joey_d1119

This was written to me by a friend that countered what I said about the growth of the hobby. Id like to know what you all think about it. I agree that in some ways the hobby might be suffering, but I dont think the hobby is in danger of dieing. PF and indoor flying are gaining popularity, but I dont think clubs, flying fields, and the overall hobby is as much doom and gloom as it sounds. I have my reservations about some aspects of the hobby, but overall I love it.

What I wrote .... (I decided that the problems we are talking about today
have been talked about since the hobby started and
through all of that time the hobby has grown and
today, in my opinion, is bigger then ever. Websites,
hundreds of national chains of hobby stores,
independent stores, so many more fields then there
were 30 years ago, and a world wide network of people
in the hobby. I agree with your position about the
clubs and I decided to find a club that suits my
needs. I think all clubs, even if they dont like a
certain aspect of the hobby, are vital to the overall
life of R/C Flying.)

(The response I recieved)

Joey,
A few of years ago, AMA president Dave Brown made a projection that membership numbers would be well over 250,000 by 2002. As you can see, we didn't quite make it at 150,000 and dropping. 25 years ago, AMA predicted that our numbers should be between 500,000 to 1 million...again, we didn't quite make it, did we?

Unfortunately, too many people today have a mistaken impression concerning our hobby's growth. They look at a model magazine and see thousands of people at a national event, which gives the mistaken impression that the hobby/sport is booming everywhere. Wrong!!!
I've been in this hobby for over 34 years and have seen literally hundreds if not thousands of related businesses come and go, but mostly go. What club members don't want to talk about is the continuing loss of flying sites, where now some are overjoyed to fly on an abandoned toxic waste dump.

Also, too many modelers consider their own clubs doing well, so therefore all is right with the rest of the RC aeromodeling community. The make declarations like: "The hobby must be booming because MY club is doing so well." You see, as a result of the voluntary training system, for fear of retaliation, beginners dare not come on RCU or publicly complain of shoddy treatment in their club. Therefore, all one hears is just the side of the club's instructors. As in, "We have an excellent training program in our club" Who would dare challenge that statement?

AMA has lost $58 x 20,000 members. Flying fields are disappearing at a very dangerous rate due to urban sprawl. Soccer fields, Little League diamonds, new businesses, housing, golf courses make money and take huge precedent over RC flying fields with their penny pinching members...who cry about paying $58 for AMA membership dues but have no problem paying $2000 for an RC airplane. See my point?

Mass and rapid growth is on man's medicine (RC industry) and another man's poison (fear of overcrowded flight lines club members). BTW, I've had this conversation with many over the years and most don't want to talk about it even though they know full well that I'm right. Hint:
Why do clubs only offer instruction once a week, if they are so intent on helping the hobby to grow. As a volunteer instructor, you can call the shots and keep beginners on the sidelines as long as you like. That's called power.

bhole74

I don't agree with his point of view, personally. AMA or any other organization doesn't know how many people enjoy this hobby because there are so many that don't belong to AMA. The numbers may reflect on what is up with AMA membership but not the hobby in general. Although I am an AMA member as is some guys I fly with, we do not have a sanctioned field and there are just as many without AMA, I doubt they are included in the numbers.

J_R

Joey

All I can say is: What a bunch of bologna.

Normally I would not bother to respond to a post without a source. Since you are young, I will because you can’t know what has transpired in the past.

All that the first paragraph shows is that someone, somewhere, sometime, makes projections with a cracked crystal ball. It happens in every business. For every over estimated number your source can drag up, I can show you 10 that projected a decrease or the demise of the hobby and/or the AMA. Was the million projection the number of modelers? If so, it may well have been exceeded. The truth is we don’t know. Is the AMA the same percentage of all modelers it was 5, 10, 25 or 50 years ago? We don’t know. The entire paragraph is irrelevant to reality without access to underlying facts.

The rest is even worse.

