ORIGINAL: Steve Helmick
FWIW, we have 43 members of our club, essentially a CL club. A very few also fly R/C or Free Flight. One of our best
PR gigs has been to fly in a schoolyard which happens to be on the parade route of a small city parade. We are there, ready to teach kids to fly, sometimes with fathers or mothers also getting the hard sell. Lots of kids line up, some actually learn, but we don't see many joining our club. We are hopeful, however, that at least some of these folks won't be crabby when they hear a model airplane engine, maybe it will bring a fond memory to their minds, and maybe they'll stop in at the LHS and get started in a great hobby. Oh, I quit flying R/C about '63, when we moved to a city with Controline and Free Flight contests, as well as plenty of R/C flying.
Replying to Steve H. because he resurrected this thread and because he presented a special point in his statement, "....that at least some of these folks won't be crabby when they hear a model airplane engine, maybe it will bring a fond memory to their minds,... ." IMO this is significant to the promotion of the sport/hobby of model aviation.
Back in the '70s RC was the 'snob arena' for many of those wanting to get into model aviation. Those modelers with a firm base in modeling that got into RC were mostly just climbing another hill in the activity that they loved. The newcomers of course had to keep up with the 'Jones' and since the newbies had no base in CL/FF, they rather looked down on the 'lesser' disciplines.
The real problem is simply a result of the society that we have developed in this country. Look at the homes we live in, the cars we drive, the parents that MAKE their kids play sports where the main game is between the parents themselves, the clothing that young people 'must have' and their general lifestyle. Definitely no kid will be "cool" when flying model airplanes especially of the 'lesser' disciplines. However RC has its problems with growth in that area. I can't remember just how many kids that I soloed in the past 10 years that tried to move up far too fast and quit when they found that being the best on the field was much more than a simple "I fly RC".
For those that look down on CL, as others have stated in this thread, they simply have no clue as to the discipline and both physical and mental dexterity displayed in CL stunt, racing, and combat, plus the art-form of CL Scale. So CL modelers never dismay because of the unlearned boors that love to look down at any thing, regardless of what it may be.
Have I flown CL.
Yes Why did I quit? I couldn't get any better with my CL Stunt and family and jobs precluded additional practice. So I just had to climb that RC Hill and I couldn't support both activities.
Did I compete?
Yes. The picture below was a portion of my basement rack during the transition days. All CL and FF.
I still do up to .19 with kids in my backyard. I am still going to build another stunter and try the pattern again.
Now one suggestion: CLers, you really need to make mufflers the order of the day in all your CL disciplines if you really wish to get CL back to the use of those limited spaces where people will see what you do. I know the dyed-in-the-wool competitor will fight this, however sometime the overall growth of the sport must be considered. Just my thoughts.
I financed the Jetero RC field (
www.jetero.com). We advertised that CL groups were welcome to build a couple circles there however engines of .15 and above must have a muffler. 9 years now and no CLers have wanted to take the offer.