place which was on the north side of Toledo. The house was between lake Erie and the Ottawa river, it was a kids paradise. The lake was about a quarter mile from the back of the house and my grandfather farmed the field, I remember helping him in the field, I bet I was a lot of help. The river was just across the road in front of the house. I could watch the powerboats and there were some seaplanes docked on the river. I liked watching the take off and landings. Just down the road , in the Lost Peninsula which was an isolated part of Michigan, there was an amphibian plane. The engine was mounted on top of the wing, on struts, you can imagine the fun we kids had exploring the plane, and the imaginary flights we took. I never met the owner of the plane, I still wonder if he would have taken me for a ride.
The year was 1936, I was eight years old and the model, a modified Megow biplane, as you can see, it was modified to a low wing monoplane and my first model that flew successfully. (See Photo)
The local interest really started to grow and more and more fellows started building and flying RC planes. You have to realize at that time there was only a handful of RC equipment and RC kits available, at today’s standards most wouldn’t even be considered by the average modeler. The natural growth in RC had started, we would exchange ideas and experiences, I soon realized the need for an RC model club, so as in the past, I started one, we named it, “WEAK SIGNALS” (1953). The name was a reflection of the times, radios were not reliable as they are today, we had a lot of flyways and crashes because of radio failures. Thus my name “WEAK SIGNALS” was chosen by the club members. I remember as the radio equipment improved, several of the club members wanted to change the name of the club. Each time the name change came up for a vote, the name change was voted down. It seems ironic now, I remember telling the club members, someday you will be proud of the club name.
The year was 1954, this was the year the RC Conference as we know it, was born. During the previous years, most of the flying was done during the warm weather, remember the dry cell batteries, their power output was reduced when they got cold, the flyers didn’t like to tinker in the cold weather either. Cold weather provided time for building planes and radios, after a project was completed we wanted to show it to someone, the wanting was the thing that started the RC conference. A lot of our flying was meets in Toledo and Detroit, conversation between the Toledo and the Detroit club lead to the decision to get together in the winter months. The first meeting was hosted by the RC Club of Detroit, it was called, Mid-Winter RC Convention and was held in a Funeral Home,
The last Midwinter RC Conference held in Detroit was held on March 3rd. 1956, this time it was held at Rouge Recreation Center. Features of the Conference were talks, new equipment demonstrations, contest rules/calendar, two hours of RC movies including the 1955 Nats in color and naturally bull sessions, quite an agenda. The RC conference was making history, it provided a place for show and tell, exchange of ideas and experiences, the winter void had been filled.
The year 1957, this was the year the Radio Club of Detroit and the Weak Signals jointly sponsored the annual Mid- Winter RC Conference. The conference was held on Saturday March 9th, in Toledo, at the Trilby Log Cabin, Alexis and Secor Roads. The program followed the same format as previous conferences, talks, movies and of course the NATS in color, Ernie Kratzet was still the conference spark plug. The expected attendance was over 300, as I remember we had well over 300. The Weak Signals (wives, kids and friends) provided the food, did you ever feed 300 people? The joint sponsorship was a success, we, the Weak Signals were in the conference business, one thing we learned about the conference that first year was, it is a lot of hard work and requires team work to be successful.
The year was 1958, this was the last year of joint sponsorship of the Mid-Winter Conference. The date was February 23, time 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. at the Trilby Log Cabin, program format, same as the previous years including color movies of the 1957 NATS. Modeling activity hadn’t changed much, reeds were still king.
Back to modeling, the 5th Annual Mid-Winter RC Conference was held on February 21st and the 22nd (1959). It was the first 2 day conference, the location was changed from the Trilby Log Cabin to the Miracle Ball Room. This was the first year the Weak Signals sponsored the event by themselves, the reason for the split was a dispute over the conference seventy five dollar conference fund. The Weak Signals decided to host the conference without the help of the Detroit club, our first problem was, the conference fund. The fund didn’t have enough money to support the conference, to raise additional Moines, the club sold bonds, the cost of the bonds was five dollars each. We raised the needed conference money.
We worked on the publicity , in the past the Detroit club handled the publicity, we were confident we could have a successful conference. The program was the next task, after contacts with previous attendees we found the program had grown, speakers on all phases of the hobby, manufactures, displays, planes, cars, boats, an auction on Saturday night. The growth of the program was a reflection of the growth of the hobby itself. What we didn’t realize at that time,the conference concept was exploding too. The Weak Signals owe their success in the early years to their members, wives, children and friends, they had a tiger by the tail and held to give the WEAK SIGNALS the show they have today.
The year was 1961, the Weak Signals held their 7th Annual Midwinter RC Conference on February, 24th and 25th at the Sunningdale Golf Course. As in the past speakers, awards manufactures booths, auction, door prizes and for the first time flying Demos.
Epilogue
The year was 2020, and the Weak Signals sent out a press release stating that they would no longer be putting on the Expo. It was the end of an era. The Expo ended due to a combination of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in the industry, and the difficulty of producing a quality show, leading the Toledo Weak Signals club to decide it was no longer feasible.
2021 brought us to a new beginning for a decades- old event. After the disappointing announcement was made that the Weak Signals’ Toledo R/C Expo was coming to an end, a small group of R/C enthusiasts (and swappers) weren’t quite ready to see their early April swap meet shenanigans cease to exist. Through their growing partnerships with the Glass City Center (formally called Seagate Convention Centre), the Valley City Radio-Controlled Club, and the Tiffin Ohio R/C Modelers the swappin’ fun continued!
2025 brings us the 5th Annual Toledo R/C Swap & EXPO. Over the last five years, this show has seen tremendous growth in commercial vendors, swappers, and overall attendance. In Joe David’s own words, he described what this show looked like in both Detroit and Toledo over the last seventy years. They have included things such as “speakers, awards, manufacturers booths, auctions, door prizes and flying demos.” Great ideas always seem to remain unchanged.