The number of chartered clubs has remained just about the same for the last few years. No appreciable increase or decrease. That makes the incorrect assumption that all chartered clubs have fields, which is not true, but, for all practical purposes it is close enough. If you won’t argue over +/- 50 fields, it’s fair to say that there have never been more fields than exist today. If you include the so called “outlaw” fields, the number is probably much larger.

Sure, more business have gone than come. In another time, many modeling kits and other items were literally produced in garages. Many of those have disappeared or been absorbed into larger organizations. New business pop up all the time. As an example, the number of hobby related battery businesses have been booming. Ask yourself. Do we still need as many suppliers of control line kits as we once had? It’s called evolution.

The statement the AMA lost 20,000 times $58 is hooey. First, the number of modelers lost is not that high, but again, not very important. Secondly, and more importantly, in analyzing the situation, is the fact that an AMA membership has a cost, just like any product. That includes the cost of a magazine, and insurance and many other things that go into servicing an AMA member. Do an analysis on the Financial Statement in the Membership Only section on the AMA site. Mine shows a per member “disposable income” of about $5 per member, meaning the actual loss was the number of full memberships that the decline involves times $5. For every junior or senior membership that the total decreased, it actually means an increase in the amount of “disposable income” since the rates for those groups are subsidized by the other AMA members and that subsidy does not exist if the junior or senior membership does not. Gross revenue is unimportant, net revenue is.

Instruction, like fields has always been problematical. When you get something for nothing, that is to be expected. If the “business plan” for models more closely approximated, say, golf, or bowling we would be paying by the hour or the flight instead of having clubs. Instruction would be by the hour. The huge majority of modelers I know are not interested in those traditional types of operations. The cost of a club membership includes the clubs costs acquiring and maintaining a field, improvements planned, possible club trainer planes, costs of events, etc. I have never been the member of a club that had a penny budgeted for instructors. If giving and sharing are bad, then I suppose you can say that clubs and instructors are power hungry.

beepee

"National chain hobby stores"?

Bedford

joey_d1119

Hobby People, Hobby Lobby, Tower Hobbies, Radio Shack (to a point), Pegasus out here in so cal, and a bunch of other websites, and other chains in buisness in specific areas of the country.

J_R

Joey, you're showing your age.

Make the trek to T & A Hobby Lobby and see what a hobby shop looks like, or at least what most of use think of as a hobby shop. You might call those you listed hobby suppliers, but not hobby shops.

joey_d1119

Either way you can get on the phone or online anywhere in the country and order products. People have access to hobby products from hobby suppliers like they never did before. Hobby Shops and Hobby Suppliers are interchangable based on your view of what makes a Hobby Store. My point was that the access people have to the hobby is greater then ever before. When I walk into a Hobby People, or get online at towerhobbies, or walk into my local independent hobby shop...yes I see your distinction, I really dont view them any differently.

michpittsman

My Feedback: (11)

Like society and technology, the hobby is changing at an ever increasing rate. What the general public wants to get out of a hobby is also changing. Appearances suggest that they want to do this by contributing less and less effort. Recently, it was ARFs. Now, electrics. If I knew what was next, I would invest heavily (if I had money!). The AMA, regardless of who leads it, is trying to provide services for everyone in the hobby. We could be on the backside of a downward cycle leading to a level of activity where everything will stabilize; I believe that point exists and we will eventually reach it. As the line goes, "I am looking for a large group of people that may have come this way. It is important I find them, for I am their leader." Jim

joey_d1119

I dont think its that people want to do less and less work. From my point of view, as a newbie to the hobby, I see all these ARF's and I think "Ok, Ill buy an ARF, put it together, and learn how to fly it, and at somepoint along the line I will advance far enough in the hobby that I will be able to put together a real kit, from the wood all the way up" While starting out in the hobby does require less work, I think most people like me, at 22, who are just getting into the hobby and plan to stick with it, want to get to the point where we can have the skills required, such as you do mich. Again, thats my point of view, there are of course others out there who have no desire to go beyond ARF's.

joey_d1119

This is another part of my debate with my friend over e-mail on the status of flying fields.

