MAAA Wingspan

19 “Havingmodels and gear available for loan to newmembers who are on tighter budgets allows them to be active while still acquiring their own gear.” Kimsays that the large response to ‘have a go’ days at public displays has indicated that an entire generation has missed out on control line. “At one radio control open day we did a ten-minute control line display in themain arena and announced, ‘if you want to come and have a go at one we have a trainer set up in the control line circle, just pop across and we’ll give you a fly’. That kept us busy for the next three hours,” he said. “Likewise, at themost recent school fete, we had a continuous flow of 25- 35 people ‘having a go’. Probably the biggest indicator of current awareness is when people come over with a completely puzzled look on their face saying, ‘what’s this? I’ve never seen this before’, which shows how an entire generation has beenmissed.” Kimsays that another important consideration is to ensure visitors and the public can see that control line flying embraces all ages and is not exclusively for older flyers. “Whenever we do a display or demonstration we now ensure it includes juniors. Once kids see kids flying, more kids come,” he said. By doing this with his own daughter, Emily, Kimsays that a small juniors’ group has grown where the girls even outnumber the boys. “The new group of juniors really looks forward to flying with each other. The girls, who are currently themost advanced in the group, keep nagging us to fly combat against each other.” Kimbelieves that radio control and control line don’t compete for the same newcomer interest group, due to both being uniquely different aeromodelling disciplines. “It’s not about one being better than the other. The interest in control line usually comes after actually flying one,” he said. “It seems to be the unique feeling of almost sitting in the pilot’s seat - being physically connected to the flight and control surfaces. You can even ‘feel’ the model through the lines. Additionally, radio control doesn’t have the exposure problem that control line and free flight have. Every toy store you go into has drones and radio control RTFs of sorts, but there haven’t been any control line RTFs in the toy stores since the late 1970s or early 1980s.” Regardless of which discipline of aeromodelling we are involved in, if we continue promoting aeromodelling in all our clubs for the next generation, hopefully enthusiasm for our sport will continue to grow. We’ve just got to encourage people to ‘have a go’ too.