ORIGINAL: rc-maniac
I have been in this great Hobby, on and off, for about 15 years now. I too have seen the changes happening with the decline of flyers at the local Field. But I also agree with the folks that say it is a time of change, not a decline. I think it is very important for Clubs to consider forming a Park Flyer chapter and embrace these smaller planes. I know of at least one Club that is doing this and they are growing because of it.
Please don't condemn the people that don't Build, that is not a good attitude to have at this point. We all need to make adjustments in this Hobby and work together to grow with these changes.
Not condemning anyone - just recognizing the changes in the society and modeling hobby. It USED to require committment, and people tended to stick with it - at least once they got flying. I started in this hobby at age 12, building a kit with Titebond glue and epoxy. Learned a lot of lessons that served me well in life. Took six months to get it done, with help from an experienced modeler. Clubs had a stable core of committed, experienced modelers. There was one club locally, with 150+ members, and the largest R/C plylon race in the world.
Thirty years ago, local growth in the hobby and specialized interests led to an explosion in the number of clubs. Heli, sailplane, pattern guys formed their own clubs, and all grew - including the origonal one.
Fifteen-twenty years ago, ARFs had progressed to the point that the hobby was dominated by flyers, not modelers. Many hobby shops would even assemble the ARF, so the new flyer was ofter clueless as to how the model was built. Committment levels were lower, but those who really wanted to learn could crash several ARF trainers quicker than they could build a kit. Experienced builders were able to support their hobby by assembling ARFs for flyers. Clubs still had experienced core members, but they didn't have replacements for them being developed.
Then foamies exploded on the scene. True toy airplanes with instant results. Buy today, fly today, crash today, trash today - all in the Harbor Freight parking lot. Who needs a club?
The days of experienced, committed modelers - the core of a club's existence - are increasingly behind us. There is not a lot of stability in many clubs today - and it's difficult to get quality officers in many clubs. This, coupled with urban sprawl and land use issues, threatens the existence of many clubs. It's hard to get much done with half a dozen active members. The newest club in the area - comprised of electric flyers - lasted less than two years before losing their site. Now they get together and fly wherever they can find, but are no longer a club.
Twenty years ago, the original local club needed to raise funds quickly for a paving project. Fifteen members ponied up ten years dues each and became Life Members, and we got the project done. Of those fifteen, I am the last still active with the club - and I'm no longer flying. It was a hard decision to make, leaving this hobby, and it took a year to sell off/give away/throw away the stuff I'd accumulated over the most recent stretch of modeling (23 years this time). Other interests began to crowd out modeling for me in 2005, and it finally got to be stressful rather than fun for me. I am not alone in that regard.
There are currently four clubs in this area that have club fields, all on leased land. I believe it would be very difficult for any of them to relocate if circumstances change, as they all are suffering from declines in core members. As those committed, experienced modelers leave the hobby (regardless of reason), the less-committed, less-experienced ones are forced into leadership roles - and the general membership lacks the committment to fly at club events, much less show up for a work day or help raise funds.