In Response to him:
Taking that into account I could see how out here flying fields would be in danger, but in places
like the midwest and south, places I've visited and spent much time; the suburbs out there are so open compared to out here.
When I was in St. Louis the houses in the suburbs were spread so far apart, you could fit 5 So Cal houses in
between two lots, same goes for Georgia, Indiana, and Montana, all places I've been. So in my view I dont
see flying fields in as much danger out there as they are (or might) be out here.

Do you guys think flying fields are in danger. Where land is expensive and hard to come by I can see fields being in danger.

Im sure a lot of you all have been out here to California and some haven't, but the space and land available in the states listed above, and Up State New York, and many other places in the country is so wide open compared to here.

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

joey, I would quit while I was ahead in that debate. It's one you're not going to win, and you're not about to sway his position an inch. Let him wallow in his own delusions of SOOPER SEKRIT SOCIETY R/C CLUBS HOARDING KNOWLEDGE TO GAIN POWER OVER THE MASSES.

"Why does a club offer instruction only once a week?" I'll tell you why, and it isn't about power. It's a TON of work for the few who put these weekly sessions on, and a huge time commitment even for one day. The reason each and every one of us got into this hobby was to fly our own airplanes, not give up all our precious free time to help other people fly their airplanes while ours collect dust. At some point you've got to say enough is enough, and fly your own planes, or the hobby ceases to be fun. Not fun == work, and work with no pay == really not fun, and really not something most people are willing to live with.

Yeah, it would be GREAT if everyone pitched in a little bit. If each club member mowed the field once during the summer, you'd never have to mow it more than once. If everyone pitched in to help new people, there wouldn't be a need for "trainer night." Is it gonna happen? Not in the near future. People are by nature selfish and stubborn, and very little short of a kick in the ***** from Jesus Christ himself would sway most people from their current path.

Keep fighting the good fight, do what you can to promote the hobby if that's what gets you off. That's all you can do. You're not about to change opinions with these meaningless threads; you're mostly preaching to the choir.

joey_d1119

Im not trying to change anyones views. I just want to see the debate and find out where people are coming from.

J_R

Joey

You have started several threads. You seem to be looking for solutions to what you perceive as problems. Others might say you are trying to place blame. Consider a little more history in the evolution of this hobby.

There was a time, not that many years ago, when most communities had a local hobby shop. When you walked in the door, many of them had a building board(s) on the counter tops. Models were being built right there. Many club members would be regular customers. It was a hang out for many of us. Hours went by “hanger flying” (discussing modeling, aircraft, clubs, anything to do with our passion). Most of those hanger flyers were very loyal customers. Generally, the owner had a good working knowledge of the products he sold. It was pretty darn unlikely that you were going to be interrupted by someone wanting the pieces for a Dungeons and Dragons game, or wanting a scooter. Many offered some discount to the more faithful customers. Most owners were affiliated with one or more clubs. Not only did the owner teach you to build, he often taught you to fly, or arranged for someone else that would. The owner made a living.

Mail order started to become a force. Magazines that had once been the source of ideas became the mail order catalogs of the day. Many shops quit selling the mags. Why advertise for your competition? But it was too late. Those loyal customers bought the high dollar items cheaper though the mail. The local shops started to fail. They couldn’t make it selling fuel and props. They had to pay the brick and mortar costs, and could no longer compete.

It fell to the clubs to try to take up the slack. The members tried to pass on the building techniques, but hearing how it done was not the same as being shown. Reading out of a book or manual, even with pictures could not replace the hobby shop. Where once it was the owner of the shop teaching, since part of his profit on the sale was looked at as being the price paid for a kit or radio, it now fell to the clubs. Where once volunteer instructors had a few students, now they had all of the incoming members. It didn’t take long to burn out spending all of your time helping others and no time on your own pursuits.

