President's Perspective - 2009/03

any of our clubs have outreach
programs designed to introduce
model aviation to people in
their local communities. The majority of
these programs are designed to attract
young children and teenagers through
organizations such as Scouting, Civil Air
Patrol, and local parks and recreational
programs.
Although this effort works well for
many of us, there might be opportunities
to reach other age demographics that we
may not have considered. I received an
interesting letter from AMA member
Robert Clark. With his permission, I’d
like to share parts of it with you.
“In view of the concern that we all
share about the future of model aviation,
I thought that you might find my recent
successful model aviation recruitment
experiences to be of interest.
“For a number of years, I have served
as a club trainer and have greatly enjoyed
the opportunities that I have had to share
flying with youth groups such as the Boy
Scouts. However, it has always been
frustrating to me that the percentage of
youth who find the RC flying experience
exciting, but then actually pursue an
active interest in modeling is very small.
I suspect that much of the reason for this
is the additional need for a supportive
adult to provide the assistance required to
successfully pursue the hobby.
“Last year I decided to try something
new, focusing on a somewhat more
accessible age group—senior citizens.
My experience confirms that it is indeed
a very successful method for attracting
‘new’ modelers and may provide an even
more effective method for reaching youth
(something called grandfathering). An
obvious advantage is that almost all
current senior citizens were once active
modelers in their youth and just need
some help to return to the hobby. So, I
contacted the director of the local senior
President’s Perspective
AMA President Dave Mathewson
M
center and offered to speak to any
interested seniors.
“The director was immediately
enthusiastic about the suggestion. She
scheduled a meeting time with one of the
existing groups (the ‘computer group’)
and asked me to write up an
announcement to include in the monthly
newsletter. When I asked how many we
might expect, she said about 5 or 6
usually attended their monthly meetings.
“When the actual afternoon of the
meeting arrived, we were stunned to
discover 15 enthusiastic seniors in
attendance. What an experience. We
found that without exception all had
enjoyed model aviation in their youth
and just wanted to know how to get
started again. Most of that afternoon we
talked about new developments such as
electric park flying and the new
technologies, which have made this part
of the hobby both accessible and
affordable.
“We offered free flying lessons to
anyone interested and at last count, 3
have soloed. More are expected to
follow. We also helped the center obtain
a flight simulator system for the
computer room which is used on a
regular basis.
“The most satisfying aspect of all this
has been hearing those who have
become involved, express their feelings
that they can hardly wait to share the
excitement of model aviation with their
grandchildren. This could very well
provide the missing element of our
previous efforts to attract youth to
modeling by guaranteeing the existence
of the needed supportive adult for the
full involvement of youth in the hobby.
“I think that the real beauty of this
approach to recruitment is that there are
undoubtedly thousands of other seniors
across the nation just waiting for the
help necessary to return to the joy of
model aviation that they enjoyed so
much in their youth. They don’t need to
be sold on the idea; they just need some
help to return.”
This is an outstanding concept that
obviously has had excellent results for
Robert, and I suspect may also work
well for many of our other clubs. The
“grandfathering” idea presents a real
opportunity for us to introduce more
young people to model aviation through
their grandparents. Why not give some
thought to incorporating Robert’s ideas
into your club’s outreach programs?
While we were at the AMA Expo in
Ontario, California, my wife and I had
an opportunity, along with AMA All-
Star Nick Maxwell and AMA District III
Vice President Bob Brown, to visit one
of the local children’s hospitals.
As you know, the hospital becomes a
home away from home for many
seriously ill children. Hospital
administrators are always looking for
something that will appeal to their
patients and help take their minds off of
their illnesses and help eliminate what
can become the daily boredom of
restricted activities.
The afternoon we visited, we were
greeted by kids ranging from
approximately 5 years old to early teens.
While we handed out AMA activity
books and pilots’ wings, Nick put on a
number of flying demonstrations.
The looks on the faces of the children
and the questions they asked made it
clear that they really enjoyed our visit.
Frankly, it made all of us feel good as
well for being able to do a little
something that put a smile on the faces
of these kids.
Many local communities have
children’s hospitals and, like the one in
Ontario, I’m sure they are always
looking for something to brighten the
days of their patients. A call and an offer
to visit will probably get you a chance to
experience what we did. The results
were well worth the effort. MA
See you next time …
The results were well worth the effort.
March 2009 5
Dave Mathewson
AMA president
[email protected]
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