District VIII
Contact
Jim Rice, District VIII Vice President Email: [email protected]
States served:
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Texas
The economy has slowed many of our activities, but most of us are still finding ways to enjoy our hobby. I have seen numerous people at swap meets, and not everyone is selling—many are out looking for good deals to help make their hobby easier on the budget. I recall the early 1970s when I had a wife, two kids, two car payments, and there were lines at the gas stations. I ended up building airplanes for people to earn the money to enjoy my own hobby. I thought I might share some ideas that could help you stretch your hobby dollar or even make a buck to spend.
Check with your local hobby shop and see if they have people wanting airplanes built or rebuilt. Not everyone is feeling the pinch, and there may be some money there.
The store might even need help assembling ARFs for display or other work to keep the shop afloat. There could be a chance to barter or get a reduced price on your purchases. You might even sell some items on consignment in the shop to get that new whatchamacallit.
Use some of your stored covering to spruce up an old model so that it looks and feels like a new airplane. Take the time to rebuild a crash that you thought was a goner. It just might be your next "Flight of the Phoenix." Usually crashes don't look nearly as bad a week or month later.
If you are an RC pilot, get out your old CL stuff, rekindle an old friendship, and really "feel" your airplane when you fly it. I have even recently gone back to building some rubber-powered airplanes that take time and patience, but not nearly as much money as my other projects.
If you are an RCer and you specialize in ARFs, try building from a kit. It doesn't really save you any money, but you can spread the cost of the airplane across several weeks or months. You might be surprised how much you enjoy it and what a thrill it is to fly something that you built.
I had a friend in El Paso during the '70s who stood by the trash at the field and took home parts of crashed airplanes and brought back flying machines that were made from three or four other people's crashes. They weren't particularly attractive, but I must admit they flew pretty well.
Be sure to put all your efforts into the AMA Membership Drive "Bringing Modelers Together" Challenge.
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the flightline.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
