We all know that in order to keep our hobby alive we have to bring new life into the group. One way my club does that is to have a buddy box day. Each member of the club brings a trainer plane (if they have one) that can be connected to a buddy box. We make the announcement in the local newspaper or at events that some members of our club are attending. This year, just a week before we put on an RC demonstration at a local airshow and made the announcement about buddy box day there. This produced a rather large turnout of newcomers who wanted to try their hand at flying an RC plane.
We would like to find out how your club attracts new pilots—what programs do you have in place? Click on the link below to leave a comment on what events or programs your club does to get new recruits. We could all learn new and better ways to get new blood into the hobby.
A couple of the area schools (with a nice BIG gymnasium!) through local hobby shops have incorporated “flying clubs” to the school agenda. The club is comprised of students interested (what child wouldn’t?) in RC and flight in general. The gym is offered to the students (and us OLDER fans) one night a week from 6pm to 9pm where we share ideas and skills with each other. We non students pay $5 a night for the privileged of which 100% goes to the students fund (in case they need parts). It’s a win win for the students, the hobby shop, and us OLDER pilots, and a great way to stay in the air for the winter months. Vapors, Embers, just about ALL micros and some slow flyers do just fine along with a variety of helis from mini coaxial to 600 size have flown inside (no wind!) This sort of thing is gathering more attention and new sites as we enter into winter 2012.