IMAGE GALLERY: Radio-Controlled Treasures for Air, Water and Land

Surrounded by model biplanes and bombers, naval ships and miniature Ford F-150's, Bill Horton called the organized chaos his "retirement."

Only that retirement has been his livelihood and passion for over 20 years, ever since he was laid off from his job in 1993. Horton said it was then that he decided that the next boss he would work for would be himself, and that was that.

So with his assertion, the original ABC RC & Hobbies business was born. It was a shop dedicated to remote-controlled models of any kind. It was only in October that Horton decided on moving his specialty shop to Windham, downsizing at a location on Route 28 where a computer shop was once housed.

Now Horton completely works for himself, losing the former employees and some of the products from his former spot. 

"There was some soul searching," said Horton, "And that was the conclusion I came to."

When Horton first entered the business, he had already been traveling the East Coast extensively, participating in toy and train shows for over five years.

"One year there we did 45 weekends," said Horton.

At the shows, he would sell his products, packing everything into a van and setting up around seven tables worth of remote-controlled items. The closest show was in Wilmington, Mass, with a couple in Manchester as well.

Horton no longer takes part in the events that inspired him to open up a physical location. In fact, he hasn't for three years now.

"My wife took a full-time job for insurance, so that made it pretty tough for us to do shows on weekends," said Horton. "She said I'm not working seven days a week.

But as the holiday is in full gear, Horton is still plenty busy, noting the normal increase in customers that comes around this time of year.

Despite the influx, he said the shop is less of a gift-buying attraction and more of a personal store.

"People are purchasing for themselves," said Horton.

He said a hobbyists can come in and purchase the paints and model kits and do everything themselves.

The bomber hanging above the narrow cooridors of shelves took Horton 80 hours to assemble. The Biplane? 60 hours.

"They're called 'almost ready to flies,'" said Horton. But like I said it's about 80 hours of work so it's not quite almost ready to fly.

He said it would probably take even long for an amateur hobbyist, but many of the people coming in are serious about their craft.

In fact Horton sees about 70 of those people on a regular basis, going to two flying fields in Londonderry and elsewhere as part of a local RC flying club. There they test out their creations in about 650 feet of grass.

After Christmas, Horton will close shop on Sundays. Right now the new location is open six days a week, excluding Mondays.