Now you're Talking: Soap box
From time to time this section will present thought-provoking ideas on modeling/AMA issues. Timeliness and available space are factors which may affect publication. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as being those of AMA Headquarters staff or the AMA officers.
MODEL AVIATION, June 1996, page 56: "Where are the Juniors?" I have heard this question repeated a thousand times, along with the breast-beating about:
- video games
- complex models
- lack of free time
- no access to the field
- the decline of Western society
- lack of family values
- sunspots
- etc.
With the references to gray angels, retirement, and diminishing ranks, we all know that the hobby of model aviation, along with the participants, is dying off as surely as the passenger pigeon.
Except it just ain't so.
Hard to believe? Well, "conventional wisdom" might be all wrong and I got some numbers to think about.
I am the membership secretary of the Miniature Aircraft Association of Westchester, a radio control club located just north of New York City. Our membership hovers around 200–220. I have been keeping the club membership records since 1993, so I decided to check the numbers. I took the names of the last 100 members who joined. Since Junior members pay reduced dues, our application form asks the age of every new member. We are an open club, and everyone who applied was admitted to club membership.
Between 12/1/93 and 5/1/96 we initiated 100 new members; 21 of these were under 18. Most of the Junior members were between 11 and 14 years old. Only five new members listed themselves as retired.
So? 21% of our new members were under 18. No question, the kids want to fly.
Interesting, sure. But everyone knows a kid joins for a year and is never seen again.
Not in our club. I took the same list: 63 are still members; 14 of those are Juniors. The percentage of Juniors showed a small increase, to 22%.
Now it is getting interesting.
So what's going on here? Is my club any different from the rest? We see old-timers everywhere; the kids are invisible. What's happening behind these numbers?
The fact is, my club is different from many others. Most significantly, we maintain open membership. Everyone, including every interested kid, is admitted into membership. There are at least two other clubs in our area. One club has limited membership (50); the other requires sponsorship and a membership vote to be admitted. With requirements like these, it is easy to see why there are few Junior members.
Do we want Junior members? As an adult, I have been turned away from three different clubs that maintain closed membership. Is it any wonder kids are discouraged?
It seems pretty simple: as long as we turn away prospective members, we won't see many kids. When we open up our clubs and fields, they just might come!
Observations
The most successful aircraft for our new members, regardless of age, is an ARF trainer with these characteristics:
- .40-size engine
- four-channel control
- buddy-box capability
The buddy-box is probably the most important part of this package. The ARF models seem to work out very well—fewer mistakes are made during assembly, and the instructors know the trouble spots. The .40-size airplanes fly longer than electric or 1/2A models, giving lots more stick time every flight. Hand-launched planes are discouraged because they can't give any takeoff training, and they fit poorly into the traffic pattern of our busy field—too much time standing around the runway.
Buying a used trainer is almost always a bad bargain. By the time someone is willing to sell a trainer and engine combo, that airplane is probably at the end of its useful life.
If the parents of the Junior members make a commitment to the hobby, these kids pick up flight skills unbelievably quickly. If a kid gets to the field around four times a month, he is usually soloing in a few months. We have a few new members who have given flight instruction the same year they joined. I'm jealous—it took me a lot longer.
I know all these kids have something to be proud of. I think our club is proud of them, too.
Stephen Scotto 824 Bronx River Rd. Bronxville, NY 10708
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
