About us and Our Mission

Our Mission:

We're proud to preserve the legacy of the iconic Airborne Plan List, offering quality products at fair prices and building a community of passionate builders and flyers. Whether you're restoring a classic or crafting something new, we're here to support your journey in all things model aircraft.

 

Pete and Gus have been mates and model aeroplane nerds since they went to school together in the Snowy Mountains of NSW - back when Airborne magazine was a "thing".

 

About Pete:

Hi, I’m Peter Barry—RC aircraft tragic since 1987 and co founder of Airborne Models. My first foray into the skies was with an Aeroflyte Aries glider, a majestic balsa wood creation that taught me two things: gravity always wins, and epoxy is your best friend.

That humble glider launched a lifelong obsession with aeromodelling. Over the years, I’ve learned about internal combustion engines, basic electronics, woodworking, and engineering—mostly through trial, error, and the occasional explosion. I became fluent in the language of servo buzzes, propeller whines, and the unmistakable sound of a model hitting a tree at full throttle.

The hobby didn’t just fill my weekends—it shaped my career. I went on to earn my private pilot’s license and worked as a flying instructor with RAAus, helping others take to the skies (and gently reminding them that landing gear is not optional). Teaching people to fly was incredibly rewarding, especially when they landed on the runway I pointed to, and not the one they felt emotionally connected to.

Aeromodelling taught me more than technical skills—it taught me patience, problem-solving, and the art of improvisation. And then it taught me how to fix the problems caused by improvisation. It’s a cycle I’ve come to embrace, usually with a soldering iron in one hand and a coffee in the other.

Airborne Models was born from this passion. We print and supply RC aircraft plans and parts for builders of all levels—from wide-eyed beginners who still think “CG” is a video game term, to seasoned veterans who can eyeball dihedral angles better than a laser level. Whether you're chasing perfect symmetry or just trying to remember where you left your hobby knife (check under the plans), we’re here to help.

So if you love the smell of nitro fuel in the morning, have glue permanently embedded in your fingerprints, or just enjoy watching your creation defy physics for a few glorious seconds—welcome! You’re among friends.

 

About Gus:

My first brush with glow fuel came courtesy of a plastic Cox control-line model powered by a mighty .049 engine Dad bought. If it refused to start, we discovered we could swing it around by hand until it finally made it into flight—my first "glider"!

My R/C journey began in Year 8, thanks to a modelling class run by teacher Rick Harris—  true Aussie aero modelling legend who mentored us over many years (that’s why he’s proudly featured on our main page). The Brolga I built from that class is pictured on the ground (I still have it!). My first powered aircraft was a Hustler Mk 1, built from plans Rick gave me. That led to my first low-wing model, the New Era (plan 378), which I’m holding in the photo—complete with my super iconic 80s haircut.

Now I have kids of my own, I realise how lucky our parents were. No worries about screens or substances (except glow fuel of course)—we poured all our time and pocket money into R/C planes and Airborne magazines (always hoping for a glamorous “model” on the cover). We'd get dropped off at the field with glue still drying, and by pickup time, it was a tally of how many aircraft had survived the day.

After school I moved to Perth for work and slowly began chasing my lifelong dream of becoming a pilot. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of flying many types from a Tiger Moth to a Boeing 777. When international travel slowed in 2019, I transitioned into business flying in Pilatus PC-12s.

Modelling has ebbed and flowed over the years but I’ve kept every model and spare part I've picked up along the way. While my wife calls this "hoarding" I prefer to think of it as "astute inventory management". Since moving to Brisbane in 2007, I’ve dived back in and maybe I'm old school....... but I still love glow engines (and the smell) and tend to stick with smaller models that fit in the car.

When the chance came to preserve the Airborne Plans legacy, Pete and I didn’t hesitate. It’s a passion project rooted in decades of building, flying, crashing, repairing, crashing........ and we’re proud to carry it forward and hopefully introduce the next generation into this fantastic hobby.