Baby Boomer, a consideration of "Modeling"

[Bill Little]

Us old farts are a funny breed.  I know most of us grew up pretty much the same (those of us that are eligible for AARP! LOL!!).  We did not have "entertainment" other than what we could do ourselves.  Make things, build things, invent, imagine............

I know that the first "model airplane" I built out of balsa was a source of much more than just cutting pieces out, cutting my fingers (!!), and gluing the parts together.  It was a "construction project"!  It was a source of imagination to "BE" the pilot of the plane!  It provided me the opportunity to actually have something, since it was too expensive to actually buy it already made.  Airplanes were a source of wonder!  Man could fly, and through this model I could do so, vicariously.  I wasn't "aware" of all of this at the time, what kid is??

Next came C/L models.  Again, I had to make them, they were too expensive to buy pre-made.  AND, I could actually FLY IT!  I was in control!  Could it get any better??

These things are partially what has kept me going in flying C/L for 50 years.  And the ability to create the plane I was flying was as much of the fun as the flying.  It was "accomplishment".  A source of pride and satisfaction in a job *I* did.  That is a key factor in building true self esteem.  Whether or not it was as good looking as the ones in the magazine didn't matter since I knew that it would take time to gather the experience to do that good a job.  "Rome wasn't built in a day". 

Now I am older, have *some* money to spend on my hobby, and have developed the experience to build a model that I am not ashamed to place beside anyone else's.  If it had not been for the life skills development that model building provided me, I would not be the same person today, and I would definitely not be still flying C/L models.

So, if you wonder why so many of us feel so STRONGLY about a true BOM, these are probably some of the factors.  I know they are for me.

[Bradley Walker]

I am a baby buster.

While I have never competed with a single pre-fabbed component in my life, I think those days are going to change.

I have one simple reason, I am fat enough as is!!!  Anything to keep me from spending time on my butt in the shop is a good thing.  I need to be flying as part of my "ass is too big" program.  Any time I can spend flying, going to the gym, playing disc golf, walking my dog etc helps me fight the battle of the bulge.  Sitting on my ass in the shop does not.

So, post my 40 year birthday, the mantra is BUILD LESS, FLY MORE!!!

[Steve Hand]

     My dad use to drive a truck when I was in the third grade. One time he allowed me to make a weekend trip with him from Hot Springs to Texarkana. He made me a "cockpit" out of an apple crate complete with gages and a yoke to place in front of me so I could "fly". This was before inter-states so we were always going through a little town quite often. My job was to try and estimate the time it took to get to the next town, pull throttles for speed, and move the yoke for passing and curves. I'll never forget that weekend.
     

[Robert Mathison]

I,  am too old to be a boomer but did start Modeling at a young age,  I started with JOE OTT and then Comet Free Flight rubber power.
   the came a MCcoy .19 on a flying clown and still going at the age of 69 this hobby will keep you young.
                                 BOB

[Steve Hand]

IT'S OFFICIAL. On the national news the first baby boomer just applied for Social Security today. What a timely topic on this board.

[Steve Fitton]

What is the "official" beginning of the baby boom?  16 August 1945?  nine months later?

[taildragger-j3]

As a 1950 born baby boomer, I resonate with much of what Bill said. My dad built my first Ringmaster Jr. for me before I was old enough to build something that would fly, but you can bet I was at his elbow the whole time. Before I was out of elementary school I WAS building and flying what I was building. I took an aviation detour through a private & commercial pilot's license before returning to modeling, but I never forgot the feelings of creating a flying machine with my own hands. Currently, my big problem is what to do where to put all the planes I have built and am building. I go flying every chance I get, and I rarely build at a time when I could be flying, so that's a pointless argument for me. I say LET 'EM BUILD THEM, AND GIVE 'EM CREDIT FOR DOING SO!!

[Randy Powell]

Hmm, it is a different world. That's certain. And Brad is ultimately right, the values and skills that many of us accumulated as children and young adults just isn't valued today. Other skills are more important. We see that as "sad". But most folks don't. Their values are different.

I was talking to someone the other day about Bill Gates, of all things. I wondered aloud what would happen if Bill had all the money in the world. Ya think he'd be happy then?

