President (and founder) of a Club looking for advice

[CRyan]

To Whom it may concern,
I am currently in college, with the intention of getting a Mechanical Engineering degree and working in aerospace. To that end, I have started a Remote Controlled flight club, mostly for fun, but partly for the experience. I am in a bit over my head, as I have suddenly become the "expert" in all things model related, when in reality I have just gotten into the hobby myself. We have a large field to fly in on campus with no buildings around, and we intend to use the swappable powerpod (The Beef) as a base, to keep individual costs down.
I don't even know what questions to ask, so I will simply leave the floor open for any advice that is needed.
-Thanks

 

[pgerts]

Go for it.
As an engineer you know that you need to read the specifications.
Get something to measure at least the current, but a "cheap" "many in one" between the battery and the ESC will give you voltage amps power and energy at the same time. That will help sorting out the right propellers to use - important!

Going into brands of equipment is no use but try to get the same if possible. Using same brand helps buddy and ease to help set up the equipment.

 

[whiskeyjack]

CRyan, I note this is your first post; welcome to the forum. If contacting the members of this forum was your first decision as President of your club, you have made a good one.
You didn't say where you are from. If you are from the USA then may I offer the fallowing?
Seek out an AMA club in your area.
Ask around if there is a "Mentor" near by that could advise you on some of the technical aspects of the hobby.
Poll your membership to ascertain their interests, fixed wing, rotary, multi-rotor. That will give you and your Mentor an idea of the direction the membership would like to head.
No one knows everything, that's why there are forums like this one. We are bound together by our passion for the hobby. The members of this forum are a very knowledgeable bunch who do not hesitate to share that with others.
Good luck with your new endeavor but don't forget to have some fun along the way. WJ.

 

[SGrog]

CRyan, Welcome to the forums!

I am also in school at the moment, and I would echo whiskeyjack, particularly when it comes to polling the members and that no one knows everything, and that forums like this and the AMA are great resources! Since you mentioned engineering, one activity that might be interesting is taking the aircraft you build and calculating the Aspect Ratios, dihedral, etc. In the past few years of being an officer for another group at my school, the thing that makes the biggest difference is keeping the group involved, and keeping them engaged. For example we have speakers come talk about the industry, do field trips to facilities, and do community outreach to schools (talking about the industry and promoting the industry and how it impacts our lives). Those are some suggestions, but if you have any questions, feel free to drop a line!

-Sean

 

[CRyan]

Thank you so much for your input and advice. We reached out to a local flying field, and they have been extremely supportive of our efforts.
Thanks again!

 

[makattack]

View attachment CRRCFeb15.pdf

Glad you got in touch with a local club! Here's a recent club newsletter from my club that includes a report of something similar that we did for MIT

 

[OttoPilot]

To Whom it may concern,
I am currently in college, with the intention of getting a Mechanical Engineering degree and working in aerospace. To that end, I have started a Remote Controlled flight club, mostly for fun, but partly for the experience. I am in a bit over my head, as I have suddenly become the "expert" in all things model related, when in reality I have just gotten into the hobby myself. We have a large field to fly in on campus with no buildings around, and we intend to use the swappable powerpod (The Beef) as a base, to keep individual costs down.
I don't even know what questions to ask, so I will simply leave the floor open for any advice that is needed.
-Thanks

I ran our RC club and AIAA competition team, and was a member of our Rocketry and HAM Radio clubs.

One fun thing to do is find a member to present at your monthly meetings. Even if its a newbie club member showing some pictures from his/her most recent build or flying excursion...everyone learns something. Our HAM club used to do something similar; someone would build a new antenna, or learn a new piece of software and then put together a quick presentation and demo for the club. You could also see if someone from your local AMA club will put together a 'beginning RC' presentation to give to the club at one of the membership meetings.

Our rocketry club used to do build nights. We had an 'aerospace lounge' (for the aerospace engineering students) in the engineering building and used to get together once a month or so to build smaller kits in the evenings and then go fly them during the week. It gave us a fun place to try out new techniques (like epoxy putty fin fillets) in a bunch of different ways and then go test.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Three words. Learn by doing.

When someone expects you to be the foremost authority you don't necessarily need the answers... you need the tools to come up with the answers.

If you don't have the answwer, work on the projet with them. Bounce the question off forums like this one or RC groups or any number of the other eleventy-four RC sites out there. That way, they learn, you learn and everyone benefits.

As far as the meetings, have show and tell. Allow for "guest speakers" (someone in the club that has a particular specialty) Set up clinics for building or certain techniques (tissue coveraing small balsa models for example) but most importantly, fly.

Here are a few other ideas.

Offer (as a group) to do clinics for the area schools. Create fundraising opportunities for local or regional charities. Adopt a section of your local highway for litter cleanup. Print and wear club shirts with a positive message.

In my eyes, being part of a club in something as love/hate as RC flight, it's important to cast a favorable light on your passion in the community. Some of those things above would be really helpful in that goal.

Just a thought.