galorin

I have just recently been (probably) accepted into our new local flying club. We've got about 12 members, migrated from other established clubs that were farther afield. During my conversations with them, they have concerns about pulling in young blood. The majority of members are retired, 60+ years old. The guy pushing the club forward is in his 40's. At 31, I am their youngest member.

What are some ideas for getting younger people involved? We don't have a web presence yet, and that will be crucial to recruiting younger folk. But how to get them involved?

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

We had Mall shows and did displays for the Cub and Boy Scouts, even has a show and tell at some of the schools.
Problem with getting kids involved is the time and money needed in this hobby. Most of my students are from about 30 to 70 years old. I had one I started at 12 and the big problem is someone had to always go over and give him and his plane plus equipment a lift to the field. That's more of a problem then you think.
Then after about one year he moved on to other things, now at 14 the other things are girls. Can't blame him for that!!
You are the young people you want to get into the hobby, about 30 on up.
When I was a kid there were a lot of us building and flying, it was one of the things boys did. Today models have to compete with all the electronic toys and computer games, try to get a kid away from there texting, it isn't going to happen.
Just a different world we live in now and young people have other things they would rather do then modeling.
Good luck

draftman1

I was lucky, my boys like flying also. another way is to see your local school district and if they have science classes, aviation is a good science subject, school yard demos with foamies and a short teaching on aerodynamics and stuff. the kids will get exposed to r/c that way also. for the kids thet dont have alot of cash, help them get planes- donations, ebay and that kind of stuff to get the planes in there hands. also SPADS are a great and cheap way to get planes in there hands. there will be very few kids that dream of flight and stuff, so dont expect them all to get involved

timcat26

Our club holds events for kids about once a month. This helps but the club has identified that their number one problem is the average age of the membership. I'm 46 and one of the younger(ish) members that flies on a regular basis. A large part of the problem is that about half of the membership are long time (15+ years) members that rarely fly (they do show up to monthly meetings) but strenuously object to efforts to spice things up a little. They're happy with the way things have been for a long time.

My 13 year old daughter is now training to fly and this is regarded as quite the oddity, for reasons of both her age and gender. There's only one other female member that I've ever seen at the field flying. I'm hoping that she can get some friends, both male and female, interested enough to bring the average age down into at least the high 30s-low 40s.

WCB

We have the same issue at our club, but...
We have young folks show up at our field a lot. I'm talking ages 18-25. They come and watch us fly, ask good questions and seem genuinely interested. They say they are going to buy a trainer and get advice on what to buy and everything. A few that showed up we even put on the buddy box when a trainer was available. They are all excited and eager to get started. Then we never see them again.
We tell them up front how much they are looking to spend to get started flying and the majority seem pretty surprised at how affordable it really is. All our members are very accomodating to visitors and are happy to answer questions and show off their planes, so I know it's not an issue of hospitality. I can't figure out what, if anything, we are doing wrong.

Bill

larrysogla

Like GrayBeard said..........it is a tight race for attention...........RC cars/trucks(buggy and truggy), TV, internet social networking sites, CD's on rock music, rap music, Ipods, Gaming Consoles, Easy/casual real sex among the teens today, Shopping Malls everywhere, skateboards, drugs, etc. etc...............while those are easy and accessible inside the home entertainment and just out the front door in your street activity(skateboards).....................RC airplanes demand a different venue..............lots of open space..........and if it is those noisy internal combustion engines..............you need wide, wide open spaces far away from easily disturbed neighbors...............not to mention the effort and skill to assemble, adjust, trim the airplane, tune the engine, and the expense...............Oh!! this is an expensive hobby................the airplane, radio, engine, fuel, RC tools, glues you have to pay for............and then after that you have to find a good flying buddy to be comfortable with while he is teaching you how to fly. The hump to overcome to get started......the hill to climb to learn and maintain this hobby is just too much disincentive for today's laid back, computer addicted, internet social networking, sex indulgent, toy spoiled teenagers of today's entertainment overstuffed teenager..................and drugs too!!! Our RC airplane hobby is attractive only to the flight fascinated teenager................the others who are only marginally interested we can still try to reach out and hopefully bond to our RC airplane hobby. If there are fewer and fewer RC airplane enthusiasts........then the city councils will start converting our RC fields to golf courses. It could be a diminishing sport due to the intense competition. 'Nuff said.
Thanks and God Bless, always.
larry

bogbeagle

All clubs "suffer" from a lack of youngsters. No-one can figure it out.

