IT’S BEEN AWHILE since MA has
conducted a reader survey. In fact, the last
one was done in 1996, and a lot has happened
in our hobby/sport since then. We
commissioned the highly reputable firm of
Research USA, Inc. to conduct a new survey.
The results are in, and we have had some
time to sit and study the data. There are some
surprises in the results and some predictable
things as well.
The recipients of this survey were
scientifically selected from the MA
circulation list, resulting in 1,000 members to
which the survey was sent. On January 20,
2004, all members chosen were mailed an
alert postcard which informed them of the
survey and asked them for their cooperation.
It must have worked pretty well, because
we received 704 responses to the net effective
mailing of 991 (there were a couple of
undelivered cards, some incomplete
responses, and some responses that were
returned too late for tabulation), for a return
of 71%! That is an excellent response rate.
After much consideration, it was decided
to publish the results of the survey on the
AMA Web site. I strongly encourage you to
go there and spend a good bit of time
studying it to find out who we are, what we
like, and where the hobby/sport appears to be
heading.
There is no way in the space allotted for
this column to discuss everything that we
found to be significant, but a few things
caught our interest that I’d like to pass on.
The survey indicated that there is strong
interest among our readers in the areas of RC
Scale, RC Scale Aerobatics, RC Electrics,
and RC Giants. In fact, the area of Electrics
has shown substantial growth since the last
survey was conducted; interest has grown by
more than 20% since 1996. This is significant
and consistent with the types of articles that
we are receiving from new authors. Most new
construction features that we receive are for
electric-type models.
While I am on the subject of construction,
the survey indicates that approximately 50%
of our readers still prefer to build their own
models from scratch or from kits. This means
that the other half prefers to fly ARFs or
RTFs. This balance of interest is a very good
thing.
Nine of 10 AMA members (91%) who
receive MA consider it to be a “very
valuable” or “somewhat valuable” part of
their AMA membership package. The survey
shows that our members spend more than two
hours reading the magazine each month and
that MA has an average of 1.6 readers per
copy. This shows us that there are some
multiple-member homes out there.
How-to articles, product reviews,
construction articles, and technical articles are
among our readers’ favorites. A large
percentage feel that our product reviews are
“very” or “somewhat” objective, making
them valuable resources for readers in
deciding what products to purchase.
Nearly half of our members visit the MA
Web site regularly, meaning that half do not
take full advantage of the services and
information contained there.
A negative to me was the fact that our
average member’s age is 57.5 years. We are
getting older as a group, and this really points
out the need for all of us to do everything we
can to bring some new, young blood into the
hobby/sport to ensure that it will be around
for many years to come.
The survey indicates that many modelers
are extremely concerned about flying-site
issues and safety. We have addressed the
latter by adding new safety columnist David
Gee. Look for his monthly column starting in
this month’s issue.
The monthly “AMA News” column
“Flying Site Assistance”—which is
alternately authored by Joe Beshar and Wes
De Cou—deals with any and all concerns
about flying-site procurement, development,
and retainment.
MA also publishes occasional “Finding
and Keeping Flying Fields” articles, about
how specific clubs obtain their fields. Perhaps
we should look into publishing more of these.
One thing the survey highlighted was that
93.5% of our members fly RC models. Only
10.9% fly FF, and even fewer—9.5%—fly
CL. We are certainly not going to cease
publishing FF and CL articles, but we need to
Bob Hunt Aeromodeling Editor
There is an abundance
of information in this
survey that may greatly
interest you.
Modeling Spoken Here
Continued on page 188
October 2004 7
1815 South Research Loop
10sig1.QXD 7/23/04 12:26 pm Page 7
A bright spot for us was the fact that
90.5% of our members still prefer to
receive their modeling information from
MA and other print publications, as
opposed to getting it online. Clearly, the
printed-word era is not yet over.
There is an abundance of information
in this survey that may greatly interest
you. It may influence your hobby
purchases or the direction you go in your
modeling. It may help you understand
where the hobby/sport is heading and
why.
MA would like to know what you think
about the information in the survey.
