SEN 2510 - The last of the Simplfied Dinosaurs enters Fab Feb and gets ready for the 2019 Champs

  • Print

Table of Contents –SEN 2510

The last of the Simplfied Dinosaurs enters Fab Feb and gets ready for the 2019 Champs

  1. Last of the Dinosaurs ?
  2. Simplify - how and why
  3. Online Entry for Fab Feb 2019
  4. World Champs Prep

Last of the Dinosaurs ?

From: Michael Achterberg

Hi.Our problem in multi fold. But if we want to attract the younger generation we have to appeal to people who may have similar interests. Joggers is a possible market. Also, dirt biker riders. Go to any hobby shop and get asked "how can I help you or what do you fly?"
You say freeflight and More often than not,  the next question is what is that? Getting young people involved is now next to impossible.  No flying sites..How you going to convince a youngster to build a model and then say we only have to travel a couple thousand miles to fly it. That’s a deal breaker. In Europe they have a chance because of shorter travel to get to fly a model. For kids it's all about instant gratification, like video games. Personally, I think it's too late to save. Hell, I heard in one year they closed 50,000 basketball courts in America. So it's not just our passion that is fading away.. In my opinion it is what it is..We are the last of the dinosaurs.

Sad to say, but very true..

Dino
 


Simplify - how and why

From: Klaus Salzer

I would like to comment on Roger's statement that simplifying is an aim of just the "old geezers". With my 76 years I certainly qualify for this group ...

  When I began flying model airplanes we had to BUILD, no chance to buy. Through building we learned ... through flying the result of our work we learned more. Wanting to be better we "innovated".

  I fully agree that todays young people still want to create / build. But should we convince them to go into free flight model airplanes? In the US you are lucky to still have some wide open areas needed for free flight, and you still have some "simple" classes. Still - have them look at a big contest: Most - if not all - top flyers use more or less identical BOUGHT airplanes. The average youth will not be able to recognize the few "own" designs, the overall simularity will drown this out. Instant frustration if he/she hears about the cost ... not only of the planes, but also the auxiliary equipment and travel.

  So where do you expect innovation to come from? Those who create those high performance planes they sell have no interest to "rock the boat".

  Actually the only FAI free flight class to fit this is F1E which more or less has mostly "Flying" rules, nearly no size or weight limits. You see quite different designs there, building for extreme conditions (no wind / strong wind) makes it necessary to have variations. (even if there are "Buyplanes" used).

  To sum it up: If we want "innovators" to join our hobby we need to give them a field to work in. Not rules which only allow the most sophisticated "buy-tech" to have a chance for success.
  Try to keep our hobby alive!

  Klaus

Online Entry for Fab Feb 2019

The online entry form got Fab Feb 2019 is now available. Note that the official CIAM World Cup Calendar has not come out yet. The CIAM meeting is at the beginning of December, but no issues are anticipated.

All people flying in the FAI event should enter on line. Your entry will be taken and you will be given a summary of the charges. You do not pay until you arrive a Lost Hills. Most people will pay on 8 February, the Friday before the week’s flying starts but if you arrive later you still pay and take part in the contest. There can be up to 200 entries and it is just not possible to take care of everything before the first round of the Kiwi Cup. The AMA safety sheet and other forms are pre-printed ready for you so you do not have to write anything out and just need to sign them.

https://goo.gl/forms/6Alq4pz827eNomdn1

Online entry is not taken for the AMA events that are part of the Ike.


World Champs Prep

The preparation for the 2019 World Champs is underway. In a recent SEN we gave information about what you need to do to get “an official invitation” if you come from a country that needs a visa to visit the USA. If you are in that category you need to get the visa application under way was soon as possible. That is part of your World Champs prep. That information together with other informal information about the event is collected at :
http://sen.faifreeflight.org/index.php/2019-world-free-flight-champs-at-lost-hills