My view is that it doesn't matter a jot.

Aeromodelling's natural catchment is 30+ age-group...kids becoming independent and some disposable income. The best way to ensure the longevity of your club is to concentrate your recruitment efforts on this older target group. Play to your strengths.

There's nothing magical about getting teenagers involved in model flying; it's just as valid that older guys become involved.

In fact, in the UK, the involvement of minors is effectively discouraged by legislation which requires that their mentors' backgrounds are pored over by the police.

galorin

I looked at Scouting involvement a few years past. The police checks are quite severe here. It was a complaint at the last meet that there were few young aeromodellers. I guess we just need to get the word out, maybe some involvement with thne local air bases and the like. Face the facts that I'm a youngster as far as this hobby is concerned.

jester_s1

The delayed gratification is the problem. You spend money and work for months before the hobby really starts being fun. That can't compete with electronic toys or even most other real hobbies. Besides that, flight doesn't have the coolness that it once had. It's just not something boys think of doing. To solve the problem, I would think fun fly events like the guy wrote up in Model Airplane a couple of issues ago would be the best bet. It gets families interested and creates awareness of the hobby in the community.

larrysogla

Every month, there should be regularly a fun fly fiesta with flight simulator and actual hands on buddy cord flight instruction for those kids as well as adults who are curious about the sport. Some may just want to try first on a simulator as they are familiar with Gaming Consoles. We may not win them instantly................but the seeds of joy and fascination have been planted...............and will someday burst out of the fertile ground and bear fruit as new members in the RC airplane sport. The idea is to..............plant the seed and in due season there will be a harvest. If they never put a hand on a simulator or fly the plane on a buddy cord..............then they will not even have a glimmer of the satisfaction and joy that is in the RC airplane sport. The key is planting the seed of joy in their hearts. It is a numbers game...............as only a fraction of those initiated will eventually be lifelong RC airplane flyers.
Thanks and God Bless, always
larry

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I look at it as planting the seed myself. I was into modeling myself at a very early age but back in those days most boys were. I got out of it as a teenager but got into other things, trap and skeet shooting for the most part, this was in the days before guns were bad!! Then I hit 16 and started driving so everything else in my life was put on hold in favor of cars and girls, drive in movies were my number one choice of things to do!! At about 30 I got back into modeling on weekends with another friend but just U-Control. By then I was married and into hunting, fishing, sand rails, motor cycles and a number of other things.
I got into RC when my young nephew came out for a visit and I needed things to keep him busy. He got into it but like most kids go out of it when he learned to drive. I have stuck with it!! As we get older I think we end up doing things that we enjoyed in our past. I got back into modeling after I gave it up for hunting, fishing and trap and skeet shooting. Those sports got to be way more money then I could afford to keep doing. Modeling is much cheaper in the long run.
I don't think you can keep a kid into modeling unless mom and dad support it 100%. Not just in money but rides to and from the field. My friends and I all had parents that would take us out to the field and pick us up. Those were the days when parents made the time for there kids too. Something I don't see a lot of today. If I didn't take my young student out to fly then he wasn't going to be going.

Strat2003

My Feedback: (1)

Most of our "young guys" are in their 40's. this seems to be the stage in life where family responsibilities are easing a little and there's a little money to spend on hobbies. This is the time when those guys who visited your field when they were kids, or in their 20's and 30's come back to you. Be friendly and helpful to them, they're your future.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

For about half of my 30 years in the hobby I have flown from small fields visible from nearby roads . Crowds would stop regularly to watch. You meet lots of people that way. They just walk up and start talking to you. Its great. And sooner or later folks show up with airplanes left by a great uncle or given to them for Christmas. Word of mouth gets around town and before you know it you are a landmark. Crowds are a regular thing and everyone knows your name. People just come out of the woodwork and your numbers just grow and grow.

If....however you are way out in the country and most folks don't know where your filed is, it can be a different story. In this case you must make yourself known by placing a few signs around that point to the field.

Tell the nearest hobby shops about your feild . It benifits your club and their hobby shop to promote the club. Print flyers , ( pamplets ) about the club, ( include a map), and leave them at the hobby shop to be handed out to interested parties.

