Parents Will Bring the Young Fliers
Jim Cherry’s column in the August 2007
issue of MA asked the perennial question, “How
do we attract new youth members?” I am an adult
Scouter and the Boy Scouts ask the same
question. Here are a few of my thoughts on youth
membership:
Kids today have way too many activity
choices. So any activity wanting to succeed must
somehow make itself appear more fun and
satisfying than the others. The first caution is not
to oversell. If a kid comes along and then isn’t
“wowed” as promised, they will leave to do
something else.
Typically, kids have short attention spans, so
it’s important that they gain a vision quickly of
themselves as successful pilots. It is this vision
that keeps modeling in the positive activities file
of their brains.
I have watched model airplanes move from an “any kid can do it” hobby to a complex
and formidable hobby. We don’t let kids drive cars at age 6 because they can’t handle
responsibilities of driving at that age. They probably can’t handle multi-channel RC flying
either. So the complex modeling can be put in their ‘”vision” while they learn their way up
to that level.
The best promoters of any activity are the kids themselves. They can’t resist telling their
friends about how they are having fun, and that will sell other kids better than an army of
geezers. Kids aren’t interested in politics or squabbling adults—only fun and satisfaction.
If we expect kids to stay with aeromodeling, then we have to get parental involvement;
the Boy Scouts has proven this. The first to hear about how much fun a kid is having are the
parents.
If the parents are out of the loop the kid won’t get any encouragement at home, and
parental encouragement is essential for both validation of the activity and to help kids get
through the difficult times, as when the airplane crashes or a building project isn’t going as
planned.
Kids are at the start of life’s many avenues and can be puzzled at any moment, and
that’s when they need to be restarted by their parents. I understand that not all kids have
happy homes, but to begin recruiting with the best prospects will build a base that can
absorb the difficult cases later.
The slogan should be “Get ’em Flying”—once hooked they can be led to the rest of the
game. The Boy Scouts is basically a stepwise trail of increasingly more difficult challenges.
As a boy conquers one challenge he is preparing himself for the next. Gradually he not only
learns what each challenge teaches him, he learns how to approach challenges. Success
builds confidence and confidence yields self esteem.
The Delta Dart program is a good starter, but it needs the next step once the hook is set.
I’ve been an AMA member since 1959, though I’ve not flown since 1973. I do attend the
occasional contest, and one thing I see is dads shooing their kids away while they have the
fun of flying. If the kids aren’t allowed to be there with dad, they aren’t likely to think of
model airplanes as fun.
Kids will join in with model airplanes if the hobby looks friendly and within their realm
of possibility. They need to have a little success right at the beginning and be validated as
capable by parents and friends. Then they will stay.
Nic Hallett
Coupeville, Washington
SPA Follow-Up
Bravo for the article in the July ’07 issue on the S.P.A. [“A New Look at Vintage
Aerobatics”]. I lived through the whole thing, even knew Joe Bridi and some others
personally.
I’m very interested in that kind of flying, now that I’m retired and have more time
for it. Keep it coming!
Bob Slater
via E-mail
I enjoyed [Duane Wilson’s] article in the July 2007 issue of Model Aviation “A New
Look at Vintage Aerobatics.” However, after reflecting on the article I came to the
Aero Mail
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10sig1.QXD 8/22/07 12:21 PM Page 7
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/10
Page Numbers: 7