The following is nothing new as "it" has been discussed elsewhere on the site......

Here's my "twist" on the declining numbers....in both IMAA and the AMA. It is simply a result of the aging and decline in numbers (mortality) of the MODELERS involved in the RC hobby. I am 49 yrs old and started dabbling in RC in the late 70's. I didn't get really hooked until the mid 80's but it has been my main passion since then. I consider my generation....40'somethings....to be the "tweener" group in RC. By that I mean....

The hobby for the past ten or so years...in my opinion....is 90% about flying. I am not bashing ARF's at all. I have many and fly them a lot. I also still enjoy building but admit that I get much less done now than I did ten or twenty years ago. When the IMAA originated...you had to build to fly.....or buy a plane built by someone else. Also larger planes were in their infancy and a lot of scratch building was done. the same applies to the engines and their development....converting engines, etc. It was just a different time with people of a different mentality, interests....and yes...maybe more free time. The people with those traits ("modelers") enjoyed hanging out with others of similar interests and seeing what new plane someone built and is now flying.

Fast forward to "today"....now when I go to one of the three local clubs I belong to, I almost never see a plane that was built by someone (non-ARF). I dont even give them a look. I just get nothing out of examining a plane that was built in a factory oversea's and came out of the box built and covered. WAIT....I admit...many ARF's are really decent now and fly great....but they just dont instill that "modeler curiosity" in me. Today anyone with a bit of cash can have a nice giant scale plane....not "scale nats" nice....but pretty nice.....if you dont mind a few hundred...or thousand other guys having the same plane....lol.

I also see no interest in MOST of the 30 and younger crowd to want to build or even do basic "set-up", trouble shooting, tinkering, etc. If it doesn't almost fly "outta the box", they would rather be tapping their I-phone screen....lol. Again...thats fine....just a sign of the times. I think they view RC flying as just a video game in the sky. If they have to do more than press a button....why bother.

I could go on and on elaborating. I am not bashing anyone or any type of plane. I think the IMAA appealed to "modelers" and unfortunately....they are "dissappearing".