Originally Posted by
init4fun
"When the Student is ready to learn , the Teacher will appear" .....
Guys , I really think the fact is that the latest generations of folks just don't have the same fascination with remote controlling model aircraft , or really remote controlling model anything for that matter , that people of our generations did . Like Porcia mentioned in his recent AMA thread , today's youth are far more interested in Pokemon and other video games , those being this generation's entertainment like our models and for some Lionel trains were our generation's favorite pastimes . And I can't particularly fault this , folks are interested in what catches their eye and if that ain't model aircraft I'm not ever gonna be the one to push them on the unwilling . I can see too why most youngsters who are interested in flying things these days are into quads , quads are the future and no youngster wants to play with outdated technology as proven by the push for the latest and greatest video game consoles whenever they are released . PS3 ? It was the hottest thing Sony sold , right up till PS4 was announced , at which point PS3 was overnight "passe" . I guess 113 years since Wilbur and Orville have dulled the public's awe of flying machines with folks now seeing them as SO commonplace as to not warrant much attention or adoration , compared to how the youth of the 1950s felt about flying things , when pretty much all modes of flight were still relatively new . I don't go as far as to say flying machines today are totally taken for granted , just that they don't generate the kinds of excitement they did back in our youth , back when they were "PS4 new" .....
although our club recently capped it's membership, we had a family show up last month looking to join. a few of our members found the family flying in a nearby field with their grandpa at different times during the week. Grandpa was visiting from Canada and had brought his usual gifts with him for his visit, new RC planes for the kids. They were told to come over to our field and fly as guests, our field has short grass runways and a blacktop one as well. Grandpa is an old hand at RC, yes a "traditional" dude through and through but said later that the newer foam stuff was the way to get the kids involved, when they get a bit older he'll start them building. So, the oldest boy was 7, and was flying his Duet all by himself. His sister..yes sister....is 5. after dad launched her Delta Ray she laid on her stomach and put the transmitter out in front of her on the ground, then flew the plane that way. Why that method, that's how her and her brother use their PS3.
There was no way we were letting them leave without having them join. So rare to have a family join now, let alone one with young kids, and even more rare for a girl to be interested in flying. There's always room for a few more like that. That was probably the easy part, now to keep them interested.