Please take some time to access it on our
Web sitehttp://modelaircraft.org/mag/inde
x.htm—and study it carefully. If you have
a comment to make about the data or
some conclusions we may have missed,
please inform us. We’ll put the best of
those we receive in our “Letters to the
Editor” section.
In closing this month, I’ve decided to go
through the survey to try to get an
abbreviated profile of the average
modeler. (There’s far too much
information in the survey to allow a
detailed profile here.)
He’s (I write “he” because, sadly, only
.4% of our respondents were women) 57.5
years old, receives MA magazine as part
of his membership package, and reads
188 MODEL AVIATION
take a hard look at how much of each we
should be publishing to be completely fair
to the majority of our members. This will
bring lots of comments, I’m sure.
Continued from page 7
Aeromodeling Editor
F A I
MODEL SUPPLY
www.faimodelsupply.com
POLYSPAN, AIRSPAN, LITESPAN,
MICROLITES, MYLAR, TOMY TIMERS
F A I TAN SPORT RUBBER
1⁄4", 3⁄16", 1⁄8", 3⁄32" 1⁄16", .042 THICK
1 lb. box $2350, 10 lb. box $16600 Post Paid (USA).
TAN SUPER SPORT RUBBER
1 lb. box $2700, 10 lb. box $19100 Post Paid (USA).
• Made in U.S.A. •
“Superdog” AFR $22.50, “Hangar Rat” ARTF $25.00,
Bulldog ARF $20.00, electric lighters $6.00. Front
ends, winders, stooges, Books, Czech P30
props, Slick Lube, CROCKETT hooks, “Butterfly”
RTF indoor $20.00, “Super Butterfly” $21.00, huge
bunch of great FF kits, and Zona Saws.
COUPE & WAKEFIELD
PARTS, KITS, RTF
F.A.I. Model Supply
P O Box 366
Sayre, PA 18840-0366
Phone/Fax: 570-882-9873
Basic
Catalog
$3.00
Hi Tech
Catalog
$1.00
each issue for two hours and four minutes.
He feels strongly that the amount of AMA
coverage in MA is about right and that MA
is a valuable part of his membership.
He’s most likely an RC enthusiast with
strong to moderate interest in RC Scale,
Scale Aerobatics, RC Giants, and RC
Electrics. He’s very concerned about
safety and flying-site issues.
He’s been involved with modeling for
26.8 years and goes out to fly his models
5.7 times a month. He builds some models
from scratch and assembles ARF-type
models. He spends $1,039 on modeling
each year, making half of his purchases at
hobby shops and the rest from mail-order
houses or from Web sites.
His modeling reading habits indicate
an interest in new hobby products,
construction articles, event reports, howto
articles, technical features, and articles
for and about beginners. He saves his
issues of MA and other modeling
magazines, and he refers to them often.
This has been the short version. To
find out more, please visit the MA Web
site and study this data carefully.
The survey didn’t show that I can be
reached at (610) 614-1747, that my Email
address is [email protected], or
even that my address is Box 68,
Stockertown PA 18083. See you next
month! MA
Big is Better and Safer too!
The IMAA is an international organization was formed April 10,
1980 to promote non-competitive, educational, safe, relaxed flying
of LARGE radio controlled model aircraft throughout the world.
We are the largest Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) Special
Interest Group and as such, are committed to representing the
interest of our members in AMA related matters.
Members enjoy the privilege of
participation in hundreds of Fly-ins
and Rallies each year – including
IMAA’s own Rally of Giants).
Don’t wait. Join today! For complete
membership details, visit our web site
(www.fly-imaa.org) or give us a call
toll free at – 866 366-4622.
High-Flight,
the publication of the IMAA, is
published quarterly and is sent to
all members. High-Flight is
dedicated to the advancement of
large r/c aircraft by concentrating
on new products, techniques, and
innovations developed through
the activities of IMAA Chapters
and individuals around the world.
