Originally Posted by
porcia83
Is this the same club you are no longer a member of, the one you chronicled quitting after doing a cost benefit analysis and realizing you could save $100.00? by leaving? If it is, why do you keep going to the club you are no longer a member of? Did you rejoin?
But I agree, experiences can be different. A suggestion, try visiting another club. Perhaps the one you keep visiting isn't really that viable anymore? Perhaps people are quitting based on the economics, cost benefit etc etc. There's one club close to me that's down to 25 people, it's a tight, smaller field and there are so many others nearby that offer ore, so it's slowly fading. It happens.
Although most experiences overall will tend to be the same, it's really great to get out, meet other people, and experience the hobby at a different club. Tomorrow I'll be maidening my Twin Otter at a club close by, the finishing the day at my "home" club. I expect there to be 20-30 pilots by the time I get there at 12 or so. We do have an occasional slow weekend, but with 214 members now they are few and far between.
Yes, it was the same club. I thought I'd go out and see if there's been any change in the factors that caused me to end my membership. The AMA site lists 38 members, but have yet to see one out flying on Saturdays over several weekends.
You mention another club. That's also where we get into that concept of access that we've talked about. Using myself as an example, there's a certain group of folks out there who enjoy the hobby, but don't enjoy it enough to spend the better part of an hour (or more) driving just to get to the field. Is that wrong? Of course not. How many folks would join the hobby if there was a club closer? Is that a demographic that AMA needs to grow the hobby? I think so. And there it is, back to the issue of access close to where the members (or potential members) live.
The next three closest clubs are 43, 65, and 76 minutes away. Maybe some don't mind driving that far, but some do. I do. I'm balancing my hobby flying with three kids and their events. I'm also engaged in other hobbies, and some athletics. So there isn't the time to make trips of that length for one purpose. So not everyone is as dedicated, but can AMA survive only on the members that devote that much time to flying?
What about the folks that don't want to drive that far? If we're lucky, the AMA will capture those folks as park fliers. Others, like me, will move to flying things that don't require a club field. No club field requirement, no club membership required, and hence the 15 year declining trend in club membership that Dave Scott talked about.
You mention two clubs, with a lot of active members. I mention a club with very few members, and other clubs quite a distance away. Can AMA survive when there's such a difference between the AMA experience? When there's such a difference between the have's and have nots? I think it makes it tough.
BTW, total reported membership among all three other clubs I mentioned: 89