ORIGINAL: macr0t0r

Just for clarification: A $30 RTF foamie may be a Park Flyer....but a Park Flyer is NOT necessarily a $30 RTF foamie! Many of us DO build with sticks and many of us DO put in some high-end gear to get the performance we want. Quit saying that "Park Flyer" = "Newbie foam-flyer who doesn't care about AMA." We have a lot of those guys within our "Park Flyer" class, but we don't really pay them much mind, as most aren't the type to join ANY club anyways. We only care about the guys who put a little effort into the hobby, either through building or advanced flying.

Now, it's time for a quick story of how it USE to be:
Little Tommy wanted to fly an airplane and heard about RC Flying. After a bit of searching, he found that only RC-specific hobby shops carried them. He went to the nearest one. After the store owner helps set him up with all the gear (Futaba radio, OS .25, PT-20 trainer, etc), he directs him to the nearest club. Tommy visits the club, and meets a few pilots who give him pointers on assembling his plane. They also talk of how he'll need AMA insurance to fly there. Tommy sends in the AMA application and finishes his airplane. He goes to the club, which then assigns a trainer to him. As he progresses, Tommy starts looking into his next plane.

Now, how does it happen THESE days:
Little Jack wants to fly an Airplane. He finds an Airhogs AeroAce Biplane at Target for $30. He buys that and an 8-pack of batteries. He goes to the school field, tosses it and basically fumbles around as he gets the hang of it. This is easy because the model is indestructible, slow, and flies like driving a car. Soon, Jack wants to loop and roll. Seeing nothing at Target, he discovers one of the many HobbyTown USA stores. He gets a PicoStick, a GWS radio, and a Backyard Flyers magazine (Model Aviation is NOT there; I checked). This takes some preparation since he has to set up the servos, but it's running after an evening's worth of work. He goes to the same field. The PicoStick is also nearly indestructable, so he mainly just bends a few motor shafts as he learns ($3 fix at Hobbytown). He sticks with it and eventually gets to looping. After flipping through his catalog, he learns of Hobby-Lobby, Tower Hobbies, and Balsa Products USA and starts getting into steadily higher-end gear. Depending on his interests, he may get into "pretty" built-up kits, or he'll master Depron foam and experiment with his own designs, or he'll just buy and fly because he is only interested in aerobatics. Either way, he starts acquiring a number of models.

Now.....what is different between these two? Stores who don't care about clubs are selling airplanes. This digital-age generation gets most of their stuff online, who ALSO don't say anything about local clubs. Kids these days are learning how to fly and becoming full-fledge modelers WITHOUT KNOWING YOU EXIST!!! Once upon a time, the limited availability of RC and the limited locations to fly would literally CHANNEL the new pilots to your door. You just had to wait for them to arrive. Since your field required AMA, it was just as easy for AMA. Not anymore.

Believe me...these Playstation-jockeys have NO problems learning how to fly on their own with today's equipment. Trial & error is perfectly feasible. The enthusiasts still enjoy finding other pilots to fly with (many of them congregate at a specific section of the park to fly at my location), so it's not so much an aversion to joining a club. Now, many at my park DID eventually join AMA because many members of the nearby club like to fly at the park (shaded trees, quiet, and it's closer). The lured them in by offering them to "prove themselves" at hosted events at the flying field. Not many of them are club members, since they rarely like to fly around the heavier, louder gas birds, but many of them ARE AMA members for the magazine and for the ability to join events.

But, that's because the club had members go to the park.

Does AMA NEED Park Flyer pilots? In my opinion, not yet, but the extra numbers and revenue would certainly help with AMA's tasks. AMA does recognize that a small percentage of Park Flyers COULD join if they were told about AMA and its benefits, but getting the word out is difficult. I sincerely doubt some flyer in a box will help, because I rarely read all the included warranty, coupons, registration, etc that comes in a box these days. A club recruits members by having members talk to people.

I am a Park Flyer, but I think the people who claim we will "take over" the RC world are just expressing bitterness to the existing AMA members who look down on us. I DO believe that the majority of the future modelers will start with a $30 foamie from Target. Those that progress to elevator and aileron control and dabble into either building or maneuvers will become modelers. Those that never get interested to go beyond flying circles with a $30 foamie are just seeing it as a toy and will see no need to join a "club" in order to play with a "toy."

My major concern is that there are A LOT of foamie-flyers who COULD be modeling members if we could just connect and show them what this hobby can offer. Unfortunately, technology has taken away the forced path to the local club. We have to go outside of our fence to find them now.