Re: Re: The Problems with Indoor FF

From: Bill Gowen <b.gowen_at_comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2009 12:45:21 -0400

I have much respect for Mr. Barker and his many accomplishments, but I think this assessment is unnecessarily gloomy. While we do lose members of the community every year there is also a significant percentage of the community that is in their middle years and another significant percentage who are YOUNG. Maybe the numbers of those people are shrinking but they are still present and enthusiastic about the sport. New faces do appear each year. Not all of them will stick but some will. I don't think we need to throw in the towel and say that we are the end of the line for FF in general or indoor FF in particular.

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: John Barker
  To: Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 12:26 PM
  Subject: RE: [Indoor_Construction] Re: The Problems with Indoor FF






  Just for a few minutes wake up and have a check on reality. Our generation is dying off and our hobby of Free Flight, Indoor and Outdoor, is dying with us. Modern medicine, hearing aids, glasses, joint replacements and such like allow us to keep on with our hobby just a little longer but not for much longer. World wide the flying sites get fewer and fewer and the difficulty of travelling to them gets greater. However I think we have little reason to complain; we have lived though interesting times and have had a wonderfully hobby that suited those times so well. It was the exciting era of the aeroplane. We grew up with stories of the pioneers, we built models and many of us became a part of the aircraft industry. We've had a great time.



  Today the aeroplane is no longer exciting, at best just part of the transport system and at worst, with the influence of the green lobby, an object of hate. Now I know that our hobby is much more than just being interested in aeroplanes but please be objective for a moment and acknowledge that the generations following ours do not want to take up Free Flight as a hobby - you will be much happier once you do accept it. Don't bother to quote the insignificant few who do try Free Flight, they don't come near to matching the rate at which we are dying off.



  Once you accept these facts (and I can't find a shred of evidence that they are not facts) then we can stop wasting time on recruitment drives and special designs for non-existent beginners and start doing something about improving things for the people who really matter - us.



  John Barker - England




  
Received on Fri Jun 05 2009 - 09:45:39 CEST