I put in a nice big commercial slotcar track 2 winters ago in my wifes unused part of her sign shop for the kids here in town. For my $7k investment I had maybe 15-20 kids show up 5 or 6 times that first winter, an probably a half dozen thru the time I sold it last fall. We have a lot of kids in my town also.
I always kept 3 or 4 of my planes at the shop also an had maybe 3 or 4 of the kids ask about them, but never mentioned anything else concerning them.
More old fellas ask about the planes than anybody, but didn't want to spend the $ to mess with'em.

Kids nowdays just have to many other things to do. It isn't like back in the 50's an 60's when we were youngsters. Kids nowdays also seem so have a short span of interest in things also.


Ronnie

Kids sure do have a lot more selections that's for sure. But certainly can't blame their short span of attention on them, kids have also gotten smarter at the same time. However it usually starts with the parents and the direction they give their children. The remedy is simple, introduce them to the hobby with a hands on experience. They'll go back to their parents and demand involvement ... parents flip the bill for the kids. Some will stay ... some will leave. But I can assure you, some will go away with a lifetime experience.

But I am surprised you invested in a commercial operation for children's hobbies, sounds all to familiar for me.

The Toolman.
Thanks for taking the time & money to give them the chance.

I have built & give away premade & painted boats with a rubber motor underneath for 4 years. It takes about 5 minutes to assemble. Then they use waterproof markers to personalize them. Then wind them up & run them.
Short attention span is very evident. EXCEPT by a couple of Seniors who wanted to sit down with the kids and build 1 also.
It REALLY BOTHERED me to say no to them........They were reaching out & I did not say OK.
Still feel bad about it.

Sitting in front of a TV with a joystick for the first 8 years of your life, ruins the person inside of them for life.

Rich

STL, the only reason I did was that I was a big slotcar racer back in the 60's. This way I could rationalize buying it for myself to play with. It's now at a new home somewhere in Illinois. Slotcar racing is still pretty big east of the Mississippi river. Theres a helluva alot of it going on up around your parts also, thats where I got most of my invevtory from. Someplace called Bud's HO around you I believe.

Ronnie

You certainly don't have to explain it to me Ronnie, I know exactly why you put in your slot car track ... regression. All grown men do it, it's a toy thing. And I know slot cars are big in my area too, especially here on Long Island ... seems like slot cars are actually one of the biggest hobbies for kids, the have those things all over the place and the tracks are always filled.

But one thing is for sure .... kids are the same everywhere. It takes the right people to show kids the right way how to start and stay with hobbies. Let me tell you Ronnie ... getting THQ running was not easy and it was not cheap. But luckily it's more successful then we ever thought it would be. The reason ... we spent over 2 years perfecting the instructors operational manual and getting the people who spark the kids ... to do it the way that makes it stick. It starts and ends with the person whose doing the presentations and encouraging ... not the kids.

When I started flying 19 years we had to "find" a place to fly because there were no local flying fields.

From that time until I joined MMRCA (AMA charter 812) I had to change flying locations at least 5 times for various reasons and was always wondering when I would have to find a new place to fly. The MMRCA field is by far about the best place I have regulary flow at.

I feel the biggest challenges to keeping fields is money and complaints. Land costs money and lease agreements cost money. Urban sprawl results in many changes to avaialbe land.

Complaints. This has to be the number one reason I lost places to fly. They range from being too loud, too bother livestock, too I just don't like listenig to them, too we feel they are a risk, too....

Beyond field retention I think the biggest issue is lack of respect or understanding.
Case in point that I overheard about two months ago.

I was at a LHS looking for something and I hear "Mom and Dad" talking about a gift for Billy. Hmm this electric ARF trainer looks good let's get him that what do you think. Well he is only 12 do you think it is too much for him. No it is just a plane he should be okay. Where will he fly it? At the park is what I was thinking. Okay let's get it."

Oh that made me cringe.

This is just not parents and kids, the same applies for persons of all ages with funding and the urge when they walk by the hobby shop.

It used to be you had to know how to build and you had to know how to start the motors and you had a ton of time and money into the plane and one would want to learn but also not damage the plane or car or helicopter or... Today all you need is cash or credit some general knowlege of how to glue and put in a bolt and have a wall outlet with power. We have all read the ads, in the air in less than X amount of hours and X amount of dollars.

Instant gratification with no skills. Not a good mix.

Now I am not slamming ARFs or Electrics I am just using them to make a point. A hobby level R/C vehicle requries respect and understanding. A plane or a car or a truck or a boat or a helicopter all are moving vehicles that can produce some serious personnel and material damage even in the hands of an experienced operator. Put that in the hands of an ignorant novice with out oversight. All I am going to say is I do not want to be any where close.

I know the same applies for driving cars and purchasing guns and.... all I am saying is that when some one gets hurt or the plane crashes thru a window or the helicopter tries to scalp some one... it all generates bad press which gives the sport of R/C a black eye. The bigger the black eye the bigger the issue.

