In our club we have a tradition whereby we vote a person as getting the
"Dumb Thumb" of the month. This person is nominated by one of his/her peers
as being deserving of this distinction based on a crash, a near crash, something they did
that was not the smartest thing, safety violation, etc...

Generally speaking, this is a very fun-loving, joking around kind of thing that we all get a laugh out of.
However, I was wondering what everyone thought of this. First, is it a general practice in many clubs?
Second, has anyone you know ever taken offense to getting a "Dumb Thumb"? Third, could this
practice be a deterrent to newcomers who may not have the great piloting skills that the veterans do
and feel intimidated about getting a "Dumb Thumb" and be reluctant to fly because of it?

"Dumb Thumbs" is a new concept for me and I am just curious as to what you think.

I wish my club would do that, I would have won it a few months back with my reversed aileron fiasco. Nothing like flying a 25% with reversed ailerons

Sounds like a fun tradition

As to your question of offending people I think the answer is yes seems to me that people will take offense to almost anything.

These forums are a great example.... Just post the phase "Get an instructor or else you will crash" in this forum and watch the fur fly

It's common enough that the AMA sells [link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/product.asp?sid=AD78C7E335C141ADBFA6104E80EF4E6B&p rodid=69CAE3DA05FB4A2BA1284265DF5B5275]these patches[/link].

But I wouldn't give one unless I knew the person well enough to know they'd enjoy getting it.

As long as it's all in good fun, but I can see your concern. A club would have to be careful not to insult someone by giving them an award for being stupid, if it was for something that the honoree didn't think was stupid.

You got a new dumb thumb in your club every month?

For us that would get this every month --- we don't like it...[sm=lol.gif]
j/k....we could handle it.

At our club its called the "Dumass" award. There was talk of making a plaque out of a leftover tail section of a crashed plane, the winner will keep it for a month. Then we thought it may be crossing the line and actually offend people, so we just cast our vote, laugh a little and move on.

btw-we have a lot of veterans who would get this as well...

If it's Gluedobbers Club you're talking about, the plaque does exist. I believe Grant Wilson, the club pres has had it in his possession for a few months, but it does go to the latest "awardee"!

Jesse

our club has a dumb thumb trophy ya get to keep it till ya witness another dumb thumb then ya give it away at the next meeting i havnt been the lucky winner yetbut i dont wanna win! lol its all in good fun thats why we do this hobby is for fun

Our club has a column in the newsletter dedicated to whatever silly stuff the "anonymous" author can dig up on people. Kind of a club gossip column. I think he's offended a couple of people, but no one really badly.

Most guys who have been in this hobby for any length of time can laugh at their goofs, even the expensive ones. If they can't they probibly alreay left after their first crater. So, if I was giving out an award like that, I think I'd "exempt" first-year students, unless they showed a good sense of humor.

I have some students who freely talk about some of the REALLY dumb-ass things they've done, and laugh about it, and I have a few that are still pretty sensitive. Actually, come to think about it, the sensitive guys are the ones that, haven't actually smeared a plane yet.

Remeber, if you can't leave your mark on the hobby, at least make it on the landscape.

most people take the award for the jest amound good friends that it is ,then .there are a few people that wear real tight underwear and the award should never be given to them. Our club would go broke buying the awards,all of us would want one or two.

We had a dumb thumb award for almost a year. It was awarded when a description of the dumb trick was made at a meeting. If there was more than one who deserved the trophy it was awarded by popular vote. The theory was that it would be returned to the club each month and given out again. When one member, who deserved it, got it three times in about six months he never brought it back. The end.

I agree....the new guys (myself) are nervous enough without having to worry about getting a "dumb thumb" award. Not to say that I would be overly sensative if I got it, just another thing to think about.

Evening POJack,
If you get an award just send it to me,over the years I've probably qualified for most dumb thumbs mistakes,some are/were funny, some were not.Ah,such is RC flying. Merry Xmas.