Hi all. I want to focus on pilot training this month. What would you say to a person who comes up to you and asks how they could learn to fly (or build)? Does your club have a training program? Do you know an easy way to let someone try flying? If you don’t have the answers to these questions, you could lose an opportunity to introduce a new person to our hobby.
I really think training is the best way for us to increase our membership. Helping potential members learn what they need is key to having them enjoy and stick with this hobby. I want to challenge all of you to step up and help somebody new to the hobby learn something this year.
If you see an unfamiliar face at the field, go and talk with them. Offer to show them your equipment and get them an introductory flight. Set up a community night to demonstrate how to get a new model ready or to start a build.
If everyone would bring in just one more member, we would double. Increasing the number of people in the hobby is the best way to improve what you can get out of it.
Sources of our supplies increase, volume makes prices go down, and demand makes innovation happen. More numbers are good for all!
The Marymoor RC Club, in Redmond, Washington, is one good example of how training is done. This club ran training sessions every Tuesday evening all summer. They had as many as five instructors giving flight lessons each session. Demand was so high that students would sign up for training times and sometimes would have to wait for the next session.
Here are some of the statistics: 95 applicants; 53 students assigned instructors; 23 reached proficiency, including nine adults, 14 youth, and two father-and-son pairs; six refresher sessions resulted in successful proficiency checks; time invested: 17 training days, 51 hours, and 255 instructor-hours; staff: pool of 11 volunteer instructors, a coordinator, assistant coordinator, and a battery man/all-around "Yes, I have one of those" person.
This club is committed to bringing in new members by providing training that allows them to be successful. It is no wonder why they are the largest club in District XI with 483 members. The following are some pictures showing the results:
That’s it for this month. Keep building and flying!