Newcomers
It lasted a week! The opening day was Wednesday, July 29, and it closed (kinda) on Tuesday, August 4. I'm referring to the 1998 EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) Convention at Oshkosh WI. This isn't a report on a show! I don't know how you could report on this one. Almost 900,000 people pass through the gates or over the runway threshold; some 15,000 airplanes plug into spaces in Oshkosh, Appleton, and Fond du Lac WI; more than 70,000 people camp out; and you get to see aircraft ranging from a Cub to a Concorde.
Newcomers
There's a reason that it happens! At the risk of seeming cynical or philosophical, I'll start this month's offering with a plea: Read the directions! Did you catch that? Read the doggone directions! The problem is simple: Because of the way society has evolved, we are besieged and bewildered by a blitz of printed matter. Every box containing a product drips, not only with instructions for the item's use, but copious warnings regarding its misuse. Ours has evolved into a litigious society, dedicated to the premise that responsibility belongs to the other person. Thus the manufacturer is forced to attempt to warn us of every conceivable contingency. Symbols, bold print, colors-all are used to emphasize these issues! As a society, we have become desensitized to the point that the first thing shuffled off to the side is this material, which includes the instructions we really need.
Newcomers
"Let's get this straight!" No, this isn't a lecture on why you should accept my way of thinking, or that you are out in left field with your thinking! Rather, it is a set of suggestions on how to get things built straight. So you've moved into the kit-building era of your newcomer program. You probably came home with a large box (or maybe small), opened it up, and found a zillion pieces of balsa, fittings, and "stuff!" Fortunately, you were smart enough to choose a kit that contains an excellent set of plans and illustrated step-by-step instructions, right?
Newcomers
One of the "things" (a cousin of "stuff") that has a profound effect on our lives is the computer. If nothing else, society has figured out how to construct a device that is obsolete about 38 minutes after you plug it in! Computers have found a place in our hobby/sport; some of the more esoteric uses include things such as CAD (Computer-Aided Drafting) aircraft design, but a popular use of the computer is as a training device so that you can "fly" in the comfort of your home. In the last couple of years, these simulators have gotten pretty sophisticated. You are able to call up dozens of situations, model aircraft, and weather conditions. The "transmitters" have morphed into copies of those used at the local flying site. The feel is there, the movement is there - what more could a person want, than to learn to fly without risk?
Newcomers
It's hard to believe, but this column has wandered through Model Aviation since October 1994! During that span of time, it has undergone transformations-some good, some confusing, and some that didn't work! The column became a two-headed being following September 1995, after I stepped down as Technical Director. My proposal for the establishment of an Education Committee was accepted, and I began serving as part-time Education Director. Subsequently, a little more than a year ago the Newcomers column went back to basics; it became clear that the education activity had overrun a part-time position, and a full-time Education Coordinator was hired.
