That's quiet a difference from the model planes that my Dad and brother used to build and crash!! I was just a little kid, but I remember that they had to spin the propeller to get it to sputter and start, and it had wires attached from the plane to the hand grip. Once it was in the air, the one flying it must have gotten pretty dizzy going around in circles with it. They built boats too.
Boy - I hadn't thought about that in many, many years.