A FRIEND of my son’s recently shared
with him that he had seen some RC
airplanes on television and thought they
were “great.” He expressed an interest in
having one. My son said, “You should talk
to my dad,” so we arranged a meeting to
show him my airplanes.
After talking with him, I asked if he
thought he would like to build an airplane.
His response was, “Yes, someday, but I
thought we would go buy one today and I
would fly it before dark.” He is 55 years
old and instant gratification reigns
supreme.
He purchased a complete package with
an electric airplane, radio, and charger and
flew it successfully—alone I might add. He
has now experienced a crash but it is
repairable. He is really interested—hooked
might be a better word—on the sport.
My son’s friend is typical of what the
beginning modeler wants these days and
the industry is producing more of these
“packages” in answer to that trend.
As modelers, we should always be
willing to offer encouragement to
beginners. Friendships that develop out of
modeling are priceless.
You can find the audit report on the AMA
Web site and I will begin running pages of
it in this column for those of you who don’t
use a computer.
Food for thought: People don’t
overachieve, they just underestimate.
ABC: Always Be Courteous. Until later ...
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/08
Page Numbers: 153