[Clint Ormosen]

Bill, there are a few of us "younger modelers" out here that feel very strongly about the BOM as well. But I am deeply worried about the days to come when there not so many of the older generation around to be on our side (sorry if that sounds morbid). When that happens the BOM will surely fall to the wayside. I haven't decided yet if store bought models will save or destroy C/L flying. I have no intention of ever flying a ARF in a regular contest, although I might buy one for an ARF only novelty contest. Sometimes I think that 40 years from now, I might be the last person in the country building model airplanes.

[Doug Moon]

Hmm, it is a different world. That's certain. And Brad is ultimately right, the values and skills that many of us accumulated as children and young adults just isn't valued today. Other skills are more important. We see that as "sad". But most folks don't. Their values are different.

I was talking to someone the other day about Bill Gates, of all things. I wondered aloud what would happen if Bill had all the money in the world. Ya think he'd be happy then?

It is funny you bring up Bill and Happiness with money.  I dont know much about the guy.  But I do know he gives away more money then we will ever dream of making in a few lifetimes.  From some recent interviews I have seen I think that he seems really happy doing so.  I also read some very early stuff about him.  The thrill of getting Microsoft going and making the ideas come to life seem to be the real key.  That was the thrill.  The money was a side product from the way I read it.  There is no doubt he and his early partners made the right business decisions. 

[Randy Powell]

Doug,

Read "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" or "The Microsoft File" sometime. Gives you a different perspective. My point was just that values change. That's not always a bad thing. It's just different from the values that I was raised with. Doesn't make them inherently bad.

I read the other day that something like 40% of all law school students in the US have cheated on at least one exam. When students were questioned, they felt that it was OK as long as you were good enough not to get caught. They didn't see any moral issues. We certainly live in interesting times.

[Tom Niebuhr]

Bill,

You are right on, it is a shame that there are some who will never understand.

[Dick Byron]

I am not going to take the time right now to discuss cheating. Is it done. You bet your but it is. I have first hand knowledge of it. I don't plan to ever mention names as it would serve no usefull purpose. It just sickens me that there are people that I love and trusted could do that. George Aldrich one said "A trophy is not worth a friendship." Obviously that is not always the way some feel.
   With all the hoop la about the Olympic runner returning her medals because she cheated, it is time for the culprit to do the same.
   I don't think that will happen.

[Keith Spriggs]

Doug,

I read the other day that something like 40% of all law school students in the US have cheated on at least one exam.

I wonder how many of them sued the school for not catching them and thus causing them to get an inferior education?

[RC Storick]

I know lets get rid of the BOM , Heck we don't even have to buy a ARF for that fact we don't have to go to the field. We can have a contest right here on the computer. Just test you flying skills with a simulator . Do you see where it's going?

[Bill Little]

I *STILL* get a certain feeling of excitement when I roll out a set of plans and start cutting balsa.   Anticipation already begins as to how it will fly which is an indication of how well i did my part as the constructor.

[Bill Little]

As to the cheating/lying/stealing........ I have made it a point for the last 10 years, or so, to take a straw poll in all my High School classes.  I ask them what is ".......".  They answer at the rate of about 98% that nothing is wrong as long as you don't get caught, regardless.  "It isn't cheating if you don't get caught".  Getting caught is the key.  The action is not.  I have done this with all my classes and they consist of grades 9-12 and all achievement levels.  Whether anyone believes it or not, it is fact.  This comes up in discussions of "Values and Morals".  And it has been in 3 different High Schools in very different locales as far as Socio/Economic settings.

[Bob Reeves]

I *STILL* get a certain feeling of excitement when I roll out a set of plans and start cutting balsa.   Anticipation already begins as to how it will fly which is an indication of how well i did my part as the constructor.

Ya I do too and will continue to build when I can or want to build something that doesn't yet exist. This is my choice even though the best flying full blown stunt ship in my fleet is an ARF.

[Keith Spriggs]

As I see it C/L flying (or any model flying) is a two part thing. Building and Flying. All of you derive enjoyment out of one or both or you wouldn't be reading this. Probably there are very few people who enjoy each one equally. If one person enjoys the flying 95% and the building 5% they are never going to completely understand the person who enjoys building 95% and flying 5%. To the first person an ARF is the perfect solution. To the second person an ARF is nothing. Is one wrong and the other right? No they are just different. As for me personally I get more pleasure from the building part. I am considering building a first class stunt plane. This will shock many of you ,but I may never even fly it or just try it once to see if it really will fly.

