Hope you are all enjoying the great weather this time of year and getting LOTS of flying in. As we ramp up for building season this year in the Northern Hemisphere I wanted to take a moment and reflect on the state of our hobby. While many folks think our hobby is declining by huge numbers each year this is just not the case. Our hobby is CHANGING, not declining. With the advent of ready to fly models and ARF's (in all sizes) this has opened up the hobby to a MUCH wider audience than in the past. With estimated sales of over a quarter of a billion dollars in sales last year, R/C is one of the top three highest grossing hobbies (and growing every year) in the world.

So what does this mean to you and me? This mean WE have to CHANGE from being so passive and start encouraging those folks at the parks and school grounds to visit our clubs, join our organization, offer our help as mentors, and encourage them to participate in our events. The social aspect of our hobby is one of the most rewarding and fun parts of it. Why not share that? The success or failure of our hobby in the future falls squarely on yours and my shoulders, no one else's. 

Not sure where to start? How about contacting that member at your club who just joined and ask them if they have an questions or need any help. Make them feel welcomed to your club and actively try to recruit others at the parks, hobby shop, or fly-ins/fun-flys. There are lots of opportunities to encourage these "casual hobbyist" to participate more, we just have to work at it. WE are the ambassadors and caretakers of our hobby and it's success or failure depends on us!

Until next month,
Mike