And don't be ashamed to talk about your hobby to friends and co-workers. I just can't help myself. I talk RC all the time. And people are interested. And often they come to see. And a few decide to try it for themselves.

jimmyjames213

My Feedback: (2)

us younger folks <21 will get into it if we want to. my seguestion is to expose the younger crowd, you can tell if they bite.
the main problem is money. luckly i have a old minivan, if i didnt my rc money would be going twards a car. some arnt as fortunant as me.
however when i first started a few of my fellow club members helped me out, for which i am very thankful.
they gave me a starter and battery, let me into the club for free (still have to mow the lawn and what not, i help out whenever posible to "repay" them), give me random parts and equiptment they dont need, or i need but dont have. when you are just starting out and dont have much money, it really ticks you off (or at least it did to me) when i felt that i was being "nickled and dimed". this hobby is expensive enough and when others help you out it emphizies the "atmosphere" of the hobby, that everyone will help everyone
i am forever grateful to them, without their help i still would have stayed with the hobby, but they made it a whole lot easier for me.

so long story short, help out a pilot in need, it may keep them in the hobby.
when i have the money and such i will give the starter my friend gave me ( among other things) to a noob that needs it.

jetmech05

Hello JimmyJames how are things back home...I grew up in St. Joseph Mo about 45 mins from Leavenworth...been there many times....
galorin..has a problem....if the "older members" are concerned and you can't please all of the people all of the time....they're going to drag their feet.....and fight and moan....go slow, become the events committee chairman...do a fun fly invite everyone and give free intro flights to whom ever wants one...get the older guys that like to teach to give the flights.......it's a start

redfox435cat

as long as the old guy frown on the young guys the club is doomed to fail, until the old guys relies that the outcome won't change. The only way that works is if the old guys buy, own and maintain their own land, like a retirement community. Clubs need money and community support to exist in most places, especially out here in cali, without community support for youth the community has little interest in you and will most likely plow your field under for another soccer field or baseball diamond.

As far as interest goes the park flier that have come out have really increased the rc interest again. There are allot of people doing it in our area, once they find out about the club and see what RC really is interest and support follows by the droves. As long as the membership doesn't shun the majority of them a percentage of those people join the club raise more money and revenue and thus more support. It's a cycle that can easily go either way. We try to get as many members aware of that and have our trainers charged and ready for the public when they come out, hooks quit a few of them

galorin

Our flying field - Google map link. This is where we fly   It is a WWII airfield that is occasionally used by private aircraft, located five miles out of town.  There is a very posh estate a few miles away so people sometimes fly in for a wedding there.  We can use the airfield at any time except when there is a wedding at the estate, if we are using 2 strokes.

As far as I know, we can't actually fly anywhere else in the local area, and actually be covered by our required insurance.  Need to look at that more.

red head

Work on gettimg an older group 25 +. They are more settled, have a couple bucks, have an idea where they are going and if married with kids, they will bring the younger ones along.

Here in the States the AMA pushes young people programs and I don't totally disagree with their thinking BUT I have always thought it better to hit the older youngsters 25 +. and the young ones will come along in THEIR own time.

The other day at the field I was going to give a couple kids ( 10 - 12 ) some flights on a buddy box. I had a little engine trouble and the kids were off goofing around and doing things that don't need to be done around planes etc.. YES - I am an old fart and not much into kids but they don't usually bother me IF they are well manored and controled. NUFF said. ENJOY !!! RED

yojoelay

Thought I might chime in with my own personal case study. Apologies for rambling... There is a summary at the end if you want to skip the whole build up.

The first book I got out of the library on my first day of school was on model airplanes. I built lots of cheap, nasty Guillows kits but really wanted to fly RC. I delivered papers (in Canada, in winter for nearly a year), then bought and built a Goldberg Eagle 2 with all the gear at age 13. After paying for the club membership I had very little paper route money left and being the oldest of three, well, trips to the field got a bit tiring for mom. Eventually I gave up - hadn't even reached a solo flight - got into electric cars and had a lot of fun playing with them.

High school, a long random walk through university and the first 8 years of my career passed until I fumbled upon a field here in Brisbane. The guys were great and for $35 I could take a lesson from a certified instructor who supplied all the gear. Sign me up! It took 10 lessons and I got my Bronze Wings (our Aussie credential).