Oh and lastly, I walked up to mom and dad and asked them who they were purchasing the plane for. They left with a different plane and the appropriate contacts for their son to get in touch with a local club, not to fly until he has an instructor, and an understanding of why one joins the AMA.

You hit all the nails on the head! Good job.

The problem is that it's too difficult to get in to. When you go to a hobby shop, you generally get some 17 year old kid who doesn't know much about planes or flying, or who doesn't know anything about the local clubs. Even if you buy a plane, you can't fly at the local field until you send for an AMA card and then (in some cases) wait for the club to approve your membership.

The whole process needs to be simpler:
1. Buy a plane.
2. The guy at the LHS says, "Would you like a 3 month trial AMA membership and free trial membership at the local club? It's only $40, and you get insurance, a magazine, and a place to fly."
3. You pay the $40, get a temporary AMA card and a temporary club card right there on the spot. At the end of 3 months, if you want to keep flying, you renew your AMA and club dues on-line through the AMA site. That's right - I said club dues. Let the AMA accept payments for the club dues, then forward the money to the club. Alternatively, let the clubs establish PayPal accounts and directly take money, using the AMA site as a portal.

We live in a world where we have instant access to every possible form of entertainment, vice, and pleasure. If the model airplane community doesn't step up and bring the business of flying in to the 21'st century, we're going to lose it altogether, and the only way you'll be able to fly is with a joystick. You know what some teenager is saying right now? "My God, it's bad enough to have to go outdoors to fly the plane... you mean I have to mail a check or attend a meeting and sign up in just to fly? It's not worth it. I'll stick to my X-Box."

Sure, some of you will say that it's selling out to do this, but it's not the over-50 set that will keep the hobby alive; it's the under 30's that have the money and energy to keep this going. Without them, this will be a dead hobby in all too short a time.

Tom
You make some good points I think the AMA should encourge clubs to have something
like a 90 day trail membership that you could fly on the buddy box without being a AMA
member, After you are ready to solo you then join the AMA and fly alone.

Yeah,
Pretty good observation there, Tom. I can really see that kind of mindset in the kids in my town.

This hobby will never die. You can never take away the human minds ability to want to create. And even if the hobby did "die" it would only go in the direction of backwards and that would mean right back to balsa and glue. But for that to happen is going to be tough. Remember the RC hobby industry is more then a billion dollar one (tower does 500 mm a year alone) and they are expanding. So even if some people lose interest that will on force the industry to spend more on marketing ... which with the profit that build into hobby products, it won't be that hard. One thing is for sure ... people will ALWAYS buy on advertisements no matter if it's a Pet Rock or Levi's jeans, especially us materialistic Americans. So you can rest easy ... this hobby isn't going anywhere for a very long time.

Tom,
You got the right idea.

CCR

I disagree with your idea that it's "too hard to get into". Nothing's for nothing, and if one has to exert just a small showing of exertion on their part and then say" it's not worth the trouble" and revert to the x-box, well, maybe they weren't that interested after all.

Unfortunately everything appears so simple to those not well learned in any specific task. Those that are learned in a task can make it look very simple. Watching a good 3D pilot waltz a model around the field standing on its tail LOOKS easy, but I can't do it and I've flow RC in Pattern, Scale, and Pylon competitions for over 35 years.
The above sounds easy, however it simply is a most impractical bureaucratic unworkable solution to a problem that really does not exist. With almost no recourse of claim, neither AMA or a club would ever receive any of the funds taken in by the hobby shop.

I beg to differ. I had to first BUY my boat. Then I had to go and register it. I had to obtain insurance for it. I have to pay to launch it at most sites, especially the better ones. I had to go and buy a fishing license to catch fish while in the boat. I had to obtain separate license for each fresh and salt water. I have to maintain it. definitely not simple and is time consuming.
Anything worth having is NOT simple.

That's funny! I don't see ANY one under 30 doing ANY of the club work at ANY of the 3 clubs I belong to. I do see a few out flying now and then but not when the work detail comes up. As for myself, just turned 72, I have a _ell of a lot more money now than I did during the 20ish years when I spent a great amount of time protecting this country from the Red Hoardes and trying to keep a family of wife and 3 kids in decent lliving conditions. Some say I get around like I was just 40. (Of course not in ALL departments! [:@] )

Now AMA has a 90 day program that can be upgraded to a full membership. They cannot trust that to others to sell. For example, a few years ago, call AMA, give a Credit card# and you were instantly AMA. Then came a time when such happened. Then the new AMA "member" caused an accident (helicopter) that killed a person. The new "member's" CC was overdrawn and not honored. AMA membership had been rejected. YOUNG supposedly AMA member, but not an AMA member never disclosed this fact and had no liability insurance for which to help his victim's family.

>>>>>>>>>>>&gt ;
https://www.modelaircraft.org/joinrenew.aspx
Thank you for your interest in our Introductory Membership program!

Program Overview:
$19.95 cost for duration of program Membership valid for three months from date of acceptance, expires at end of 3rd full month, USA only. Fees are transferable to a full membership within the ninety day program (You must contact the AMA Membership department at 1-87-RENEWAMA (1-877-363-9262) before your trial membership expires).