For the last two years I have made the trip to St Louis for the contest. It is a 600 mile round trip along with several hundred dollars in expense. Would I make the same trip to watch 25 people fly the pattern with all of them using a Flite Streak ARF no matter how well the flew? The answer for me is absolutely not. The answer for some people would be absolutely yes. Seeing the wonderful craftsmanship is what makes the trip worthwhile to me. Seeing them skillfully flown is the icing on the cake.

Far above the craftsmanship or the flying is even a greater enjoyment. The enjoyment of the fellowship with others that love our little toys. That is not dependent on how well he/she build or how well he/she flies.

[Tom Perry]

The "official" date is 01 January 1946.  I don't remember when the "baby boom" officially ended, but it was near the end of the Korean war. Probalby Dec 31, 1952.  My wife is one of the last baby boomers and the last of the "red hot hippies".  Now she is very conservative. 

From Wikipedia: A baby boomer is a person born between 1946 and 1964 in Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Following World War II, these countries experienced an unusual spike in birth rates, a phenomenon commonly known as the baby boom. The term is iconic and more properly capitalized as Baby Boomers. The terms "baby boomer" and "baby boom" along with others (e.g. "boomies" or "boomers") are also used in countries with demographics that did not mirror the sustained growth in American families over the same interval. 

 

[Tom Perry]

Thanks Tom. I knew when it started, but not when it ended. 

I'm not a boomer.  I was born in August '44 about a year before WW2 "the big one" was over.  I did however manage to slip a "boomer" in under the wire.  My baby girl was born in December of 64 

 

[Bill Little]

I surely didn't realize the "BOOM" lasted THAT long....... 1964?? 

[Mike Spiess]

I know lets get rid of the BOM , Heck we don't even have to buy a ARF for that fact we don't have to go to the field. We can have a contest right here on the computer. Just test you flying skills with a simulator . Do you see where it's going?

RC already has that with flight sim. Cash prizes an everything.

[Wayne Collier]

Off topic for a moment-- today for the first time in my life I beat the world 8 castle and freed the princess on the 1985 version of Super Mario Brothers.  Dr. has me on bed rest for a few days.--

Much of the time I've been on my back has been spent planning, visualizing, and thinking through a couple of 1/2a projects that I want to build.  One of them may be a display model only ( to showcase an O.K. Cub my dad says he bought in 1952), or I might fly it once or twice.  The other project is one that I am sort of designing myself using elements from other peoples designs.  Funny, I haven't spent near as much time the past few days dreaming about flying as I have about building.  I guess that makes me one of those "like to build" people.

I see an opportunity for good builders(I may never be in their ranks).  Really good builders could do custom builds for really good pilots.  Think of the possibilities.  Maybe the builders could get awards for the strength of their design and quality of their craftsmanship (as proven not only by aesthetics on the ground but also aesthetics in flight) as a separate part of the competition.  Let the best builder win.  Let the best flyer win.  If it happens to be the same guy he sweeps the competition.

for what its worth from a guy thats not currently even an AMA member-- maybe someday

[frank carlisle]

I came into this world kicking and screaming at 6:29 A.M. on June 2nd. 1946. I've been here for 22,265 days and counting.

I didn't start my modeling career building. I started it by taking things apart. The first thing I ever dismantled was my mothers iron. I couldn't get all the coils back into it so I took them out and reassembled it without guts. I went on to ruin a radio, a toaster, a television set and a space heater. It was amazing the havoc I could wreak with just a couple of hand tools. My discovery of the hammer was a truly beautiful moment. It is still my favorite tool of last resort.
My greatest achievement as a young modeler came late in the afternoon on Christmas Day 1953. I was 7 years old and had gotten my first electric train. It was the first thing I ever assembled correctly. I soon discovered that the silver strands hanging from the branches of the tree would spark as the train rolled over them. It wasn't long before the tree caught fire. I got my first whooping that evening after dad got home from the emergency room with both hands wrapped in thick wads of gauze.
Ah, what a beautiful life!!

[Mike Foley]

  Though the current baby boomer's are coming on retirement age we have a new wave of illegal aliens replacing them with anchor babies. Fifty years from now the entire US will be a different language and culture. Probably a different flag as well. 

[Randy Powell]

>>My discovery of the hammer was a truly beautiful moment. It is still my favorite tool of last resort.<<

"All you really need is a Big Pocking Wrench".
                             ----- David Weber from March Upcountry

I may be unusual. I'm a guy that is pretty much 50/50 on building and flying. I love to build and I love to fly. Wish I had a consistent field to fly on, I'd be there every day in the summer (or anytime it's not pounding rain.