Targeting guys in their 30's makes a tremendous amount of sense - it's just a case of figuring out where they are now and what you can do to attract them. In my case, once I actually found the place it was a commercial incentive: pay $35 and someone supplies everything. $35 was great value; My 70 year old instructor taught 5 lessons on a Saturday, put a bit of cash in his pocket and had fun doing it. Sure, his plane looked like it had been through a war but it worked. I didn't have to make the big investment, or convince my partner of the need to, until I was about to get certified.

I've been flying for about 3 years now. Half my planes are scratch built. I'm on a first name basis with the LHS and when I want something I generally can afford it - I stick to 40-60 sized planes and have fun with them. My partner thought RC planes were expensive until she found out what other male pass times, like motor racing, actually cost. A few '000 each year on the hobby is no threat to the mortgage or the grocery budget (so long as I stay employed).

I network extensively at the club (it's a big club - 250 members) and have done business several times with other members - my lawyer is a member, another guy fixed my roof, and another guy who is a retired consultant gives me coaching advice from time to time (I'm a consultant - don't be afraid). Last night at our club meeting the exec mentioned that the club accountant was really good, so I'm thinking about switching. My partner is good friend with the another member's wife and we're going wine touring next weekend.

So - to sum it all up:

- guys in their 30's are a good target. Kids can't afford it unless they are being financed and supported by their parents
- make it easy to say, 'yeah, I'll have a go'; maybe buy a club trainer or approach the LHS for a deal on one if there aren't going to be enough punters looking for lessons to make it commercial (our instructors supply their own planes)
- understand and leverege the other benefits your club has to offer that appeal to your target market.

Hope my case study helps.

All the best,

Joel

galorin

Just got an email off the club leader.  He is unwilling to put an aircraft in as a club trainer. 

We have 12 members signed up, don't know what the average turnout is yet.  If I get on well with one of the other guys, they may be willing to let me take up one of their trainers on a buddy box, but the club leader appears not to be.  He also hasn't responded to my queries about web hosting for our own club site, as well as some of the "New Media" content ideas.  We'll have to see how things get on.  Maybe I'll just have to build my own SPAD trainer and leave it at the "clubhouse" for others to use.

56 CHEVY

The thing that has helped us to bring in new members are the buddy box flights for people who have never tried rc aircraft before. We will post an event at the local hobby shops in the area with a "come out & try to fly for free" message. Parents & their kids will come out to try it. Last time we did it, 4 out of about 15 people ended up buying their own equipment, joining our club and are now flying.

yojoelay

galorin,

One more thought. If you've only joined the club recently and most of the members are near twice your age with heaps more flying time, your ability to influence the agenda is going to be limited at best. Think about it this way - If I showed up on your doorstep and started telling you how to run your household, how would you feel?

Spend a bit of time there, develop some relationships and have a few laughs. Get to understand the people in the club, their preferences and attitudes, then begin trying to influence things towards outcomes that you can get people to buy in to.

Good luck.

Joel

galorin

When they ask about getting new, younger people involved, I am singularly the most qualified to comment on that area.  I am new with little flight experience.  The bar for entry has been made unnecessarily high for people wanting to see if they want to come out again.  They knew, in advance, that I would be there.   There was no buddy boxes ready, no trainer that he was willing to let me fly.  The expectation is, that I will buy a used kit off a member and start, or buy a new kit.  Nothing was in place for me to get my feet wet without a financial outlay that is, let's face it, irresponsible in these economic times, especially with the uncertainty of a new hobby.

If this is their expectation, then they will keep the club small.  Not by failing to publicise themselves, but rather by putting a wet blanket over those interested.

redfox435cat

not to be rude but we try to grow the club membership to increase numbers to increase funding for the club, to maintain and pay for maintaining the field, not to offer you a cheap induction into a very expensive hobby, if that too harsh a reality then I don't know what to tell ya. Another off shoot is the more people in the club locally means the LHS gets better supplied with greater inventory. No club an afford to fund potential members expectations to learn to fly on their limited funds. Our club has 3 trainers for anyone to use, but it only available 3 times and you buy the fuel. The purpose is two things, one see if you even like the hobby and get ya hooked, two is to show you the equipment you need up close and why we get this particular equipment, high wing trainer instead of say a cap 232 or a p-51. Since most people have no idea what you need to get a model going we have them there to show them. I know we make that clear for that reason, it is always expected that you get your own gear, period.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

With that kind of whining you will never have any influence at all with the club members. Youactually expect other people to pay for your hobby ! Thats amazing.[:'(]