Live Wire

I only post on impulse by personal contact.
A man came to me today and asked what advantages there are in a club and the AMA. It seem that in this day and age there are people that love aviation that have been put out because of JOB training and the lack of employment. To bad we can not help people like this rather than supporting a dead hoarse[&o] What has happened to this Hobby or isit just me.
You would not believe but he statted that he could not afford dues, or AMA and you wonder how FOR get it!!!!!!!!

Hossfly

RC Hawk, there must be a message in there somewhere, however it is passing over my head. Could you be more specific?

There is just so much one can do to help someone else. I would love to have been a race pilot at the Reno Unlimited, however in all these years no one has called and said that because of my limited finances they would provide me with a Race-Ready P-51 and all support equipment, so just come and do it.

Your sympathy is fine, however did you offer help? Your story reminds me of one of my favorites. I went to see a renter because he was 4 months behind in rent. I had even allowed him to keep a horse in the fenced 1 acre lot. (He had grazed all the bushes away.) The renter stated, "Mr. Cain how do you expect me to pay rent? Why, I have had TWO DWIs just this month." He was dead serious. It was all I could do to keep from falling on my backside and laugh myself half to death, but I didn't fall.
I am very seriously sad about anyone's misfortune, however I don't think I am responsible for them. Is that what you have referenced to?

Live Wire

Hoss
You understood more than you want to admit. We find out in this hobby that you must support yourself and not look for favors, what you see is what you get in this hobby and you have to take the good with the bad (thats life)
Yes like you I have helped my share in this hobby, and they keep coming back for more Then things change and you have to put a stop to it somewhere!!!!! To bad some do not really see the real RC and its costs and involvement till it is to late. Then they have a large investment and have to leave. Since I have not been flying, there are still people that look up to me for answers and as I have posted It is hard to say no.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

RCOutlaw,

Why did you change your screen name? I love your posts, you and "The PIPE" are the best posters on RCU.

Matt

Live Wire

Well matt
I was told that the screen was most of my problems posting So I changed my name and am in hot water all the time now[:@] The name does not make the person who posts or what our who they are I have fun trying to post the true fact and keep people guessing what I will post next and when you have a translater like BB every one can and will understand the RC Outlaw.
And some people would like to see me (HUNG)

joey_d1119

I dont want to see you hang

Live Wire

Hey welcome back

biker_ray_pa

two cents worth from the dumb biker guy...


I started a post on here a month or so ago noting that I found the AMA/Model AviationModel Aviation mag to be a bit unfriendly, towards beginners in general and ARF fliers in particular. The local club requires AMA membership, so I'm a member. The question I posed in that thread was, if I didn't HAVE to be a member, would I really WANT to be.

So far, the answer looks like a no. So, why not?


First is the underlying unfriendliness mentioned above. Read through a few posts in this very thread, and you'll see folks (admirably, but barely) restraining themselves from saying what it seems they REALLY think, which is...

"You punks with your electrics and ARFs and foamies are ruining this hobby. Eventually, your 'fad' will fade and you'll go away."

It's no wonder that so many noobs fly their PFs a few times and then go find something else to do. I, for one, am in it for the long haul. I enjoy this hobby whether anybody approves or not.

Second, I have to ask myself what the AMA (or any other club) has done for me. So far, not jack.

My $58 got me a magazine that openly derides non-kitters (a review of the Great planes Rapture .40 in the 5/05 Model Aviation lists under pros: 'It's not an ARF!', pg 61), and features such thrilling segments as a peeing contest between two guys I don't even know (Model Aviation, 5/05, pg 108, column 2) over the best way to write a column about electrics.

OK, no problem. I get Model Airplane News, FlyRC and Quiet Flyer, which are good mags. So what else do I get with my fifty-eight bucks? Well, I get flying insurance and the ability to join my local club, right?

Well, my local club seems to have better things to do. I located them (no easy task) and contacted them (no easier) last winter. I went to a winter flying day they had, only three people but it was pretty interesting, and was encouraged to get started, right down to what planes to look for, what to look for in a radio, etc. Sounded great. So, I sent them my $75 dues and never heard from them again. Repeated emails and calls to more than one club officer have gotten me exactly nowhere. If that is the way the AMA as a whole operates, no wonder they lose members. I learned a lesson with my $75, you betcha, but it wasn't about how to fly an RC airplane.

