Model airplanes, with their minuscule plastic pieces and wings cemented in place by tubes of aromatic glue, were Dick Butler’s childhood passion. As an adult, Butler still likes to assemble planes, but these days, the planes are far larger, and definitely more airworthy, than the plastic aircraft he tinkered with as a kid. Butler flies sailplanes, engine-less gliders, and he brought his glider, the Concordia, to town this weekend for the Soaring Society of America Convention. „As a kid, I built model airplanes,“ said Butler, standing next to the sleek Concordia on Thursday at TD Convention Center. „Most of the people here grew up with a romance with aviation, and I’m one of those kids still, a 74-year-old kid.“ The convention, which runs through Saturday, brought together more than two dozen of the graceful gliders with thin, aerodynamic wings and bubble-topped cockpits, as well as pilots from as far away as Europe.
