New Comers
IT'S TRULY AMAZING to have lived this long and find out that "once a month" comes more than twelve times a year. At least it sure seems that way when it comes to writing a column! Throw in a bunch of mail, a trade show or three, and bingo! another one is due. You will find a new feature this month called "Help Wanted." I will place requests for information in this space in an effort to help NewComers locate some specific help we're not able to generate from this end. If you can help, please do so, and copy this column with your responses so we can keep them on file. Every answer has a hundred questions and they are usually spaced in such a way that you can't remember exactly when you provided it the last time!
Salute to Newcomers
Satisfying the needs of the newcomer to the world of aeromodeling is an exciting and frustrating challenge. The phrase "eight to 80" sums up the thrust of that challenge. Indeed, we find that all ages are drawn to aeromodeling-bringing with them skill levels ranging from little to extensive!
NewComers
MODELING IS LIKE every other activity that involves technically oriented products: The breed undergoes continuous evolution and refinement. Not only do we find new approaches, but older, established methods are tweaked to make them better. Sometimes "better" is just a tad, but ten tads over a few years adds up to a great glob! (Those are, of course, technical terms!) An excellent example is propulsion units-engines or motors-whatever is used to make our powered models fly by providing thrust. The most recent addition to the power mode is the true jet engine. At several thousand dollars a pop, and its level of sophistication, it's not a NewComer issue, but it illustrates the point regarding development.
NewComers
EARLY IN THE LIFE of this column, we addressed some suggested club activities concerning NewComers and youth. Experience in providing information for the aeromodeling public suggests that items of this nature need to be revisited from time to time, due to the significant turnover in membership and the fact that ideas are only relevant at certain times for clubs and individuals. Individuals who band together for some common purpose sometimes try to maintain a very loose organizational structure. Generally, however, the group so disposed finds it difficult to maintain focus, for a variety of reasons. If the common purpose is to simply obtain and maintain a flying site, it will be difficult to limit the activity to only flying and cutting grass! It's true that early on, the acquisition and development of the site will be the adhesive that binds the group. But at some point, as the field needs stabilize, this will cease to be a binding factor.
NewComers
THIS MONTH'S OFFERING comes under the heading of "Been there-done that!" While many people work diligently at hiding (or attempting to hide) their mistakes, I have a perverse tendency to let the world know about mine. I'm certain that Sigmund Freud had something to say about that trait, and modern psychiatry would probably attribute the condition to some oblique comment my mother made on my third birthday! However, in the paraphrased words of a Gone With the Wind character, "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a darn!"