Where, once, there was an investment of self in each model, that too has evolved. The current high quality ARFs make it possible for anyone with a few disposable dollars to enter the hobby. It no longer takes the passion it once did. This too has hurt instructing. Many buy a plane, join the AMA, join a club and depend on free instruction to learn to fly. You can’t believe how disheartening it is to teach a student to fly, then when he does crash, never see him again. All he had invested was money. This too has affected instructing. Many instructors are choosier about who they will instruct.

Today we have the internet and it has again evolved. Still, nothing… not words, or pictures or even videos can replace the hobby shop of yesterday.

I’m not trying to tell you that change is bad, or that saving money is bad, or that ARFs are bad or that the internet is bad. I am telling you that things have changed and your quest to find solutions or lay blame has to take change into account.

zope_pope

Hey matt Kircsh,
Are you a comp programmer? You are using relational operators (like ones with Boolean expressions) with the whole "==". Just wondering. :P

joey_d1119

Thats puts a lot of things in perspective. I would have loved to have the blessing of going into a local hobby shop and seeing what you described. I guess I can understand a little better where some of the bad feelings come from...towards PF's, or when any other person in the Hobby member attacks a part of the hobby. I can also see where the frusteration can be in clubs with trying to help new people. Not to say that ignoring a member and giving them the cold shoulder is ok...its almost like they know that they should do all they can to help but are frusterated in the face of it all. I dont think the Hobby is in any danger of going out, but what a drastic change to go from a hobby shop that you describe where people hang out and talk planes, to the generic website/big chain hobby "shop" or "supplier". I know that a lot of these guys wont let go of there (not hatred)...but revulsion of the things that they attack. The Hobby will, and is changing, and eventually I think a lot of these concerns will level off. More people my age will come into the Hobby with PF's, ARF's, Gliders, Jets, and all the other cool things around them. Whereas a lot of these guys that are coming down hard on a lot of things didnt come into the hobby with such a wide assortment of planes and technology. And as new things came about, the Hobby started to change. All I care about is someone flying something, I dont care what they fly or where they fly as long as someone is flying an R/C "something." I now understand much better where all the frusteration I see in the threads is coming from. Im sure I could have said this in a much better style but Im glad you made that post J_R, I think I found part of the answer.

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

Beside the fact of making a decent living in an LHS there is a national statistic (Commerce Dept. I think) that states that 93% of all small businesses fail in the first year for various reasons. The most prominent is underfunding to start. In the second year another 90% fail. LHS isn't, and can never be, what it once was. The loss is ours as hobbyists. All that being said the developement of RC is unprecedented, the only thing that outshines it is the space race.
I miss the old LHS (I started in 1934) but aside from the fact that I can't just drop over and get a couple of props and some fuel but must order online, I have a wider choice than I ever had at the local LHS. AMA is necessary to protect us from the FCC, and a sue happy public, but there are things that do not interest the majority of enthusiasts who belong to the organization. We should never forget the indoor flyers, park flyers, controliners, speed flyers and free flighters. They too are a part of the basic hobby of model aviation. AMA is not dedicated to RC alone. AMA will grow in spite of itself when all the "minor" disciplines of model aviation are put together and speak their piece.
I have been in the kit manufacturing and LHS business both. Unless you are a pretty large company it is touch and go. Just be thankful that we have AMA with all its warts. The hobby is not declining with or without AMA.

Crashem

After reading the threads Joey has I'm confused???

In Joeys First Thread

He Bashes the club and claims its not the AMA Fault

His Second Thread

He wants to know how we are saving the hobby?

In this Thread

He wants to tell the truth about the hobby what we won't admit.

Joey do you have a point? Did a club or the AMA wrong you in this or a past life?

Joey how long have you been an AMA member?