10sig6.QXD 7/23/04 9:10 am Page 188
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/10
Page Numbers: 7,188
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/10
Page Numbers: 7,188
IT’S BEEN AWHILE since MA has
conducted a reader survey. In fact, the last
one was done in 1996, and a lot has happened
in our hobby/sport since then. We
commissioned the highly reputable firm of
Research USA, Inc. to conduct a new survey.
The results are in, and we have had some
time to sit and study the data. There are some
surprises in the results and some predictable
things as well.
The recipients of this survey were
scientifically selected from the MA
circulation list, resulting in 1,000 members to
which the survey was sent. On January 20,
2004, all members chosen were mailed an
alert postcard which informed them of the
survey and asked them for their cooperation.
It must have worked pretty well, because
we received 704 responses to the net effective
mailing of 991 (there were a couple of
undelivered cards, some incomplete
responses, and some responses that were
returned too late for tabulation), for a return
of 71%! That is an excellent response rate.
After much consideration, it was decided
to publish the results of the survey on the
AMA Web site. I strongly encourage you to
go there and spend a good bit of time
studying it to find out who we are, what we
like, and where the hobby/sport appears to be
heading.
There is no way in the space allotted for
this column to discuss everything that we
found to be significant, but a few things
caught our interest that I’d like to pass on.
The survey indicated that there is strong
interest among our readers in the areas of RC
Scale, RC Scale Aerobatics, RC Electrics,
and RC Giants. In fact, the area of Electrics
has shown substantial growth since the last
survey was conducted; interest has grown by
more than 20% since 1996. This is significant
and consistent with the types of articles that
we are receiving from new authors. Most new
construction features that we receive are for
electric-type models.
While I am on the subject of construction,
the survey indicates that approximately 50%
of our readers still prefer to build their own
models from scratch or from kits. This means
that the other half prefers to fly ARFs or
RTFs. This balance of interest is a very good
thing.
Nine of 10 AMA members (91%) who
receive MA consider it to be a “very
valuable” or “somewhat valuable” part of
their AMA membership package. The survey
shows that our members spend more than two
hours reading the magazine each month and
that MA has an average of 1.6 readers per
copy. This shows us that there are some
multiple-member homes out there.
How-to articles, product reviews,
construction articles, and technical articles are
among our readers’ favorites. A large
percentage feel that our product reviews are
“very” or “somewhat” objective, making
them valuable resources for readers in
deciding what products to purchase.
Nearly half of our members visit the MA
Web site regularly, meaning that half do not
take full advantage of the services and
information contained there.
A negative to me was the fact that our
average member’s age is 57.5 years. We are
getting older as a group, and this really points
out the need for all of us to do everything we
can to bring some new, young blood into the
hobby/sport to ensure that it will be around
for many years to come.
The survey indicates that many modelers
are extremely concerned about flying-site
issues and safety. We have addressed the
latter by adding new safety columnist David
Gee. Look for his monthly column starting in
this month’s issue.
The monthly “AMA News” column
“Flying Site Assistance”—which is
alternately authored by Joe Beshar and Wes
De Cou—deals with any and all concerns
about flying-site procurement, development,
and retainment.
MA also publishes occasional “Finding
and Keeping Flying Fields” articles, about
how specific clubs obtain their fields. Perhaps
we should look into publishing more of these.
One thing the survey highlighted was that
93.5% of our members fly RC models. Only
10.9% fly FF, and even fewer—9.5%—fly
CL. We are certainly not going to cease
publishing FF and CL articles, but we need to
Bob Hunt Aeromodeling Editor
There is an abundance
of information in this
survey that may greatly
interest you.
Modeling Spoken Here
Continued on page 188
October 2004 7
1815 South Research Loop
10sig1.QXD 7/23/04 12:26 pm Page 7
A bright spot for us was the fact that
90.5% of our members still prefer to
receive their modeling information from
MA and other print publications, as
opposed to getting it online. Clearly, the
printed-word era is not yet over.
There is an abundance of information
in this survey that may greatly interest
you. It may influence your hobby
purchases or the direction you go in your
modeling. It may help you understand
where the hobby/sport is heading and
why.