Surely there is some benefit to be gained. Let's check with the AMA itself, in their list of member benefits at

http://www.modelaircraft.org/overvie...E2C538637E23DB

-"Sanctioned events - more than 2,500 annually"

none around here, though

-"Assistance in getting and keeping flying sites"

according to this thread, it isn't working

-"Support and promotion for the sport of aeromodeling for schools, service groups, and clubs"

ain't seen this either. Maybe I'm just in the wrong place.

-"Mall Show Programs for clubs"

never seen one

-"Introductory Pilot Program"

unless you want to build an ARF, or join a club that suckers you for $75

-"Hobby shop displays as an AMA information center"

Two local hobby shops. One has a stack of poorly-done, typo-filled photocopies of why you should join the AMA. The other hobby shop has none. And it's the better shop.

I don't know. To me, it seems like just another insurance payment. That's fine, though. I need the insurance, if I ever end up finding a club to fly with.

Which leads me to this: I'm becoming a pretty good pilot. I can take off, make the plane do generally what I want it to do, and then land. It's cost me a lot more money than if I'd had an instructor, but I'm doing it. There are umpteen threads on this forum that say you should not learn to fly without an instructor. Well, some of us have tried that, and have had no choice but to go it alone. And, since I have no club, I fly in farm fields and in a nice meadow on the hill by the cemetery. I have no club, no flying field and no instructor, but I want to fly. Where's the AMA now?

I plan to continue flying, and to start building kits as well, but my learning curve will be steep. I understand and accept that. No problem. All I'm asking is, don't take my $58 and say how great things are for me.

When it comes time to renew my AMA membership, I will. My American Motorcyclist Association membership, that is. As far as my Academy of Model Aeronautics membership, well, I might need the $58 for repair parts.

See why those of us new to the hobby get frustrated?

Sorry for the long rant.


Ray out

Live Wire

Ray
Back in my day a leather jacket with an eagle on the back was bad news To day when you stand up for what you believe you are bad news. When you voice your opion your told to find a place you fit into or get out. If we get out where do the people that come into the hobby next go and what do they have to contend with. All you have done is state facts and want answers like many other person coming into this hobby wants and deserves. We must keep pushing our possitions on the clubs and AMA till some one listens[:@][&o]
And oh yes there are no dumb BIKERS, just ones that crash once in a while
Edit
I for got to tell you that in this Hobby people are good at giving advice ad taking you money

joey_d1119

hehe, thanks!

joey_d1119

Im right there with you Ray.....its a very one sided forum here. It doesnt mean any one is a bad person, its just that people like you and I see the real problem, when others arent willing to admit it.... you and I both know that this forum only represents a few thousand rc flyers, and of those on this site no more then 20 or 30 RC UNIVERSE members post on this forum. So we can all state the facts here but there are only a handful of us doing it. We have to remember there are thousands out there on other websites and thousands more who dont even use forums like this.

MustangFan

Joey !

I view the hobby as alive.

I view ARF's as great.

I am not young .... started in the hobby in the 70's.

The hobby has many facets. Building is but one of them. Flying is the one I like.

I didn't build my auto ... but I drive it.
I didn't build my house ... but I live in it.
Most full scale pilots didn't build their aircraft ... but they fly them.

I don't understand those that think building must accompany flying, and if building is declining, the hobby is diminishing.

I enjoy watching all kinds of aircraft in the air. Some that bring great looking airplanes to the field and don't fly them disappoint me. I love to see them in the air.

But thats me ... others are different ... no one enjoying what they are doing is wrong.
The hobby has many facets !

As for hobby shops ... the ones in my area do not even cater to the giant scale airplanes I fly ... they are majoring in electric cars, gaming, kites and moon gazing equipment. I must go to the net to get what I want ... it's easier, faster, most times cheaper, and for now I don't have to pay sales tax.

I know the hobby shop would order it for me ... but sometimes they drop the ball and it doesn't get done. I can have some items at my door in 2 or three days. The internet rocks ... hobby shops seem to be causing their own demise ... they also could get with the times.

