dhal22

actually i belong to a very nice club ( http://gmarc.com/ ). the grass is mowed and the trash is picked up through our dues. i think we pay a member to maintain the sprinkler system. i am very fortunate to belong to this club.

david

kid chuckles

YES I DO.

jetmech05

It's the same everywhere......round number..100 members.....20 fly all the time...you never see 20 or 30.....10 or 15 will only fly during the week, on the weekends you'll have a mix of flyers of the 35 to 50 left overs...not to exceed 40 guys on a perfect day. At meetings on a flying day you'd be lucky to have 45..if your meetings are held in the evenings....30....those that volunteer...5 to 7 come from those that fly during the week....15 to 18 from those that fly all the time....ask for a voluteer it is always the same people....
The way I see it..lead, follow, or get out the way...if you elect to get out of the way or follow, don't come to club meetings and don't vote...well dont gripe either

FlyinTiger

My Feedback: (45)

It looks like the clubs represented here have about the same issues as every club I've been in.

20% do the work, the other 80% complain about how it is done!

We've been fortunate to have that 20% show up on work days. The guys that do the work are consistent and are the ones that fly the most. These people have pride in their flying field.

I helped start a new AMA chartered club, was president for two years, safety officer for two years, club flight instructor, show up each work day, trade off mowing with a couple other members. For me, working at the field is part of the fun...it is nice to get out and get my hands dirty. I like working with members, getting them signed up, field orientations complete and start training as required.

Personally, I wouldn't want some people working on the field...if a person doesn't care chances are the work will have to be redone anyway.

Good luck, have a great 2009 flying season!

www.bealeblackbirds.com

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I started flying in 2003. My club flies gliders and small electrics.

I am President currently. Was VP for two years. I am an instructor and flight examiner also.
I am also President and Newsletter Editor for the the soaring competition league which involves a number of clubs.

Mode One

Every event or function my club holds I am there working! I have been the Club President, a Board Mmember and am currently the Club Secretary. I run the impound for our annual fun fly, mow the grass and work at readying the field in the spring, previous to the fun fly and putting stuff away in the fall. I owned the flying field used by the previous club in my town, until the trees near by and on my neighbor's property, became to tall. I did practically all the mowing then, for fourteen years. Yes, I can honestly say I volunteer for the clubs I've belonged too! I also feel if you don't volunteer to help your club with the hard work and effort it takes to have a nice place to fly, I don't think much of your character and you are taking advantage of the people who do-do all the work!

warningshot

AMEN!

LuftwaffeOberst

Yes, I mow the lawn and "weed whack" from time to time.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Frankly I don't understand people who don't give of their time.

Most of the fliers I have met are men. Men bond through common experience and common accomplishment. Men tend to be team and task oriented. Through common acccomplishment we build friendships and relationships. This is called having fun!

If you are not one of the club workers then you are likely one of the club outsiders. Some people like being outsiders. They fly alone, they build alone, and prefer to be left alone. I don't understand the logic but that's fine.

My experience is these are also the people who feel ignored by the club, left out and otherwise unhappy with how things are done. They often don't like to attend meetings. This is not always the case, but more often than not. They are outside looking in. For them this might be what they want, but I would hate it.

My experience is, if you want to have the best time, have the most fun, and get the most out of the experience, then join in, grab the rope and help pull. If you can't pull, then pass out water, or cheer for the rope pullers, or .... do something to support the effort. When the work is done, you will have developed friendships that will last. This will enhance your flying experience as much as the planes themselves.

At least that is my view. Your smileage will vary ofcourse.

kramer

My Feedback: (61)

was the club secretary for several years and am the club webmaster.
http://northern-indiana-modelers-ass...ynthasite.com/

Hemikiller

My Feedback: (125)

I've been on our club's board for the last four years, was VP for two years before that. This year I've been voted in as Treasurer. Just like any club, out of our 150-ish members, we have a core group of 30~40 of the most active members that are the ones who keep the club running. We have a couple work parties in the spring to do field maintenance, repairing the safety stands, cutting brush, etc.

qldviking

we had our meeting last night, and the whiner was very conspicuous by his absence, the only member not to show. We passed a new ruling that the field will be closed while any work is being done, including , maintenance etc, and the whiner will be notified by certified mail and email. It will be interesting to hear why he wasnt at the meeting, he was actually flying that morning. Another amendment was that all complaints are to made to the secretary in writing, and any whining or abuse will result in cancelled membership, the few of us that do anything are fed up with all the crud thrown at us by those that do zip.

Mode One

Its amazing how some people lack any ability to empathize! So far we have good people involved with our club, they don't all put the same amount of work into it; but, they certanly would never complain about the work not being done. I truly think the bylaws of the club needs to be able to deal wih undesirable people.

I owned my own business, raised two boys that were 22 months apart, owned the property the flying field used to be on; so, did almost all the mowing plus mowed my 2 1/2 acres around the house and all the other things parents and business owners had to do. Yes, I was busy; but, I still found time to "build" the models I flew and the time to fly them. I don't get how people can consider that times today are so different! I really get tired of hearing this story as it's a slap in the face of every person who has done all the exact things your doing now!

