Astronut asked an interesting question. Is the hobby dying or just shifting? I see more featherweight, 'park flyers' airplanes lately. In fact, I see more featherweight fixed wing and rotor wing craft being flown by individual pilots rather than as club members. Perhaps people are resisting the regulations or expense of club/AMA membership. No telling. From a personal experience, trying to interest the younger ones in the hobby directly competes with video gamming and both of their thumbs on a phone. Getting them to sit down for hours and build an airplane like we did? No way. In the past few years, due to loss of our flying club's land, I have found R/C boats to be a new interest. It is relaxing and getting the younger ones involved much easier. The learning curve for operating a boat vs airplane is miniscule. Just my two cents worth of opinion. Thanks Astronut for starting a very timely and interesting topic!