All clubs are on the hunt for new members!! This has been discussed at great length by all of us for a long time, even before the internet!! We used to do mall shows and displays to generate interest and raise some kind of awareness about the hobby. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that you can't make someone want to participate in anything. With a special interest like model airplanes, it has to begin with some personal interest in some aspect of the hobby. There is just no general interest out there in the younger generations in things aeronautical in nature. It really helps to like airplanes!! I just read an article recently that the Air Force is short almost 2000 pilots to where the would like to be and have to scramble matching personnel with different aircraft types. Pilots that can qualify to fly C-17s but not fights , and if the shortage is in logistics flying troops and cargo, it's kind of a waste ( for lack of a better word) to put a fighter qualified pilot in that C-17 seat. I just have to wonder where did the natural interest in things that fly suddenly dry up in most of humanity!! Even at an event like Oshkosh, where in 17 years I have seen thousands of kids pass in front of me on the handle, and I know some of them lived in my area, there hasn't been one that came out to the flying field to investigate things further. It's not a new problem, as there are editorials in the old mags that go back to the 1950s about this very issue. I really am at a loss to understand it.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Topic: NACA on the hunt for new members. (Read 3035 times)