Re: The Problems with Indoor FF

From: soslipstream <parkreation_at_msn.com>
Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:55:10 -0000

John Barker,

Though what you have said certainly rings with some truth. It's a little to fatal for me. If anything, NATS may have missed the boat by not running any SO flying. SO had their Nats just a couple of weeks ago a few hours away in Augusta, GA and just Wright Stuff alone had 120 kids flying and 4x that as spectators. Granted like USIC, these represent people from all over the US but they are absolutely competitive and driven to win. A 7 gram airplane on 1.5 grams flies 3 minutes in a 25' ceiling. Not bad for a 7th grader. Yet they still do not know about AMA/FAI/NFFS flying.

Make room for these kids and their families, give them a reason(s) to continue flying and the ranks will grow. We all have reasons to continue but we know we have to think out of the box whose sides are falling in on us. BTW, layers of red tape and dues with little activity is a deterent for new blood. Can't we streamline the opportunities?

National Scholarship dollars is a healthy incentive. Other minor "prizes" for bragging rights keeps the pump primed. If we want to get out from under, then we must identify and reward those that step back from the building table and learn the art of grant writing, fundraising, partnering with organizations, universities and industries that can benefit the skill types and professionals that indoor freeflight attracts.

The world changes and what kills indoor freeflight is the lack of direction as the demographics change. Watching and waiting for extinction is not for me. Anyone want to get some backbone and secure the future?

Tom Sanders
SO Wright Stuff National Supervisor

--- In Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com, "John Barker" <john.barker783@...> wrote:
>
> 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 - 19:55:24 CEST