Are you even a member of a Club? By member I mean dues paying.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

I'm dying to comment on this thread. What the heck are we talking about ? I understnd that E-business has closed down many Mom-n-Pop store fronts, including hobby shops. I understand you can order from Tower, even if you live in the Aleutians. Good, bad, whatever, that is life nowadays. So?
Instruction is generally on the weekends because that is when people are off work. I have instructed several dozen folks in my day. And let me tell you this. It is work. And it gets old watching someone fly a trainer when you have a fire cracker sitting in the pits ready to set the sky on fire. If someone complained to me that I wasn't giving them enough of my time.............they wouldn't get one more minute of my time, period.
I really don't think there is a conspiracy to control memberships by limiting training. I do think that many folks are burned out on training and do not volunteer to do it anymore. I don't. I trained about 30 folks or so, I figure I am even. I'll bet you are having trouble getting someone to train you, is that it? Did you mouth off at the club or something ? Training is a GIFT ! It isn't a birthright.

the-plumber

I'm betting the part answer you think you found is smaller than you realize. Howzzat for convoluted ?

Part and parcel with online ordering and mass-market hobby suppliers, the LHS' of old took a double whammy - the online buyers thought it would be quite ok to buy as cheaply as possible online and then hit on the LHS for technical (and even warranty) support.

People today have more disposable income than ever before. As a result, a considerable percentage are buying their way into the hobby at higher and higher levels of technology, but they haven't done their homework.

Read the various giant and scale forums and see how many threads start out something like 'Ok guys, I got this 54% Yak and everything is ready but I need a little help, so can anyone tell me . . . . how do you get fuel in the tank . . . where does the battery go . . . do I need a special charger for my monster LiPo battery packs . . . what engine do I need . . . I can't figure out where the servos plug in . . . do my receiver and transmitter have to be on the same channel . . . yada . . . yada. . . yada', ad infinitum.

The hobby was self-limiting as recently as a decade ago because an utter novice could not wave his credit card across the keyboard and have a 1/3 scale ARF aerobat show up in 24 hours, he had to build the giant model and odds were much better than even that he'd never get it off the ground _until he'd done his homework in smaller models_.

And that's the scary part, and it's the reason I no longer instruct. It's the reason many clubs today have limited the number of instructors, and many more have instituted a solo certification program of some sort. A surprising percentage of clubs do not allow new members to fly solo until that new member has demonstrated the ability to handle his models properly. I've had to demonstrate that I know what I'm doing more than once, because I had a number of interstate transfers back in the late 80s and early 90s; the only time I ever had a problem was with one particular "senior instructor" who insisted that he had to fly my models. I advised him that as soon as his check cleared my bank he could indeed fly my models, and that was the end of that BS.

The hobby never has been centered on training, it has always been centered on learning, and the learning was done by the newbies when they built their first rubber powered models, or small glow free flight models, and only moved up to large glow engined models when they knew what they were doing.

You can also see the results of this new age of instant gratification on any model airplane flight line on any weekend flying day - there will be an alarming percentage of models being forced into the air when those models really aren't fit to be removed from the car, never mind fit to be flown. There will also be an alarming percentage of 'flyers' who are sadly lacking in fundamental safety awareness, who don't have a clue what a traffic pattern is all about, and who insist that they have a "right" to fly their model just because they paid the AMA and club dues.

Nota bene that these nubs are not all young; the last one I ran across parades around town in an H2, owns a 42% whateveritis-Edge-looking thing, and will scare the pants off everyone in sight when he gets ready to start the whopping great Zenoah twin hanging off the front of his pride and joy.

The only good part about his 'abilities' is that he has yet to taxi more than ten feet without using the prop to dig new furrows in the flight line turf. Our facilities manager is none too fond of this nonsense, but has opined as how it's far less aggravating to smooth over a few prop dings in the flight line than to put a new roof on the club house.

I saw a sign not too long ago that pretty much sums up why most experienced model builders and flyers are a bit stand-offish when it comes to newbies. The sign had nothing to do with model aviation, but the idea fits pretty well. The sign was at a vet's clinic, and it read "Help wanted - scars required".

IMHO if you haven't had two or more fingers in a splint for a few weeks as a result of intruding into the prop arc of a K&B .60, you have absolutely no business trying to start a Zenoah. Similarly, if you're hand-propping a Zenoah you didn't pay enough attention to or have forgotten the lessons offered by that old .60

There's more than a little bit of truth to the adage that goes, "The older I get, the smarter my Dad was".

joey_d1119

I didnt bash clubs...I just said stuff about clubs no one else saying but a lot of them are thinking. I realize I came out strong, but throughout the thread I refined my argument.

