President’s Perspective - 2001/03
The other day, a friend asked me what I thought model aviation contributed to our society as a whole. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to try to put my thoughts on paper.
As most would guess, aeromodeling has been a major influence in my life since I was a youngster, and I have seen the effect it has had on many lives in the ensuing years.
Why people are attracted to aeromodeling
What attracts people to aeromodeling is as different as the people it attracts. Obviously, the thing that interests most of us, regardless of age, is that we perceive it as fun; it's something we think we will enjoy.
If you were to ask most aeromodelers why they find the sport so interesting, they would have a hard time verbalizing an answer. But if you asked them what they have learned from their activity in the sport, they could talk for hours. If you asked them to assess aeromodeling in just one word, I suspect "challenging" would be a fairly common answer.
I do not think many would use the term "educational" as their primary description, yet the vast majority would agree that the lessons they have learned from aeromodeling have enriched their lives in many ways. Youngsters and seniors alike are drawn to the challenges of the hobby, and the lessons they learn improve the lives of many people around them.
Intergenerational participation
One of the unique aspects of aeromodeling as a sport is that age is neither a barrier nor a prerequisite for participation at all levels. During my time as AMA president, I have seen the United States send teams representing the AMA to World Championships with people ranging from teens to septuagenarians, and I've seen both extremes come home with medals. Can you think of any other sport in which this is common?
The major beneficiary of this exchange of ideas, knowledge, and enthusiasm is our society as a whole.
Broader societal benefits
Many accomplishments in the field of aerospace are the direct result of aeromodeling, but accomplishments in other areas probably have a greater effect. Examples include:
- Prosthetics: It's amazing to see how many people in the area of prosthetics have been involved in aeromodeling; many innovations are adaptations of ideas that come from an aeromodeling background.
- Early personal computing: Few people realize how intertwined the early days of the personal computer were with aeromodeling. The granddaddy of personal computers was made by a company that manufactured aeromodeling equipment, and the first retail computer store was in the corner of a well-known New York hobby shop.
- Hollywood and the military: Both depend on a talented group of people for special effects and simulations, and a substantial number of those with the necessary skills come from the ranks of aeromodelers.
- Professional careers: Even those who have acquired professional knowledge through a college education find that the skills they learned through aeromodeling have been beneficial in their professional lives.
- Rehabilitation and medical recognition: My daughter, an occupational therapist, has used aeromodeling as a rehabilitation tool for patients. Another friend was dying from an unknown ailment until a doctor who was an aeromodeler recognized the rare material to which he was having an allergic reaction.
Aeromodeling is a great, little-known resource that benefits all of our society.
’Til next month. MA
Dave Brown AMA president dbrown@dbproducts.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
