jester_s1

I'm not so pessimistic about the hobby as some in this thread are, nor am I as quick to dismiss the youngsters as the future of the hobby. I'm 36, so I suppose I am in the middle between the crotchety old timers and the annoying 20 year olds. As I see it, the hobby has declined sharply with the recession because it wasn't healthy to begin with. People who had done it for a few years were still doing it, but it had never really scratched the itch they had had. I don't mean the committed 20 year veteran here, but rather the guys who had maybe been involved for 3-4 years. When money got tight, they let go of a hobby that wasn't what they had hoped it would be in the first place.

Which brings up the question why? I see a new demographic in the hobby that many clubs don't recognize and the AMA certainly hasn't figure out. That's the casual flyer. This is a guy who doesn't want to or isn't able to spend the time to do complicated builds, but he does want to enjoy time at the flying field. He's focused on flying skills to the detriment of building skills, and he likes the fresh air and sunshine and camaraderie that flying with friends provides. He likely has a couple of other leisure activities he does like golf or hunting (which he's also casual about), and he's not going to give them up. ARFs and foamies have made this kind of hobbyist possible, which is a good thing. Guys like that simply wouldn't have done the hobby at all in the previous generation. Many of you in this thread call the casual flyer lazy and immature, as if being super committed to building toy airplanes is a sign of maturity. What you don't understand about the casual flyer is that he's willing to invest time and money if he sees a benefit for himself, but he's not going to if it's presented as an obligation to keep the 60 year olds happy. So field work days, passing the hat to get a bill paid, and volunteering to run or work an event are all possible with the casual flyer, but don't expect him to step up if you don't make a case that it's worthwhile for him to do so. And whatever you do, don't hold up the older guys with kids out of the house who have some disposable income and more free time as the standard to which all club members should meet. It's unfair to expect a 30 year old with 2-3 young ones at home to be able to put the time and money in that many older club members can. Doing so creates a hostile environment for the casual flyer even if you don't mean for it to. Openly complaining makes it much worse, and the young guys do know when you don't like them.

The truth of the matter is that the hobby is experiencing a paradigm shift from the competitive hobbyist to the casual flyer. I suspect the same thing happened when monokote replaced silk, and glow power replaced sparkers. The hobby has continually gotten easier to do and somewhat less equipment intensive with each new innovation. ARFs and good foamies are simply the next thing. Clubs that understand the needs of the casual flyer and embrace the change that is coming whether you like it or not will survive and possibly thrive. And interestingly, if you will be welcoming to the casual flyer, you'll find that he can be converted into a committed hobbyist with time. Old timers will enjoy watching the foamy guy do his first build and enter his first contest, and may even be asked to pass on some of the knowledge they have to the next generation.