how to attract children to rc and linecontrol airplanes

[suslovdn]

Hi fellows!
in russian rc-raleted forum the thread with similar name was started. so there are a lot of different clubs for kids where they can see&try, study and build airplane or other models.
but how to attract more kids? how to invite them and even how to influence their parents to let their kids to go there? i do not know are there any clubs for children in USA or Europe.
if there are such and you know someone from those clubs or even the head of such clubs, please shere your experience. how many kids started and stayed in at least for 1 year?
we feel real lack of interest from kids.
if you can give any idea or advise please do.
Best regards,
suslovdn

[A-Track]

At my club we provided a few subscriptions to some RC magazines to the local public library and school to try and get local people interested. Not sure if it ever helped or not.

[Sly3D]

I have 10 freinds 16 and under in the hobby.

[Al Lewis]

We have a program where they can come out to the field and fly on a buddy box to see how much fun it is. We bring out scout troops and anyone interested.

[branwell]

Candy

[3dAndrew]

Ok, here is your answer! I am currently 15 as of Sunday. And I started flying when i was 3 yrs old! My dad had been taking me to the field since i was born. Literally! The day i was born my mom and dad got back to the house and said "I am taking the kid flying." My mom cluelessly said, "Goodluck with getting his attention, remember he's not even a day old." Well my dad was lucky, no one else was at the field and it was just me and him and of course a trainer. My dad took off and once he landed he saw that i wasn't crying. I was rather clapping and cheering/smiling. It was probably the first and last time he ever saw me cheer for him(no offense to my dad, i love him and all, but he tries to hard now-adays to outfly me.) LOL. Well he brought me every time that he went flying up until i was 3 yrs old! Then he finally got me my first radio. He said he was tired of listening to me just complaining that all i can fly is a U-control plane! I had been flying the U-control planes since i was 2! Then a year later i started to fly on the buddy box with a "U.S. Aircore Trainer 40." It was truly the worst plane i ever flew! But hey it taught me well. The only thing that i hated bout it was the fact that the plane never broke when it crashed. It was like a child's nightmare of seeing a creepy clown. Well fast forward by 5 yrs my dad finally let me practice flying alone with an instructor instead of him being at the other end of the buddy box. Well at 8 I finally soloed and was flying alone. Ever since that day, i truely feel that my dad has lost his interest in taking me to the airfield. LOL. But hey, over the years i've learned all of his weaknesses to get him to take me flying. Well now at 15 i am flying gassers and love it. (If your wondering why i haven't mentioned the U-control planes throughout my entire story on here, all i can say is, i finally noticed that i would let my dad keep his pride in being one of "POLAND's Greatest U-control Pilots!"(my dad used to compete back when he lived in Poland 20 yrs ago.) But he still manages to fly the U-control stuff from time to time. But, my interest in those has greatly declined mostly due to the fact that i've started flying big gassers and 3D and etc. But I have always wondered what it would be like to go back and fly U-control again. Hopefully my interest continues to grow in this hobby. As i simply just love it! Nevertheless, i hope that I can some day get into Imac, but as of right now 3D and huckfests gain more of my attention than being precise(no offense to the imac guys but it makes me sleepy.) Well thats my story.......and i hope it helps

[jamesrxx951]

our club will host the boy scouts and we have hosted big brothers and big sisters. there are 10 of us in the club that bought LT40 trainers for these programs. we will put the kids on buddy boxes and let them fly. we also bring our flight sims and rc videos. very positive responses.

[Scags]

My parents own the local TCBY. We have several planes hanging from the ceiling. We invite anyone who inquires about the models to come out and watch us. My dad then gives them a coupon for a dollar off (price of a kiddie cup or a 99cent waffle cone) when they come out.

[flyin4fun]

An "air conditioned" glass shack, Free Cheetos, soda, candy (already mentioned), and a promise that you will take out the garbage and mow their parents lawn for the rest of the year......maybe, just maybe....you will then be able to get them away from the computer, TV and video games .

[classclown]

Give them a long list of chores to do at home if they don't want to come to the field. That oughta get their little minds churning.

[wawsha]

I think that many kids would be very interested in the hobby. But as we all surely know, it gets expensive very quickly. My father was an FAA exec so i was around aircraft on a constant basis, i was and still am captivated my flying machines. Early exposure is key i think. Programs like what jamesrxx951 was talking about are great opportunities for kids to get into the hobby at an early age. i dont know how i would have gotten though middle school without this hobby quite frankly. Its saved my life in more ways then i can explain in this post. Most times when i fly i bring my trainer and buddy cable because its inevitable that there will be a curious little kid around. sorry for any misspellings im in a hurry