Originally Posted by
Charlie P.
I enjoy driving my car but it came ready to drive. ;-)
I have a little UMX Radian that weighs 1.5 oz and is a real joy to fly. I could never build as light and retain those motor/sailplane traits.
I like to build. I like ARFs. I like foamies. I like gasoline, glow, electric.
Why does it have to be you can't stick with what you like and leave the rest to just enjoy their interests?
ARFs haven't degraded the hobby, Maybe it just turns out that all pilots aren't necessarily builders. One of the best pilots I know never built a model. He only flies electric ARFs but flies three times a day year round. Embrace the happy option that you can do as you like. Bulid away. I have two on the benches right now but will probably buy an ARF before they are completed. I fact . . . I guarantee that will be the case.
The population of my local area has tripled in the past 25 years but some local flying fields have either shut down or else have very little activity....and not due to zoning issues, but from a lack of interest.
Apparently, many of the guys who used to fly at these fields HAVE LEFT THE REST TO JUST ENJOY THEIR OWN INTERESTS, but that trend continued...and it continued....and it continued some more.
If interest in this hobby was consistent with the growth in our local population, I should have seen an increase in the amount of RC aviation activity, but instead I've seen a decline. A dramatic decline, even though it has never been easier to get a plane safely into the air than ever before.
It's also relatively less expensive than ever before.