I think we should take a look at how much we're charging to enter an IMAC contest. I see the Cactus Classic is $50. Yeah, I can afford it but what about the guys who aren't at the height of their money making years and are struggling to put a plane together, hotel, transportation, meals etc. Why is the entry fee that high?

18 holes of golf? this is a bargain. they feed you, this is a bargain. lots and lots of door prizes, this is a bargain. You also get to support the hosting club, this is a bargain I can keep this up all day.

As the treasurer of a Chartered club that hosts 4-6 contests a year on a field that we have to pay a lease on, I can vouch for the fact that we had to raise the fees for our contests.

Last year we retained the 2005 fees for contests, and we barely made it through the year with a posiive balance. Just the cost of fuel to keep our mowing machines running has gotten ridiculous. And if we tried to hold a contest without mowing, I doubt that the feedback would be positive.

I lived in Las Vegas for many years. The cost in the 80's for 18 holes of Golf was in the range of $25.00 at most courses. Try to find a round now for less than $250. It wont happen. It's a shame that this is so, but such is life. Clubs need income to stay in business, and dues alone won't cover it all.

This hobby like any other is feeling the pinch of inflation, and if we want to continue to pursue it, we have bite the bullet and plan on paying more to keep it going.

Just my humble opinion.

I will be attending this event...yes I feel $50 is kind of high but I will pay and I'm sure I will have a good time. However...I called a friend who lives in Tucson and said " come on out and fly" he said he would come ...then he found out about the $50 entry and said he couldn't afford it.
I used to golf and was quite good ...at one time a 4 handicap...I fly planes now....
I hope we can keep the entry fees afordable so everyone can afford to enter.

How much should we charge? We have been paying $50 entry fees for large contests since 2002. We have never raised the price. It takes a lot of work and money to put on a contest this size. We pay for extra porta Johns, trophies for 5 classes, the winners all recieve a nice embroidered Cactus Classic Jacket.

I believe the entry fees barely cover the expenses in most contests. However, we may be able to make some changes to keep the costs down. For example a lot of money is spent on awards even though we may have a small turn out in some classes. Would it make sense to limit rewards to only 1st place in the smaller turnout classes. Lunch could be purchased seperately so the pilot can choose to bring their own.

i can tell you as a imac newbie i wont pay a $50 entry fee for a contest. been there done that with kart racing and SCCA car racing. ridiculous entry fees have all but killed both. our club makes money on our fun flys. we cut our own grass . we sell hamburger,hotdogs and drinks at our funflys and make money. our site is provided at no charge by Waste management Co however. I know that isn't the case with most clubs. when i go to a imac event i dont care about golf, jackets or even food. if you have a cookout saturday night, charge a reasonable price and nobody should have a problem paying it. i am there to fly and compete. although dancing girls would be cool. just my thoughts as a newbie, don't hurt me too bad, ok?

I was charging $50 entry fees as far back as 2000 for contest I ran. Entry numbers were never a problem. Given costs today the fact that the CC is still $50 seems reasonable to me. People have very little idea what the behind the scenes costs are. One example - printing. They'll need 100 scoresheets minimum and more since so many pilots "lose" theirs. Then Aresti in both direction for all five classes plus judges, and so on. That cost alone can be significant. Trophies, raffle prizes, and other admin costs can run the cost of a contest up to the $500 to $700 range in no time. Add in port-a-potties, PA systems, etc. and most clubs make very little even at $50 a head.

And finally, I'm sorry, but the entry fee just cannot be the make or break cost. Travel costs FAR exceed entry fees. A trip from SOCAL to PHX for a contest costs $500 for me depending on meals. It could cost more. Then look at the costs of our planes, fuel, and so on it makes it hard for me to buy the argument that $50 is a deal breaker.

The Cactus Classic is one of the best run contests you can attend and it is more than worth the current entry fee. 60 other people have already made that clear by paying their entry fees for this year.

When I started Giant Scale Racing the entry fees where like $250 @ plane. Entries fees for IMAC are nothing...if you think they are too high, please go get your own field and start putting them on for free, you will have lots of entries.

I am far removed from IMAC and not competing, but $50 for a weekend's worth of flying, a lunch, trophies, etc. doesn't sound bad at all to me. As someone pointed out, compared to even just fuel costs for a drive of any length, $50 hardly registers. What else can you do for $50 and get a weekend's worth of enjoyment from?