MA would like to know what you think
about the information in the survey.
Please take some time to access it on our
Web sitehttp://modelaircraft.org/mag/inde
x.htm—and study it carefully. If you have
a comment to make about the data or
some conclusions we may have missed,
please inform us. We’ll put the best of
those we receive in our “Letters to the
Editor” section.
In closing this month, I’ve decided to go
through the survey to try to get an
abbreviated profile of the average
modeler. (There’s far too much
information in the survey to allow a
detailed profile here.)
He’s (I write “he” because, sadly, only
.4% of our respondents were women) 57.5
years old, receives MA magazine as part
of his membership package, and reads
188 MODEL AVIATION
take a hard look at how much of each we
should be publishing to be completely fair
to the majority of our members. This will
bring lots of comments, I’m sure.
Continued from page 7
Aeromodeling Editor
F A I
MODEL SUPPLY
www.faimodelsupply.com
POLYSPAN, AIRSPAN, LITESPAN,
MICROLITES, MYLAR, TOMY TIMERS
F A I TAN SPORT RUBBER
1⁄4", 3⁄16", 1⁄8", 3⁄32" 1⁄16", .042 THICK
1 lb. box $2350, 10 lb. box $16600 Post Paid (USA).
TAN SUPER SPORT RUBBER
1 lb. box $2700, 10 lb. box $19100 Post Paid (USA).
• Made in U.S.A. •
“Superdog” AFR $22.50, “Hangar Rat” ARTF $25.00,
Bulldog ARF $20.00, electric lighters $6.00. Front
ends, winders, stooges, Books, Czech P30
props, Slick Lube, CROCKETT hooks, “Butterfly”
RTF indoor $20.00, “Super Butterfly” $21.00, huge
bunch of great FF kits, and Zona Saws.
COUPE & WAKEFIELD
PARTS, KITS, RTF
F.A.I. Model Supply
P O Box 366
Sayre, PA 18840-0366
Phone/Fax: 570-882-9873
Basic
Catalog
$3.00
Hi Tech
Catalog
$1.00
each issue for two hours and four minutes.
He feels strongly that the amount of AMA
coverage in MA is about right and that MA
is a valuable part of his membership.
He’s most likely an RC enthusiast with
strong to moderate interest in RC Scale,
Scale Aerobatics, RC Giants, and RC
Electrics. He’s very concerned about
safety and flying-site issues.
He’s been involved with modeling for
26.8 years and goes out to fly his models
5.7 times a month. He builds some models
from scratch and assembles ARF-type
models. He spends $1,039 on modeling
each year, making half of his purchases at
hobby shops and the rest from mail-order
houses or from Web sites.
His modeling reading habits indicate
an interest in new hobby products,
construction articles, event reports, howto
articles, technical features, and articles
for and about beginners. He saves his
issues of MA and other modeling
magazines, and he refers to them often.
This has been the short version. To
find out more, please visit the MA Web
site and study this data carefully.
The survey didn’t show that I can be
reached at (610) 614-1747, that my Email
address is [email protected], or
even that my address is Box 68,
Stockertown PA 18083. See you next
month! MA
Big is Better and Safer too!
The IMAA is an international organization was formed April 10,
1980 to promote non-competitive, educational, safe, relaxed flying
of LARGE radio controlled model aircraft throughout the world.
We are the largest Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) Special
Interest Group and as such, are committed to representing the
interest of our members in AMA related matters.
Members enjoy the privilege of
participation in hundreds of Fly-ins
and Rallies each year – including
IMAA’s own Rally of Giants).
Don’t wait. Join today! For complete
membership details, visit our web site
(www.fly-imaa.org) or give us a call
toll free at – 866 366-4622.
High-Flight,
the publication of the IMAA, is
published quarterly and is sent to
all members. High-Flight is
dedicated to the advancement of
large r/c aircraft by concentrating
on new products, techniques, and
innovations developed through
the activities of IMAA Chapters
and individuals around the world.
10sig6.QXD 7/23/04 9:10 am Page 188