[OLD PRAIRIE RED NECK]

I just came back from the Sylvan Lake CARFF annual auction. It's been a few years since I attended and the thing that struck me like a ton of bricks was to look over the crowd and realize that I was looking at a sea of grey heads!

I looked around several times during the event and at no time could I count more than a half a dozen young people! Oh! Wow! That one sure snuck up on me!

Has society and we as parents raised a whole generation of offspring that are so shallow that they are content to sit on their butts and be entertained for hours by a bunch of electrons that appear and disappear with a flick of a switch?

Happy with something that is gone for ever in under a millisecond?

Content with no lasting substance?

No desire to develop skills or experience the pride that comes from holding something that "I" personally brought into being?

I think somehow we have failed the next generation guys!

[Max]

I noticed that when I was a kid in the 70's. Nothing has changed.

Over the years, I have noticed a lot of young modellers tend to "disappear" in their middle years.
Chasing girlfriends, getting married, raising a family, working to forward their careers. Seems like RC is one area that people drop in their middle years when time is scarce.
Older folks come back to the hobby when the kids are gone, the house is empty and more free time is available.

[cf-drg]

I know what you mean... I am one of the young whipper snappers at the events I go to.. I'm the "young guy" at 47... We see what Max said at our field, so far all the "new" members are retirees.. I don't think the hobby will ever die off. That said i think building may do just that..

[bbbair]

I think that you are BOTH right.

#1 Kids have different interests today and modelling is falling victim to 'Other' interests - it's called 'Evolution'

#2 This is a Hobby - something to fill you 'Spare' time. Which as a young person you have very little of. Also - it is NOT a cheap hobby! It takes time, Space and MONEY! All of these things are in short supply for 'Young people'.

So; what can we do??

Take your grand children to the field, host public events, be NICE to visitors and expose more people to the hobby. We will get people coming back as time and money permits.

But make no doubt about it... RC Modeling is competing with EVERYTHING from Hockey to Camping as well as Fishing to Video Games.

There are just so many choices out there today...

[Fly North]

Yep I admit it ! My kids are full on computer geeks ! They have cell phones , Lap tops , Tablets and multiple game consoles. That being said my daughter is 16 and my son is 21 and they both have lots of other interests besides electronics . My Daughter has hundreds of hours in volunteer work with several organizations and has a great love of music. My son is going to college and has a girlfriend helps to run Yugioh (SP?) tournaments . They both still love to camp, hike and kayak with us and we started that when they were small to get them away from all that electronic hardware. I am not a great fan of computers but it is a huge part of their lives and will be in their future jobs.
As for money they have very little spare like most young people so a hobby for them has to be some thing that's not expensive. I know they have an interest in RC but I can`t see them being involved for a long time .
I had an interest in RC flying for years but never had the time or money for it with my other hobbies but I have become involved over the last few years. Started with a Hobby Zone super cub and now I am building and really enjoying that part of the hobby. I have several friends my age that have just become involved in different types of RC and I they all had wanted to but never had the time or money. I was at a local auction yesterday and was invited out to the local flying field that I have never been to . That was good thinking by that member and I will go out as soon as the weather cooperates and see what is going on. Some of us are out there and just a need a little push to get going .

[cman]

I had grey hair when I was 16.............

[ChristopherB]

Originally Posted by cman

I had grey hair when I was 16.............

I was born with grey hair, and hair on my chest!

[fledermaus]

I only started in RC when I was 44 years old (I'm now 53) but I was building Guillow's kits starting when I was about 9 and began experimenting (not very successfully) with control-line when I was in my early teens. Even then, I was the only kid I knew who really cared about airplanes and definitely the only one who built wooden models of anything.

Back then RC was proportionally more expensive than it is today, and more complex to implement. So I kind of gave up on models for quite awhile. Like others have said, life gets in the way of hobbies...

But I think there is something else going on nowadays. Flying just isn't perceived as exciting and romantic anymore. To me, flying was associated with images of Spitfires wheeling over London, or huge formations of bombers battling their way across Europe. I had relatives who flew in WW2, and these men were giants in my young imagination. But how do kids today experience aviation? Vaguely ominous security screening, waiting in a departure lounge for hours, crammed into economy class seats, more waiting, and then a trip that is almost completely disconnected from the amazing fact that people are actually moving through the skies.

To a young person today, flying is about as exciting as taking a bus trip. And I guess in a way that's how it should be. We wouldn't want "exciting" flights to our holidays. But what is there to capture young imaginations?

[williame3590]

Originally Posted by fledermaus

I only started in RC when I was 44 years old (I'm now 53) but I was building Guillow's kits starting when I was about 9 and began experimenting (not very successfully) with control-line when I was in my early teens. Even then, I was the only kid I knew who really cared about airplanes and definitely the only one who built wooden models of anything.

Back then RC was proportionally more expensive than it is today, and more complex to implement. So I kind of gave up on models for quite awhile. Like others have said, life gets in the way of hobbies...

But I think there is something else going on nowadays. Flying just isn't perceived as exciting and romantic anymore. To me, flying was associated with images of Spitfires wheeling over London, or huge formations of bombers battling their way across Europe. I had relatives who flew in WW2, and these men were giants in my young imagination. But how do kids today experience aviation? Vaguely ominous security screening, waiting in a departure lounge for hours, crammed into economy class seats, more waiting, and then a trip that is almost completely disconnected from the amazing fact that people are actually moving through the skies.

To a young person today, flying is about as exciting as taking a bus trip. And I guess in a way that's how it should be. We wouldn't want "exciting" flights to our holidays. But what is there to capture young imaginations?

Very good!

Bill

[cman]

Good Points. I always wondered why we had dog parks bike parks skate board parks, but cannot fly and rc plane in parks in some cities. has anyone ever proposed this?

A skateboard park with ramps and half pipes, has huge liability in my opion compared to my my micro park fliers. but that is just me. maybe I need to vote