On that note, the local weather liars are predicting rain (well, that was easy, it's already doing that) and wind tonight and tomorrow. Gusts up to 35mph tonight and as high as 50mph tomorrow. I can do without another week long power outage.

[Paul Smith]

IT'S OFFICIAL. On the national news the first baby boomer just applied for Social Security today. What a timely topic on this board.

I have heard that report and it is a blatent, obvious lie.

Baby Boomers are the children of GI's returning from World War II.  WWII ended in August of 1945. So children conceived after the War were not born until May of 1946, at the earlist.   If somebody applied for Social Security at age 62 today, he would have been conceived in December of 1944, and been the child of a DRAFT DODGER, not a WWII veteran. 

The first real baby boomer will not go on SSI until May of 2008.

My birthday is July 20, 1946, and I am a GENIUNE first year baby boomer.  My father served in the 7th Air Force in the Pacific, as did I. 

----------------------

The reality of The Baby Boom was obvious in the Detroit Public Schools.  In my classes, the 1946 year group, there were five classrooms full of students.  In the draft dodger years ('43. '44, and '45) there were only two classrooms full of students. 

Lies like this are nothing more than government propaganda designed to mask the inherient, guaranteed failure of the system.  They seek to the blame the Baby Boomers, the generation who put more money into the system thay any other other.   

The system was doomed when FDR allowed government employees to opt out and form their own system, thus getting off the pre-sunk ship at the dock.   The final killer was instantly paying benefits to retirees who had put NOTHING in, rather than saving up for ten years before commencing payout.

[Peter Nevai]

This thread was going along just nicely and someone without a real name (although everyone knows who it is) has to start a absurd political rant. Besides the fact that not every soilder remined over seas till the very end of the official surrender by the japanese, so the Baby boom started as soon as those soldiers rotated out of active duty. To suggest that children born prior to 1946 are the kids of draft dogers is insulting at best,

[minnesotamodeler]

I was born in 1943.  My father worked at a Douglass Aircraft plant; was nonetheless drafted, and served, not long after my birth.  He certainly was not a Draft Dodger.  Let's not paint with too broad a brush here.

--Ray

[frank carlisle]

I'll bet there are Nazi baby boomers here too..................

[Bradley Walker]

I have heard that report and it is a blatent, obvious lie.

Baby Boomers are the children of GI's returning from World War II.  WWII ended in August of 1945. So children conceived after the War were not born until May of 1946, at the earlist.   If somebody applied for Social Security at age 62 today, he would have been conceived in December of 1944, and been the child of a DRAFT DODGER, not a WWII veteran. 

Are you assuming all soldiers from WW2 served until the end of the war?  What about those that were sent home?  Wounded?  Served here in the states?  Etc?

[Bradley Walker]

  Though the current baby boomer's are coming on retirement age we have a new wave of illegal aliens replacing them with anchor babies. Fifty years from now the entire US will be a different language and culture. Probably a different flag as well. 

Word.

I am thinking about going back to Oklahoma...

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/05/oklahoma_no_longer_ok_for_ille.php

[frank carlisle]

What is not in Oklahoma that is in where you are now Brad?

I can't deny that things are changing, and in ways that I don't particularly care for. But that's primarily due to my liking the way things are.

I always use the cowboy of the 1800s for my yard stick. I can imagine how the cowboy felt when fences started going up and his cattle couldn't
free range anymore. Probably he didn't like the change and didn't like the people that were causing the change. I can imagine Wild Bill sitting at the campfire bemoaning the fact that he couldn't carry a side arm into town anymore. And at some point ordinances were passed that disallowed even riding or keeping a horse in town. The cowboys hated it. But time moved on.
Time is moving on for us also. The world is changing. We/I don't like it. But it's going to change anyway. Certainly not for the better as far as we're concerned but we have a limited life span and the world will remain recognizable to us all the way up to our last day.
I don't particularly care what the world will be like in 50 years - I won't be here to see it.
But I can guarantee to you that 50 years from now that generation will have been born into that world. They'll be used to it. And they'll like it just as much as we like ours. And they'll be as dismayed as the cowboys were at the changes they saw coming just as we are dismayed at the changes we see coming.
Change is uncomfortable. I resist it. But it changes anyway.
Someone once said " Don't suffer tomorrows woes".

