Victims or Agents of Change?
I believe that [Bob Hunt’s] capitulation [in the June 2004 "Modeling Spoken Here"] from "... similar feelings to Mr. Cooke’s and D.B. Mathews’ ..." to that viewpoint based upon the factual data presented by Mr. Jay Mealy may be a bit hasty.
Actually, all three points of view are probably firmly based on fact. D.B. Mathews’ account, I suspect, is a comprehensive historical one dating from the 1940s until the present. I believe views expressed by Mr. Cooke cover evolution of participation in model aviation over a similar time period. Both views will generate little controversy among those of us who have lived through this period.
Mr. Mealy presents a view through the prism of the AMA, a view that probably extends over only the last one or two decades. His facts are those facts. I doubt that any of these three views is significantly flawed; it is the context that is different for each.
I believe the AMA became a significant factor in model aviation in the early 1960s. It was viewed until then, and still is viewed by many of us, as being mainly focused on the competition-oriented. I say the early 1960s because until that time I doubt that 50% of those folks building and flying model aircraft joined the AMA. Today, I estimate that 80% or more of those folks building and flying join the AMA. (No facts here — just opinion based on experience.)
My building and flying of models dates from 1944, when I was six. At that time there were four schoolyards where U-Control was flown, and two Free Flight fields, all within a reasonable bike ride from my home in Philadelphia. None of these or similar venues are available there today.
When I was high-school age (1953), the U-Control club I belonged to had exactly one AMA member — one of the two adult supervisors. At that time I knew one other AMA member — a formidable U-Control competitor who was a fellow employee in the hobby shop where I worked part-time. Today it is easier to count the six or so among the fellow modelers I know who are not members of the AMA.
Today in Binghamton, NY, I know of no Control Line sites within a half-hour’s drive. So depending upon one’s sense of history, the AMA membership and flying site "situations" may or may not have changed significantly.
The AMA-chartered RC club I currently belong to has a decent field owned by one of the members. Another nearby AMA-chartered club that welcomes guests shares a private grass-strip airport.
There are two other AMA-chartered club fields in this area. My current favorite site to fly RC or Free Flight welcomes AMA members and nonmembers alike; it is a private grass airstrip airport owned by a nonmember full-scale and model aviation enthusiast. There is still another RC site available in a public park on a noninterference basis with field sports. ("Noninterference basis" means early mornings or all day during the cold-weather months as a practical matter.)
So what is my point? Out of these six flying sites, the AMA is aware of only four. There are significant modeling activities occurring outside the purview of the AMA. So while AMA statistics may present a representative picture, they are probably not a comprehensive one. Also, the further one goes back in history, the less comprehensive the AMA statistics are for the percent-AMA-membership reason offered as opinion above.
What has surely changed significantly since the 1940s is the ever-diminishing opportunity for young and old alike to encounter model aviation in an informal or casual setting that is not a store, exposition, or contest, where initial interest can be nourished through frequent, friendly personal contact.
Mr. Mealy is surely entirely right on one account: we can choose to be either the agents of change to maintain room for model aviation in this world or we can choose to be the victims of change. What it takes is the will.
- Greg Hofmann
- Binghamton, New York
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