Mark

I don't actually compete and i don't know if i ever will (new to the sport, had to find somthing i could afford to do in college, oh and loving it) but i'm just here to say that this sport is sooooo cheap...i'm actually getting really sick of people saying how "expensive" it is. I have raced motocross most of my life and would just like to say that i would normally race an entire circuit 10-12 races in the summer and catch a few winter races (I live in colorado) but i would always figure on atleast spending $250 dollars a weekend, not including parts, i've destroyed up too $1000 IN ONE RACE, that would build most people an entire plane. so don't get too excited about the costs it is a very inexpensive sport (oh and i used to work 2 jobs just to fuel my addiction to racing). cough up the 50 dollars, you wouldn't even be allowed inside a dirtbike race for this.....

Ok, well, I lost 3 $3000 dollar pattern ships last year. 9 grand.
I replaced 2 of them. So that's another 6 grand. One of my Imac ships has 3500 in it at least. I could lost that in 1 second. Ohter people have 5-8 grand in them.
Don't see how you can compare motorcross to Rc planes.
$1000?? What does that buy in an Imac ship? Maybe the servos.. LOL

The only planes I have with less than $1000 in them, are my foamies and small electrics. Which in each, I only have 3-400 in.

Obviously you are new to the hobby. You may not know the true costs of some of these planes.

Glad to hear you are having a good time with the sport though!!

Chris

i was just using it as a comparison like the golf analogy, (real simple comparison between 2 sports and the costs associated with both) and i'm not suprised that so much goes into them, and i was talking about parts that needed replaced after 1 race, not the whole bike. I know people who have more than $20,000 in the front forks of their moto bikes, and probably upwards of 200,000 in all the R&D, and hop up parts just for 1 bike... not me though...way too poor..lol , and this just cements the point even better, why would there even be a concern with the $50 if you have hundreds of thousands of dollars up there in the air???

I agree with you.
$50 is high for me at a pattern contest. But I would pay it.
I haven't attended an Imac contest yet. But I would pay $50 if lunch was included both days with no problem.
Heck, I'd pay $100 just to get away from my wife for the weekend. LOL

Chris

He didn't include the doctor bills.

OUCH!!!!

If I lost that much Money In planes I would need a doctor after my wife got ahold of me WOW

She wasn't happy... I'll just say it was a bad year for rec batteries..

Chris

LoL, Quist , boy you are spot on!!! those dang total knee reconstructions (had one, now my other knee needs scoped[:@]) and broken bones sure add up(i'm also now in the "extremely high risk insurance" category).....That is one thing i won't miss, now if i could just keep from running the yak into myself

I dont fly IMAC(yet) but I CD'd a contest last year and am hosting another this year as well. My expenses were considerable and after all was said and done the club made a couple hundred dollars to give up their field for a weekend at one of the nicest times of the year.

Trophies 400.00

Food... 450.00 with free lunch Saturday and a BBQ that night. Sunday was out of the flyers pocket for a burger and coke.($4.00)

I admit that I didnt solicit any free givaways for the pilots but none of the guys seemed to be looking for freebies anyway.

After other little stuff it all adds up to about 1000.00 bucks.

We had 26 pilots at 35 dollars each to achieve the modest "profit" for the club. This year will be 40 with a 5 dollar discount for IMAC members.

Compared to other forms of entertainment this is a bargain.

Where else can you legally have as much fun for the $$??

This is a bit of a hot button for me so I'll chime in.

I have been running an IMAC contest here for several years. We charge $35 including lunch both days for the contestants. If we get 30+ contestants we make a small profit. If we get 20-25 contestants we break even. If we get less, we lose money. I can assure you that I bust my butt for three solid days (for no pay) in addition to the work organizing the contest and the post contest reconciliations.

I can assure you that the vast majority if not all clubs are not getting rich on these contests.

Even at $50, probably $35 of it goes to cover the costs of putting on the contest. Can we not begrudge a club a few dollars for a whole weekend of organized competition just so you can enjoy yourself?

Nothing in life is free but this is probably one of the best bargains you'll run across.

Dave

My answer is the same to those who complain about the way contests are run. Go become a CD, go set up and run a competition, then come talk to me about what you think is wrong with the system. Thank you Bill M. "My Master"
Competitive IMAC is not cheap, sorry it doesn't fit in to everyones budget, there are a lot of things in life that I would like to do, but I don't expect people to do it for nothing just so I can participate.

Tony Holden
CD Cactus Classic

I think the problem is not that it's expensive, the problem is you dont make enough money, that's it.

I agree - sometimes money gets tight and you have to cut corners. I've had to take part time jobs to keep up with the hobby over the years. I don't compete anymore, but do get involved in club activities.

And the bottom line any more is that a club make profit on their events, or they go down the tubes. They have to be run like a business. And part of doing business is making profit from the efforts you put forth. Anyone that can afford a $6000 or more plane surely can find the entry fee to put their investment in the air.

I know the contest here in Tucson this year is going to be just about the same cost as the Cactus Classic.