Just becuase I dont agree with a lot of what the clubs do doesnt mean I dont care about the hobby. Debate is debate, its doesnt mean I hate anybody.

As for this thread...I defended the hobby, and my friend wrote a response to my defense of it.

Ive been in AMA for a month, about to become a member paying dues....however it doesnt mean I am not allowed to give my view of what I see...even thought Im new to the hobby. I grew up around the hobby but never participated...( I know I cam on strong in my first post about the clubs...I do apologize, but looking from the outside in gives you a good view of things overall..im more then less on the outside) but now I am starting to wonder if the AMA and the Clubs did do me wrong in a past lifetime...

My point is clubs could be doing more to get new members, and part of that is laying off the bashing of PF's

My point is that while we all will never agree on a total solution, we each have our own good ideas about how to get more members and make the club scene better...that was my second post

The point I am making here is that I dont think the hobby is in major trouble, but there are things that can improve. I wanted to know how you guys felt about my friends response.

Jim Thomerson

As a control line flier, it is interesting to read all this. I belong to two control line clubs (far away). If you are interested in CL you will be welcome even if you have fourteen eyes and tentacles. We are beginning to see some ARF's and they are fine airplanes with perhaps a little modification. We have a few good commercial sources and a bunch of dedicated cottage industry people. The internet is proving very useful as are the various CL SIGs. Control line Precision Aerobatics is in pretty good shape compared to 20 years ago. A lot of us fly competitively. I have all the contests available that I care to attend. Most of us are dinosaurs, but there is a little young blood here and there.

So far as local flying goes, we lost the city sponsored circles years ago because of nonuse. They are now soccer fields. There are about a half dozen of us flying regularly. We fly at a church (2 miles from my house), or in a back yard 50 miles from my house. Someday there will be enough of us to form a club and go talk to the city about our lost flying site.

Jim

Darkace

There will always be some places will rc flying fields are same. For example, over here in the Sepulveda, we have a flying field. The good thing is that structures are not allowed to be build there. So its safe no matter what. But whatever happens i dont think the hobby will die as long there are people like us.

Dead Eye Dick

Hi Guys,

Just to add weight to posting #19 by The Plumber. Everything you said is exactly what is happening over here on the other side of the world.

So if the youngster thinks it's only happening in good old USA, your very wrong.

We look at as the younger generation attitude towards life is diferrent to day from yesterday. Lack of experience and as one said about the adage "The older I get, the smarter my Dad was" couldn't be more right.

The youngester today will become our older memebers as they die out and will evolve the hobby.

Interestingly in the UK membership is up for just a little island.

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

As someone who basically learned to fly by the school of hard knocks (I had a total of 3 flights with an instructor, and soloed on the third flight). I think that a large part of the problem with instruction is that the newbie is just waving the credit card and not doing any of the heavy lifting.

At least assemble the ARF correctly, install the radio correctly, get the control directions correct, the throws right, the tank installed right, and the wheels all pointing in the same direction and balanced, your own fuel and support equipment.

Show up at a field with anything less, and you are not going to be received with a great deal of enthusiasm. If you are not interested enough in the hobby to perform due diligence in preparing to learn, don’t expect too much from the instructors.

Then I expect you to listen carefully to what I tell you about the operation of the model, the field rules, and simple field etiquette. Then if you are like 95% of the people that I have trained, you will be successful at least part of the time and become a new flying buddy.

Hossfly

TO ALL:

As usual this thread contains many ideas and opinions. While some vary by 180°, there is evidence to support just about all of them. IMO the major problem in the sport is definitely the lack of facilities and the NEED (growing by the square) for new and better facilities.

