 Attitude
1 :A position of the body or a manner of carrying oneself : posture, 2: A state of feeling or mind about a person or situation, 3 : The orientation of a spacecraft or aircraft relative to a point of reference, as the horizon . This is all according to Webster .
Now seeing that you are reading this in a Radio Control Aircraft website, I’m sure you feel we are going to discuss number 3 . Guess what . WRONG , no cigar . We are going to look at number 2 .
Unless you have been living in a desert island you have more than likely seen these things happen . You are at your club field with all your flying buddies and a vehicle none of you recognizes pulls up and a stranger steps out . All of you gather in a group and speculate on who the person is and why is he there . Or you are participating at a fly-in and an individual walks up and expresses a desire to join your hobby and you just say “ That’s nice “ and walk away . You and your club are asked to do a presentation on R/C aircraft and flying and you are all “ too busy “ . These are just a few of reasons that our sport is not growing . Now I understand completely that there are many other reasons but these are the easiest to address and cure .
Lets begin with number 1 . We all have to understand that if a person makes an effort to search you out, they probably have a good reason . I’ve personally been at the flying field, have had a car pull up and person get out and after visiting with them have found out that they were a news reporter heading for another unrelated event and happened to see us and got interested . By talking with them and knowledgeably answering their questions we have ended up with a very favorable article in the local newspapers . There have also been instances where we have ended up with new members .The bottom line is be friendly and approachable .
Number 2 . You’re sitting under your canopy at a fly-in and a person walks up and asks “ Wow, that’s awesome , how do I get intoRadio-control ? “ . This individual needs encouragement . He doesn’t need to be ignored or even worse talked down to . I am in no way advocating adopting him or bringing him home to meet the family or your unwed sister, just talk with him in a friendly manner . For example, just because you have your $8,000.00 fire- breathing /kick-butt state of the art aircraft in front of you when asked “ How much does it cost to get intoRadio-control ?” you don’t tell him $8,000.00 . What will happen, if he doesn’t collapse immediately from a heart attack, will be he wanders off in sticker shock or worse yet his wife, if she is present, will see to it he never has a Giant-scale aircraft . Keep in mind that these days a person can have an IMAA legal Giant-scale aircraft for around the same price as a good .40 size trainer .
Number 3. I personally enjoy this one because on numerous occasions I have been among those asked to put on a presentation or flying demonstration for schools and various service organizations such as Rotary and Kiwanis . What I find amazing is that these people don’t realize how far our hobby has come . I constantly hear “ I didn’t know they were that big and does that fly “. In the schools it’s a pleasure to see the children look with amazement at your pride and joy .
We should view our membership in the AMA and IMAA along the same lines as citizenship in a country . There are those that take a free ride on the backs of others and there are those that step forward and help advance the group or country . Be one of those that step forward and encourage potential new members and we will see growth instead of decline .
Al Kanser
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