Qualifications:
19 years old or greater by July 1st,
First time members only, one Introductory Membership term per new customer

Program Benefits:
AMA insurance coverage, Model Aviation Magazine, Access to members only section of website, Ability to fly at thousands of AMA chartered club sites with appropriate club membership, 24/7 toll free verification – 1-800-I-Fly-AMA(435-9262) Ext 350 Always comply with the AMA Safety Code.
<<<<<<<<<<<&lt ;

That's kind of my point. If the younger guys (and girls) aren't interested, they won't spend the money and time to get involved.


This is exactly the attitude I'm talking about. Are you active on QRZ.com? Were you there when the FCC proposed the No-code rule?

Club membership is declining and airfields are disappearing. What's going to reverse that trend? Certainly not this attitude.

Every time I hear comments like yours, they come from are the ones who've been doing it their way for 30, 40, or 50 years, and don't want to change. The amateur radio community is going through the same slow decline, and the same exact things are being said. One side says "We need to get the youth interested," but then the people who've been in ham radio for 30 or 40 years all defend their way of doing things "Dangit, we don't want to change!", "We can't get rid of Morse code!" and "You have to invest the time in order to be a worthwhile member of our community." I swear I'm not making this up: several men complained that you're not a true ham unless you've built your own rig yourself out of nothing but vacuum tubes and wires. Learning morse code and building your own equipment was a rite of passage to them.

"If they're not interested Who needs 'em?" you ask. The fast is: YOU DO. I do. Every one who's interested in keeping the clubs alive needs 'em.

Oddly enough there is an absolute ton of youth interested & active in transmitted code communications:
They call it Texting,
they do it with their cellphone/mp3/camera/gps toy, and a new code of abreviation/subsitution instead of morse.

Yup Tom, I was there. I can still run 25 w.p.m.+ morse and chew bubblegum, but I ain't worth a darn on that x-box thing, I'm going back to my key, no better yet, I'll just use my cell phone with the fancy camera in it.

I voted Retention of flying fields only for how I hear of many losing their clubs and how my club is in the process of being shut down.

we were far out and alone and our county gave us our club but within 10 years they sold lane to our east for housing so we cant go past the tree line their and now they sold land to the north for a dog park. The park cuts off or takeoff and landing pattern. Now we have the treat of being sued if someone is to crash their. And soon enough that will happen and the county will shut us down. This is all info that the club ex president told me so im not to sure what is true.

I'm with you. We lost our field and have a lease but its month to month. Were in the process but it takes time and money. The other club in town is close to losing there's also ( the heavy equipment is near). So here we are 2 clubs no were to fly. Gee I wonder how many AMA members will renew without a place to fly? We will get another field it will take time, money, perseverance. I left out help from our parent organization because there is none nor do they care. I'm sure someone will jump in here and say its our fault and were just lazy I really don't care at this point. Its funny no one cares till it comes to "their" field. I wonder just how fast the AMA's pursestrings would open it the Muncie site was in danger. Welcome to the future of our "sport"

The flying clubs around my area are primarly made up of us old timers. When we all die off there won't be many clubs left. So I think we need to try to attract younger people into the hobby. Another problem I have seen first hand was club members chasing away new prospective flyers by being rude or indifferent to them at the field. Remember what they say about first impressions? The other thing is some club members not willing to help a new person at the field. I have overheard conversations like I'm not cutting into my flying time just to teach him how to fly, someone else can do that. These are just acouple of the things that I have noticed in the recent years while visiting some of the local clubs and attending their events. I myself, fly at a public field and have been a flight instructor for over 15 years and I do take the time to help people out when they need it.

We've lost more flying fields due to the influx of new homes and soaring land value. In 10 years, there won't be club fields within walking distance of town any more. By then, the homeland security dept. will probably have this hobby under its' control and the only RC and PA flying will be done by permit in Nevada.

It happens everywhere and it happens to everyone ever since the first settlers starting taking the land away from the Indians and the buffaloes. But you're right look what the gov't gave them ... reserves of land, most of which are being transformed into casinos. I guess now that Indians feel like if you can join them, then beat them at their own game. It's called progress and growth and has both positive and negative impact. No matter where anyone settles in this country, more people show up ... it's just the way things happen. But luckily the AMA finally took a proactive, however delaye approach to evolving with all this compression going on. Perhaps someday most larger fields will be gone, but for smaller fields where noise IS an issue ... it's now going to take a lot longer for them to disappear. Don't worry Combat, you'll be able to fly your RC planes for a long time ... maybe not the way you want to now ... but when the time comes .... it will be enough.

At sometime in the future, the only outside model aviation allowed will be electric control line. If you can find a local CL person, they will be glad to help you make the transition.

Jim, I've got all of mine on electronic tethers.

Man, if you don't think the kids nowadays have the attention span for glow powered C/L, just wait 'till they get introduced to electric powered C/L [sm=redface.gif]

hey