[john e. holliday]

The Oklahoma law has nothing to do with modeling, but, I am glad they did it.  When I was much yonger there used to a plane taking off at least once a week taking the illegals back to Mexico.  Someone said that cost too much money.  Now that person wishes he could recend his comments and get the plane flying again.  The illegals have take over a portion of our city and you don't dare drive thru there at night.  Now if all stated would make a similar law and enforce it.  DOC Holliday

[Phil Coopy]

I'll admit that I am a pre-boomer(1939) and I like the old BOM rule.  But this is competition, and I've competed in many skill based hobbies in my lifetime. My observation about the life span of most competitions is that eventially the newcomers dumb it down to a point that it ceases being a challenging endeaver, and dies a slow death to the tune of the laments we are hearing here.  We are right to be saddened over the deterioration of  ritual that we held a sacred to this sport, but  we're gonna fade away and so the sport will change to something else we barely recognize.  I'm resigned to keep plugging away building my own stuff as I have and hope that the rulemakers don't go so far as to get into standardization like they did in most auto racing sports. But by that time  I'll probably be looking down(hopefully) on it all.

Phil

[Jim Pollock]

Hmmmm,

I consider myself a boomer, my high school class had 1500 kids start the 9th grade and 1150 graduate.  If that's not booming in a town of 35,000 I don't know what is?  Oh, The rest of those boomers were born between Nov 1944 and May 1945.  My birth date was Jan 9th, 1945.  That consisted of the class if 1963, Thomas Downey High School, Modesto, CA.  The home and school of, ugh, Joe Rudi, Ron Whitney, Goerge Lucas and so on.  My parents worked in the Shipyards in Richmond CA until Jun 1945 and then moved from there to Modesto where I grew up and learned to fly with a Cox PT-19 like so many others.

Well, Audacter et Strenue

Jim Pollock

[Dennis Leonhardi]

As a 67 year old kid - older than my *Little* friend Bill - I too have seen a lot of changes in our society and in our hobby.  What I really don't understand too well is why some of us "old farts" waste so much time and energy fighting change.

As John Kennedy said something close to 50 years ago, echoing the words of many others - and I can't quote him exactly without looking it up - "The only thing that will never change is that things will change."

It seems to me we can either (a) grow bitter watching change, or (b) actively seek to guide it, retaining as much of the "good" as possible and trying to improve other aspects, while accepting that "things will change".

Personally, I've liked designing many of my own models for almost as many years as I've been building.  But I can't remember ever designing a model to sit on a shelf - the real goal of my activity in this sport has always been the Flying.  Why would I look down upon, or discourage, anyone who wants to Fly an ARF?

I'm very happy that in 2007 I don't have to finish control line models with fuel proofer over nitrate dope.  I'm absolutely delighted that most of the engines I buy today actually start and run!  That plans for jillions of models, both those designed 60 years ago and 60 minutes ago, are so readily available.  That we can have this "conversation" so easily; a bunch of guys with like interests sharing our thoughts, and not spending our week's allowance to pay for the phone call ...

(And, ask yourself: If you weren’t hip to some change, would you even be on the internet reading this? )

I was talking with a (very successful) high school wrestling coach a few weeks ago.  He's a young guy, and pointed out that it's much more unusual for a high school kid of today to have the same dedication and discipline that his counterpart of just 20 years ago had - because of all the other "distractions" in our modern world, of course.  Golly gee whiz, Really?!?

I've coached football and wrestling for many years in community programs.  Boys ranging in age from 4th grade to college.  Ya know what?  I had more fun coaching a 5th and 6th grade football team last year than I can remember in any previous year.  And I say that after coaching perhaps close to 2 dozen state champions in wrestling.  They were the neatest group of respectful kids I've ever worked with.

Gee - maybe I've changed too?


Respectfully,

Dennis

Attitude: I can complain that the rose bush has a thorn, or rejoice that the thorn bush has a rose - it's all up to me!

 

[Neville Legg]

Aah! so some of you did have RTF models?? Those dreadful ready to crash Cox plastic things?? LOL.
I had the Helldiver for Christmas sometime in the early '60's, one flight and the wing broke, so I used the engine in my own design model (which flew ok) and have never had an RTF model since!
As a side note, someone mentioned Wild Bill earlier on in this thread ? The farmer who we rented our first flying field from, told me that his father put Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakly up in his hotel here in England when they did their Wild West show around the country. He said he was about 4-5 years old at the time, and he went on to tell me how their shot guns had been modified so they couldn't miss anything they fired at!! But thats another story??

All the Best       Neville