As long as the industry has a cash cow it will grow. Many of the internet businesses will falter as the electric trend peaks, yet they will continue at a moderate rate just like large models will always be around. If you were here then, back in the '80s, anyone not flying an 80" gasser was just totally out of step with "What's-In". Still there were lots of us not flying 80" gassers and all have survived. The cash-cow back then was the new frequencies and the RC Car craze. Both still exist and RC Cars certainly is still a profitable item for the LHS.

Cars were the first item to bring RC into the kid's home-street world. RC Foamies now do that same thing. The beauty therein is that there is still that yearn to FLY down deep in many souls. Each of us started somewhere. Probably the majority of the Yard/Park fliers will go on to some other interest very soon. Yet with so many being sold, then there will be a considerable number that will move on up into bigger things. Some will stay right there with the small electrics. That too is OK. Many competition modelers stay with ONE event forever. OTOH, many try a number of events. Another beauty in model aviation is the freedom to do so many things or stay with one item or whatever the individual so chooses.

Regardless of the priorities an individual selects, there needs to be the opportunity for organized modeling. Organized model aviation, as supplied by the AMA, is the voice of model aviation. Unfortunately, IMO, that voice is now barely a whisper. AMA with the insurance program, had the Clubs doing all AMA's recruiting. AMA Leaders became fat, lazy, obnoxious, unresponsive and basically turned a deaf ear to the progress being made in the technology of model aviation. They indicate little interest in doing otherwise as the main interest in the hierarchy seems just to make more restrictive Safety Code rules and still rely on the Clubs to do all the publicity. Of course the EC looks the other way while allowing some self-serving bureaucrats change the house-journal into becoming a nothing as a representative of the Academy.

In the short term, the sport/hobby is not in danger. There is activity and suppliers for the daily fun. Everything is A-OK.

In the long term there is a different story. The organized modeling portion is in very much danger. Since the majority of AMA members think of AMA as only an insurance provider, they have no interest in the inner workings of the Academy. In their minds, it was here before them and will be here after they're gone. What's the problem? AMA just might lose its ability to be the voice of model aviation especially with so few members and a declining number at that.

Historically, the story parallels other happenings. FF was the main modeling flying thing. Large wide-open fields moved away. CL came into vogue. Every vacant lot, schoolyard, park, etc., became a flying field. 1/2A CL brought CL activity into the streets and lots in the older housing areas. OOPs -- NOISE which the neighbor did not like. In the '60s RC became the growth novelty. In the '70s cars and gasoline permitted all to find a field within decent range and the rush was on again. Radios became affordable for all. Again the growth of the spreading urban areas take usable RC Fields outside the range of urban dwellers. What's the problem? Without facilities for the regular RC fliers, the only remaining users will slowly fade just as FF and CL has. NO, NOT GO away; they simply cannot pay their way in the market place.

Well Troops the problem lies in the fact that AMA Leaders have really Dropped the Ball BIG TIME in publicizing the Model Aviation (sport - not the magazine) Story. The Clubs have dropped the ball, because they simply want member $$ and they sell membership in AMA as strictly a for-insurance thing. As AMA continues to just fumble the ball, there is little reason for the clubs to push getting that ball and running with it. YET, if the Clubs don't push AMA among the club members, where will it get pushed? Club officers need to educate themselves on the issues, relate such to the membership and push the need to VOTE in AMA elections. Actually just getting the members to VOTE would be a start as a large interest in the AMA elections just might awaken some of the sleepers up there in the EC. It will take more, but again each journey starts with the first step.

The solution is for AMA to get responsible in advertising, through free media, the worth of model aviation. Get all politicians and media aware and somewhat knowledgeable of the worth of this fine recreational sport. There has to be more of the inner urban areas like the Forest Preserve sites in Chicago-Land. There needs to be much better planning ahead in the developing areas for the establishment of both public and private facilities. This is what AMA needs to HAVE been doing, needs to be doing, and should be doing well into the future.

Unfortunately the push for AMA Leadership that can and will move AMA onto a proper course is also lacking at the local level. So just where and how does it all get started?

Edit: Removed an 's'