But I and my son are two of a club of 200+ that are enjoying this hobby and participating in that club.

End of info (rant).

Jim Thomerson

biker ray pa. Do you think your concern about Model Aviation applies to the June 2005 issue? As an experienced model aviation person, I found little of interest in it but much which I thought would be of interest to you.

Jim

biker_ray_pa

Hi Jim:

I really couldn't tell you. I haven't gotten the June issue yet (mail service out here in the sticks can be a bit slow). But I hope you're right. Really, I do.

I suppose I should add a qualifier or two to my above rant. I was thinking about this today, and realized that I forgot to point out how great this forum is. While I have (so far) found the AMA somewhat lacking in appeal for a person like myself, the exact opposite may be said of this forum. The vast majority of what I know about flying, which is admittedly quite little, has been gained through regularly reading this forum and just giving things a try. I've gotten good advice and good encouragement from good folks, and for that I am quite grateful.

Perhaps the seeming stodginess of the AMA is easily explained. I also do model railroading, and can levy many of the same complaints towards the NMRA that I have levied towards the AMA. Both are old, well-established organizations that, while being a way of life for many of the folks who've spent more time in their respective hobbies, aren't exactly setting the world on fire among newer or younger hobbyists.

I'd guess that a fair bit of it is Net-related. I entered this hobby having access to resources such as this very forum, and the luxury of instant, literally worldwide attention to whatever question needed asking, or answering. In retrospect, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that established, traditional organizations like the AMA or NMRA tend to cater towards established traditionalists. Doh! <smacks forehead>

Pure speculation here, but I'd venture that a lot of folks who view the AMA as well-suited to their needs spend little or no time at online communities such as this, and vice versa. That's cool, though. Do your thing.

Ray out

Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

******Shaking my head******* Sheesh

joey_d1119

Ya, what I have learned over the past three months is that there are thousands of other flyers who never get on any online forum.

Live Wire

Afraid to stand up for what they believe , or scared off

timothy thompson

My Feedback: (1)

hey i build and also have arfs some are very nice. why cant we all get along!

Live Wire

The most popular thing at the flying sight any more is the lawn mower and who will get it later[] Any one need instruction on how to cut grass

joey_d1119

Do you mean the people who dont post on these forums are scared off or afraid to stand up for what they believe in? I dont think that is true...I guess that would mean thousands of RC flyers are afraid to post here....or they know only a handful in the sport post here and it doesnt really matter what goes in the online forums.

timothy thompson

My Feedback: (1)

yuor right lots of flyers could care less or dont know about it. My LHS did not know about this site! joey where were you all summer

joey_d1119

Well....I was a lot of places.... Actually I started building models again....specifically Star Trek Models. I was browsing ebay one day and I found an auction for an illuminated Star Trek model. The price was high and people were bidding, and since Im a college student in need of money I figured I would take up the hobby again and try my luck on ebay. It worked and I started my own modeling buisness...if you could call is that. It's just me a friend and a website. www.freewebs.com/lightyearmodels .As for RC flying it proved mega expensive for me, so I had to pack up my trainer and store it away. I felt like crap doing it, but I had to use my money for other things. I graduate college in a year so my plan is to take it back out and fly it when I have a real job, not a part time summer job so I can pay for all the tools I'll need, pay all the club fees, etc. I have been flying my ARF Wattage Decathlon though. Im pretty darn good at it. I go to the local parks and fly it around a couple times a week. I figured after the racket I caused a few months ago I would stay away for a while, let things cool down, and come back so I wouldnt be pissing people off. So here I am!

rcmiket

So since your not "in the hobby" right now, why waste your "wisdom" on us? I really missed your insight on R/C this summer. We have so many problems( you think) and I look to you for the answers. Good Luck in school. Have fun Mike

joey_d1119

Im not wasting my wisdom on anyone. You just dont like what I have to say. I may not be in the hobby to the degree that you are, but I still fly my electric. You have a problem my friend....the thousands of other people who never go online to post in the forums have their head on straight. You are the minority my friend.

rcmiket

Your a ledgend in your own mind my freind. You don't have a clue on R/C or life. You think you speak for the thousands not on the net. Get a life. So how are you saving the hobby? Mike