Okay, I got you. I am sorry if this is not quite what it seems but if you take the time to read it there just might be some good ideas in it for you.
     Getting kids into a club has many pit falls, but they can be over come with a different approach.
EVERY CLUB SHOULD HAVE A PROGRAM LIKE THIS
WHEN I SAY HE I ALSO MEAN SHE
FIRST TRAINING SESSIONS
     Do not take a plane out for kids to try out unless they are available at the local hobby store. Example would be a Cox PT-19, if the youngster enjoys it and wants one you have to tell him that he can't yet one. Then you wind up describing the planes that he might be able to get.
    Know what your local hobby store might have in stock, suggest to them what you want them to carry and train with a plane that they carry.
    once you have a youngster interested assign a mentor to assist him in building and flying his first planes. The mentor should be in contact with the youngsters parents and encourage them to join in.

CLUB MEETINGS
     Everyone MUST behave as the gentlemen that we know you are. The mentor should stay with the youngster to be sure that he knows what is going on, behaves well and meets everyone else in the club. The parents should be encourage to join in too. If there is more than one youngster they should be encouraged to meet in a separate area.

FLYING CIRCLES
     The mentor should accompany the youngster to the flying site until he is comfortable with other club members and knows all of the flight circle rules. He should assist him in starting and flying his model. If there a several kids involved then they might be given a separate flying date or time.

AIRPLANE AND ENGINE
     ALL beginners should start with a .049 engine and a simple trainer. They should learn to start the engine by hand and tune it by ear. Flying a .049 will teach what to do if the lines go slack, when to do stunts by wind direction and will not scare him off by BIG TICKET ITEMS. Remember, this is how you started.

Larry

Hi Larry

      You know I love your planes but our club has found a little different situation with todays youth.  We just had two new members make their first solo fights at Brodaks this year and we take club trainers to almost everything we fly at to allow interested youngsters to give it a try.  I would be more inclined to want to use something like your Tenderfoot with a .15 for a trainer though.   We find the 1/2A planes fly close in and faster than the trainer can handle to assist a newby, also they don't get a good feel of the plane with a 1/2A.  When most of us started there weren't a lot of distractions like the computor games competing for time and any plane got you excited a bit.  Our two new members (12 and 13) made their first flights alone on Mike Danfords CG Shoestring with a Fox .35 running real rich.  We also have a couple of dual-control handles to use when needed and at least four members of the club maintain an intro-pilot AMA liscense just to be safe.  So, my vote would be to use a solid wing profile, .15 - .19,  24 - 30 In., and 52' or more line........

Dalton H.

Hi Larry

     Good thoughts but still they will learn easier and the mentor be able to help easier with the large plane further away from them plus consider your Tenderfoot,  not real expensive,  readily available, 15 size engines are very available as cheap as Cox .049s, a flyer is going to need a flight box for either and batteries.   You have me on the fuel tank and more costly lines but I think getting an honest feel of the plane is possibly worth it.   We do incourage new flyers to build 1/2A and scheduel some 1/2A only events to get them some experience in that area also.   We sponsor a Coxburg race now and them (Foxburg with a Baby Bee) which has been a neat thing for old and new flyers.
      In the interests of safety, we tend to try to get people flying first, teach engine starting after.

Dalton

Thanks Larry,,,   I know everyone has their own likes and dislikes on things like this.   You do great work,  I have to get out to  Maxwell's to pick up my Stunt Rocket this week.  I'm looking forward to seeing it.


Dalton

Dalton, you said a .15 engine could be had as cheaply as a Cox .049.  Yo9u know the Xena floks in Canada are selling the Sure-start .049 for, I think, $11.  Unless you're thinking Ebay I don't know how you could match that. Also the 1/2A kits typically run $20-$30 for nice flying planes.  35' lines, 42' even, keeps lap times reasonable.  Best, 6-or 8-ounce 1/2As tend to bounce...first crash doesn't necessarily end the day.

My vote goes to...Blackhawk Models!  But, any approach is better than no approach, right?  Whatever works.  Good for you both.

I think what Larry is trying to do is to somewhat standardize the learning process to its simplest form and cost initially.

I like this thinking.
It does not mean anyone else is wrong at all.

I myself have been toying with a design idea for a modular plane where the cost but for the hardware would be nearly nothing.
I was inspired to think this way from Jim Walker's Firebaby. Break a wing? replace it. The fin could be made of cheap styrofoam dinnerware as well as the elevator.

The hobby shops would stock the Firebaby parts but in this case it might fall into a club member's hands. Later a LHS might be persuaded to stock them... I have big ideas regarding this project including a way to add some variety to the design and multiple wing choices so that when a trainee graduates and wants to move up just get a stunt wing that would be used on the same plane. I also thought of an interchangeable speed wing for the Newbie races.

Also on my agenda for this design would be an intermediate fuselage choice that would be a little longer in the front and back that could use a different air foiled stunt wing  and would have more positive control. All hardware would be from the original.

Just ideas at this point...

Robert

Your local hobby shop (if you have one) has a bunch of modular parts for various RC airplanes.  What is needed, I think, is a modular foam CL trainer, electric, which comes (quoting an ad here) "Everything you need in one box for an excellent trainer".  Cost well under $100, probably under $50.  Look at all the RC stuff out there that is as I have described. It should be an attractive airplane, not a profile.  There should be available, hobby shop and on line, replacement parts.  Also an upgrade kit which converts the trainer into a stunt-capable airplane.

As a source of kids, check and see if you have a local homeschooling association.  For the kid to become a modeler, there has to be parental support. If you do it right, you may be able to hook both parents and kids.  Home school parents are investing time and resources in their kids.  They are also looking for socialization opportunities and are not locked into all the activities of the usual school kid.  If you want to try a local school, go for the people in detention hall and in school suspension.  The school may be glad for you to 'babysit' them a bit, and the kids may well be interested in doing something which normal kids don't do. 

Page 13, July 2009 Flying Models has a writeup on the P3 Models T-28 Trojan Trainer. This is a 1/2A size profile CL trainer. Said to take 6-8 hours to put together, and 8-12 hours to duplicate the paint scheme shown. Website is www.p3models.com

This is interesting.  It is not exactly what I think we need, but it is trending that way.

While I commend the desire to hook kids on flying model planes I think that the fastest way to add members to your club is right in front of your noses,
50 year old men who are not satisfied with R/C or are trying to re-capture a bit of their youth. Until there is a $50 RTF C/L in every Wal-Mart in the country kids will not do it on their own. Without a mentor this hobby is inaccessible to the youth. If you hook the mentors (ie. 50 year old men) the next generation will follow as the kids and grand kids, friends and neighbors of the mentors.

John