I HAVE MET THE ENEMY . . . AND HE IS ME!
Author
The author has been the AMA Contest Board Coordinator since at least 1975. — Don Lindley
I have finally identified the problem I have been having with this hobby/sport/obsession of ours, and I will be on the road to recovery. As always, diagnosis of the disease was the hardest part. Once diagnosed, the only thing left was determination of the best treatment for my unique lifestyle. I share this account of my experience in the hope that it will lead others to seek treatment and lead them to better, longer, more fulfilling lives.
I now freely and openly admit that I have suffered from haves for about 20 years. At first I didn't recognize the symptoms, even though the National Foundation for the Eradication of Haves (NAFEH) regularly publishes the 14 warning signs in most popular magazines and airs them on some cable television stations. This dedicated group certainly did all that could reasonably be expected of them to help me overcome my problem.
Unfortunately, like many others, I either failed to recognize or refused to admit that I had a problem. You have to hit bottom before you face reality. I deeply regret the emotional stress and financial anguish which my disease has caused my family and will try to make it up to them in the future.
Like most severe cases of haves, mine was caused by the collection of many different types of models over a lifetime of building and flying. I started out in indoor and outdoor free flight and graduated to U-Control during WWII. After the war I got into radio control (when it was more radio than control) and went through a series of Lorenz two-tubers and Galloping Ghosts. In the late sixties I finally graduated to digital proportional and started on the long road to develop expertise in pattern. Meanwhile, I continued to build and fly free flight and control line models. After all, I had a tremendous investment in them and I had them. (Do you see the first insidious signs of haves sneaking in?) Of course, I could rationalize all this on the basis that I had developed a competitive position over the years and could maintain it with a minimum of time input if I would simply keep current.
I'm sure you who have been down this road will recognize that keeping current does not keep one competitive. This illusion is at the heart of the haves problem. Each time you compete, you realize that you are slipping and invest a little more time in that part of the sport where you perceive the problem. This absolutely guarantees that you will be not-quite-competitive in every area.
However, by now you are committing so much time to the hobby that you can't objectively evaluate your problem, and you continue down the road of no return. Family and friends become merely support systems for your obsession, and fellow modelers become mortal enemies who spend all their time (when they are not stealing your ideas) trying to subvert events to their advantage by changing the rules. This scenario suggests that you are near the bottom and might be able to make some rational decisions as soon as the elaborate structure of obsession you have built collapses on you.
The turning point
The road back to reality for me started about seven years ago when I was flying my pattern airplane, convinced that if I could just get in 10 flights a day for the next three weeks, I would become competitive at the local level. As I was doing the Cuban eight for the nth time, trying to get the intersection just right, I was struck with the fact that I wasn't enjoying the session. As I continued, I realized that I hadn't enjoyed flying pattern for a long time. I landed the airplane and sat down to think over this radical concept of enjoyment.
Luckily, I was the only one at the RC field that day, so thinking was a possibility. I allowed my mind to soar free and explore all options. It was then that I remembered how, in the long-forgotten past, I had flown models for the sheer pleasure of seeing a part of me soar above the earth on graceful wings.
I lay on my back in the grass and pictured those dim kits circling in the clear blue sky and the weed-cut shins itching after a day of chasing them. I tried to understand how I had gotten from there to this, and that's when I finally began to realize that I was a victim of haves.
For those of you who have not paid attention to the self-help programs offered by the NAFEH, I will paraphrase some of their principles. However, I strongly advise you to read and understand their programs in detail.
- The fact that you have a model doesn't mean you have to compete with it.
- The fact that you have flown something competitively in the past does not mean you have to continue to compete with it after it ceases to be fun.
- In addition to your hobby, you probably have a family and friends. If you want to continue to have them, you might consider putting in just a little time with them in order to be competitive in that field.
Recovery and current state
To return to my story, I packed up my gear and went home from the RC field. I haven't flown RC pattern since. Three years later, I packed up my RC sailplanes and haven't flown them since. The control line models haven't been flown in four years, and I haven't competed in outdoor free flight for seven years. I still sport-fly free flight and all the other models are clean and either ready to be flown (if the urge strikes me) or to be given to some interested kid (if the urge doesn't strike).
The point is, I have them, but they don't have me! I'm sure that if I took down one of the RC models, put in a new pack and went out to fly it, it would be jelly-knees all over the place. I can handle that. After all, it's not that much different from the first session after a Midwest winter, and you know what they say about riding a bicycle. I'm building whatever strikes my fancy and competing in very few events. In short, I'm having fun again.
Does this mean that you should give up everything but one small area and concentrate on that alone? Does this mean you should give up competition? No! It simply means that if you're in this hobby for fun (and not to make a living) you would do well to put the airplane down occasionally, lie on your back in the grass, stare up into a clear blue sky, and ask yourself what's really important in your life. You may come up with some answers that will shock you.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
