New Comers
Bob Underwood Box 40, St. Peters, MO 63376
THIS MONTH'S COLUMN was prompted by a trip to Toledo and the ever-popular Expo put on by the Weak Signals. While it is not the last or only trade show of the year, it does tend to reveal trends.
When you stand in the AMA booth show after show, certain aspects of the hobby/sport emerge through the items displayed and the questions and concerns expressed. Another guide, at least for us at AMA Headquarters types, is the difference in the personalities of each show. Yes, it's true—each show does exude a different feeling, because of the manner in which the show is advertised, what is displayed, and where it is located. All of these factors can be very important, not only to the show organizers and exhibitors, but also to the visitors.
For the newcomer and veteran modeler alike, some of the trends can be confusing or frustrating. Let's take a few and run them by.
Where's the middle ground?
One of the goals of many clubs, longtime modelers, and of this Academy is to create new modelers—individuals skilled in constructing a model. But distributors are seeing lower kit sales and increased ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) activity. It is interesting to note how the various groups see this concern affecting the hobby (notice I left off the "sport" term this time).
The manufacturer and distributor is concerned because it affects the elements of other sales. For example, if a person gets into RC through an ARF, continues to fly it recreationally and never moves to the kit-building stage, the sales of things such as covering material and adhesives go down.
The longtime "modeler" (used in the truer sense of the word, as a producer of models) views the continued use of ARFs as a danger that the hobby/sport will lose viability, vitality, and growth. There is certainly an element of truth to this, since we will not be creating "modelers" in the classic sense—only fliers of models.
Various reasons are given for this. They range from the statement that people are lazy to the cry that the only thing our society promotes is instant gratification through mass-produced items. This seems to be true not only in our hobby/sport, but in many elements of our society.
Think about it: we don't seem to repair things today. We replace them when they quit or break. Many things are built so they can't be repaired, or are more expensive to repair than to replace.
The "thousand dollar" kit
Glancing about the shows, we find ARFs and RTFs (Ready To Fly) that are relatively inexpensive (considering the labor-intensive nature of construction), kits, and, more recently, high-end models that are a blend of kit and ARF. The latter may be more kit than ARF but involve major components that are preformed. Many of these are in the scale arena and contain molded detail, custom landing gear, spinners, etc.
What has been created is a very wide range of prices throughout aeromodeling. In some ways it's a little like the so-called "go-kart syndrome" where years ago people had fun with an old lawnmower engine they tuned up, mounted on a home-welded frame and raced on a local mall shopping center parking lot. In just a few years, big business got into it, the prices shot up, and the event faded.
And an answer?
The newcomer is placed in an interesting position. In most cases, the desire is to fly the model and then, becoming discontented early in the learning game, wanting to get on to models that look "real." Without having developed the skills required to build, the alternatives become too expensive in some cases. The resulting condition is that we "lose" the person.
To some degree, the club structure can provide help in these areas. But this is only helpful if the products are available. It's a chicken-and-egg scenario. (Right now, we have many more chickens than eggs.) It behooves the industry and AMA to study this problem. It isn't just a youth problem—many adults from the impatient 1960s and beyond are included as well.
Somehow we need to help the older modeler accept the fact he will not be able to make modelers (in the traditional sense) out of many of the newcomers. Their focus is different, and their needs are different. They are not going to sit around and glue some sticks together and wait until tomorrow to pull up the fuselage side, go to the next, and on the third day, finally put them together. (Besides, they don't have Fibber McGee, The Shadow, and Inner Sanctum to listen to while they do it—unless they pick up the tapes at the Smithsonian!)
Materials
We need to do a better job of sorting out and teaching about the newer materials available. This is particularly true with adhesives and covering materials (finishing systems). We are blessed with some fantastic items that not only vastly speed up the building process, they do an infinitely superior job. But many are incompatible because of chemical makeup or other factors.
Publication of a guide that would provide such information would be valuable.
Competition and change
The hobby/sport is changing—and always will change. Longtime modelers bemoan the fact that "it's not like it was." They are correct—and tomorrow, it won't be like it is today! "You can't go home again" is an oft-used phrase. The Nats is not going to be a hangar full of people grabbing an hour or two of sleep under a building table as they repair or even build their competition models! That disappeared in the '70s.
One arena in our activity that reveals this point very clearly is competition—and it has happened in every venue:
Everything will be fine for a few years and then one individual, one group, one manufacturer will develop a technique or product that is extraordinarily superior. The class will follow that leader, or tolerate it, for a while; then some part of the group will pull back and seek relief from this technological wave. Since it's initially impossible to legislate its demise, we create new events that exclude the new-technology items—at least for a while. We call them entry-level events, but they don't stay that way for long. It doesn't even take a "rule bender" to accomplish this; rather it is the visionary, the craftsman—the true modeler—who creates this. Remember the Indy 500 and Andy Granatelli!
What to do?
If we are not creating new modelers—the business has stagnated as we've been told—if we were faced with extinction, then perhaps a combined industry association/modeler group needs to be convened.
To some degree, this is already occurring. But the problem with the debate is that it follows the old line of thinking. Perhaps the groups need to include individuals and organizations who are cognizant of societal needs and directions. Perhaps it needs to include the ones who got away from us! Perhaps they can provide the answers for those of us in the forest, unable to see the trees!
Youth may be stimulated prior to high school but more often than not they will leave the fold during the college years. Positive experiences early on will bring many of them back in their thirties.
How can increasing ARF sales and diminishing kit sales be moderated or reversed?
Beyond a club program for instruction, would an individual mentor program, one-on-one, be possible?
If individuals are not willing to develop the skills to be "modelers" (fliers and builders), what can we offer to keep them interested and challenged?
How do we keep the competitive arena alive while not stifling ingenuity but also not having it "high-teched" out of existence?
We will all have answers for these issues; however, we must strive to refrain from saying, "If we'd only go back to ----" The unusual today is the ordinary tomorrow! Just two years ago, how many modelers would have guessed that AMA would have issued 71 turbine waivers by now? It's a new world; we have to address it in new ways. It's a challenge.
From newcomer to old-timer—from user to manufacturer—are we up to the task?
News and Views
- Six new YES (Youth Education Stipend) programs have been approved. Lots of good educational programs are happening.
- EAA/AMA Youth Aeromodeling—A happening at Oshkosh the second week of July. Thirty youth, 14–17 years old, will "learn the trade" of aeromodeling.
- The June 7–8 Hobby/Model Expo exposes the general public and teachers in particular to aeromodeling, cars, boats, and kites.
- June—AMA displays and participates in the aeromodeling section at the Technology Students Association Convention in Washington, D.C.
- Third live, interactive program to 50,000 fourth- to seventh-grade students in seven states through Indiana Academy at Ball State University; planned for September or October.
- AMA assists the Smithsonian in the planning of a two-year traveling exhibit called "On Miniature Wings" that will be seen by many thousands in 10–12 museums during 1998–1999.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