Muroc1

I could see how being in a large club could be a problem with those that help and don't help.

It's always been the 20/80 rule. No matter where you are at.

Frank

qldviking

I just got a call from the club secretary, he got a letter from the no-show whiner and the whiner saying that we as a club cannot do that without him being there and he will be taking legal action. Ut wont take much more of this crud before I will clean forget about membership and fly strictly on private property, I know enough farmers with good areas to fly on. Its sad how its always the non contributors that always cause the strife and dissention in a club, its something I saw when I was racing, in both sport and gamefishing clubs and in RC [:'(]

n57tc

I've been on the Board of Directors of our club here going on my third year. I have volunteered to mow, fix the roof and doors on the storage building, sponsored a Junk Yard Fly and a club MOJO build. And I will not complain. I volunteer because I love this hobby (My wife calls it my addiction).

While on the board I realized the 20% / 80% as a board we decided to offer two different memberships.

First is a volunteer membership. With this membership we require 10 hours of volunteer service every year. 5 of those hours could be gotten just by attending the club meetings. The cost of this membership is about a third less then the second.

The Second is a Non-volunteer membership. With this membership no time is required because you pay a higher price for the membership.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but it really has gone over very well. I asked just about every member that has payed the higher price about their thoughts on the higher dues and none of them said anything bad. They all voiced praise for the ability to pay a little more and they get the advantage of feeling no guilt for not being out there helping.

As a club we keep track of the hours each member puts forth. This year we only had two members not follow through with their volunteer hours so they were sent a bill for the upcharge in dues and they both paid the difference.

littlecrankshaf

My Feedback: (58)

Good strategy! Now that's getting it done.[sm=thumbs_up.gif]

Muroc1

Wow, that's a great idea!

Frank

qldviking

n57tc I like the idea too, and can see it working well in bigger clubs. Our club is a smal club with 17 members, and our fees are basicly set at anual ins plus $20 to cover anual leae of or field with little left over. The facilities have all been a result of volunteer work. On the issue of the fool, the club secretary, pres, vp and myself have al recieved writs to front up in court, citing improperly maintained grounds, restricting his flying etc etc. will be very interesting day come March 6th we also have a club meeting next wednesday evening, will be interesting indeed. I wonder if the fool will show?

n57tc

gldviking,

I would have to agree with you that you are in a tough situation with only 17 members.

The club I belong to use to have about 80 members until we raised the dues. After we raised the dues we dropped to about 50 members.

We had to raise dues because of two reasons. The first reason was we simply were not covering our direct costs. The second reason is all the land around our field was purchased 3 years ago by a developer with the intent of developing housing so we then could see us getting pushed out. So we as a board decided we needed to put some money in the bank for use when the time comes and we had to leave our field and relocate to a new one.

All at the same time we were struggling with the volunteer system. So at the same time we decided on raising the dues, we also installed the two teir membership system. Along with this we now have the club schedule and the mowing schedule right on our club website. This has helped big time. Now our VP has time to fly instead of looking for volunteers to mow. If you look at the schedule right now there is no scheduling done yet because we have 18" of snow but come March 15 or so we will start to schedule the mowing.

My club has benifited since installing the two teir membership. At last years spring cleanup we had roughly 42 members showup out of 50.

Here's the link to our club website: http://flightmastersrc.org/

Jim

qldviking

n57tc, I just spent an enjoyable time checking out your site, puty its been bought out [:'(] have the committee considered looking at buying a block of land for its permanent flying field?

n57tc

gldviking, Yes we have considered buying and would honestly prefer that. But in all honesty finding a 50 acre site around here without housing or manufacturing is pretty rare. The other downside is the price for empty land. With the bad economy, developed land has gone down drastically in price, where as undeveloped land is still holding its own do to the farming. Undeveloped land here goes for about $5,000.00 to $12,000 acre, where as developed areas can be as much as $50,000.00 and acre.

The best senairo for our club would be to purchase or lease about 5 acres with a 45 acre buffer zone.

Jim

Patrnflier

My Feedback: (1)

I belong to the club N57tc is speaking of and I can not say enough about his "can do" spirit. I was serving as president when we (officers and the board) came up with the tiered dues system and was the one to write a letter of explanation to the membership. I received several thank you's and support letters back and not one objection. We had laid the ground 6-8 month earlier when we learned of the land purchase and development plans by sending out a survey to each member asking for their input. When asked if they would support a dues increase to fund a relocation all but 2-3 indicated yes. Due to my work schedule I had to hand over the presidency, which has been looked after very well, especially with members like n57tc. I am a volunteer worker member and was able to put in 4 days of mowing along with time for our annual mandatory field day in the spring. I only got to fly on those 5 days all season but knowing it was for the club and then to fellowship with others like n57tc during the days I can fly makes it worthwhile.



Marty