Along with your AMA membership comes the responsibility to help keep AMA strong. There are all kinds of ways to do this, from talking up the fun at your local hobby shop with friends to holding events for the public and following up with those who are interested in returning to have more fun. This issue of Model Aviationis about bringing aeromodeling to the younger generation, but don’t forget the previous generation called parents.
Associate Vice President Jack Hamilton wrote to us with some excellent insight.
Some of us are in our seventh and eighth decades of loving every aspect of this beautiful hobby. If this hobby isn’t passed on to the younger generation, it won’t be here for the next seven to eight decades.
I’m Jack Hamilton, coming in at age 73, and I started building in 1957. I’ve been flying everything from Free Flight to Control Line Sport, Stunt, Combat, and Rat Race. Then came the RC craze … Sport, Quarter 40, Quickie 500, F3A, 3D. Now, I’m playing with Indoor.
I have a couple of aircraft hanging in a museum in Minot, North Dakota. We designed a fabulous Gold Leader Club that provides knowledge of the hobby to every inch of the north through mall shows, school aviation weeks, Boy Scouts, and more with AMA-provided aircraft, as well as Estes model rockets. I even had a student from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, who became a leader in F3A and the International Miniature Aerobatic Club. I couldn’t be more proud of his accomplishments.
Flying in Korea; Okinawa, Japan; Germany; and all throughout the US is memorable. I flew Junior Combat in 1961 against my younger brother with our father pitting for both of us, which ran him ragged. The reason I bring that up is because memories will stay with a young person forever.
I was in Okinawa, Japan, from 1997 to 2001. I had the prestigious honor of hosting a joint military and Japanese Pattern competition at a military installation. The camaraderie was so evident that it was inspiring.
I talk to various clubs locally and there aren’t any mall shows. There also isn’t an aggressive school participation program, nor is there local news that brings a club and what it’s all about into the living rooms of our communities. I also hear, "Well, our club is large enough and we don’t need more members!" Without new blood, your club isn’t going to survive.
I’m so glad I have another 12-year-old student with five flights so far. He is showing great interest. Who knows where this will go.
Come on, AMA members! Let’s get some new blood in this fabulous hobby!
Go fly and have fun safely.