Thoughts Please, Important message to public and community (FAA Hobby related)

[bacpck]

Hello all, I was struck by a thought that has been bouncing around in my head and coming out with some of my remarks.

I see that we have a major issue in the RC community with how we approach the community itself (especially newer or fringe elements) and the interested public in general. I certainly know that the community here at FliteTest is heads and tails above most of the internet and possibly most of the general public in the way they respond to each other.

I still see (in relation to the FAA mess) a lot of sniping at Phantom (or other prebuilt) owners about noob and being reckless and endangering us all.

Some of you may have read some of my post regarding people that have not been involved or studied the community and were just able to purchase a multirotor that basically works (rofl).

"Many of these people would not knowingly endanger people or be bad ambassadors. They are ignorant of the situation and do not realize the dangers and the issues that they bring upon themselves, the public and the RC community. Once educated most will try and do the right thing"

We really went through this situation hard in the offroading community. Until we realized that we had to engage every one of those people ourselves. Be polite, talk about the toys and invite them into our community for education and responsible wheeling. We also had to realize that not all of these people were going to pay dues to join our clubs or action groups, there are multiple reasons why, some good some bad but we as a community had to get over it. We still had the responsibility to help give those people the information they needed to stay safe a legal and be good ambassadors.

The above is important, while I believe that joining the AMA is the right thing to do (plus it lets you go to events and fly) we do not need to bash or look down upon people that do not join because they do not agree with the AMA's stance or position on some things. The AMA has been slow to really jump into or really open up to the FPV community but that is not unusual for any long term community based group. Animosity, anger or dismissive attitudes can push these people away instead of making them responsible hobbyists.

I firmly believe that most people will try and do the right thing if educated and they are given the opportunity. There is no one else to educate them we are it. FliteTest is a great start but this message imo needs to be gotten out and pushed to all corners of this community. Every time we snipe at each other, the Phantom owner, the FPVer, the foamie flyer the multirotor or heli guy without taking the time to engage discuss and gain understanding of each other we allow the government, the media and people outside our hobby to dig the hole a little deeper.

I am very busy and have so much work to do, this idea has been hiding and growing in the back of my mind and I am just really starting the process of articulating it.

I ask for your help, I will get my wife (the OCD english major) to go over some of this later for some editing. I do need to turn this into a coherent statement that conveys the thought so I can do everything I can to spread it. I ask for your help in all of this because I truly believe that this is the place to start.

You can still get mad or aggravated at the idiot but foremost in our minds (when possible) should be attempts at kind gentle education and invitation to the organized side of the community with no condemnation for reluctance.

Thank you for reading my messy ADD mind this morning.

 

[bacpck]

As a post note I truly believe that the above is what FliteTest is all about with the added goal of making it fun and affordable. FliteTest does mention the AMA at times (more recently of course) but I believe that their thought process is to educate people about the fun and safety while gently nudging to not make people feel forced or alienated.

Maybe that is just me but I have been getting that perception from them way before I actually flew or built anything.

 

[Tactical Ex]

Your right I think for the most part. I also think that those of us in the hobby are getting stronger feelings towards the "newbs with toys" because the media gravitates towards this very small section of the hobby that is wreck less and ignorant so it gives us all a bad rep. It's a frustrating situation and It's hard not to blame the individuals but the blame is really the underlying circumstance.

I think the FT community has proven that we can rise to a higher calling, though, rather than saying "punish the newb who doesn't know anything". We are better equipped to teach newcomers thanks to FT and the collective community than I think any other community out there. We should really make it a point to self-govern. It's possible too, at least in the US, have you seen the thread with the member map!? we are all over.

Your statement "You can still get mad or aggravated at the idiot but foremost in our minds (when possible) should be attempts at kind gentle education and invitation to the organized side of the community with no condemnation for reluctance." is really spot on, I wouldn't have said it better.

However, there are always bad seeds and inevitably some of us FT ambassadors will run into someone who wont welcome advice and wont abide by safety standards and just go all out rouge and endanger not only themselves and other people, but our hobby as a whole. It is in these cases that it is also our duty to seek out, and with a swift and heavy hand, stop these individuals from incurring any damages to the hobby we care about so much.

Personally, I was hoping that the FAA WOULD come up with some solid rules so that I could say "hey, not only is what you are doing not safe and gives the hobby a bad rep, but it's also illegal. Let me show you how to do this the safe and legal way." And if they don't care to listen, I can call the cops and report them. But, alas, we get this recent nonsense that just puts gasoline on the fire and creates friction against those who could have been in the future, fellow hobbyists.

 

[bacpck]

However, there are always bad seeds and inevitably some of us FT ambassadors will run into someone who wont welcome advice and wont abide by safety standards and just go all out rouge and endanger not only themselves and other people, but our hobby as a whole. It is in these cases that it is also our duty to seek out, and with a swift and heavy hand, stop these individuals from incurring any damages to the hobby we care about so much.

Tactical Ex, thank you so much for the response.

I had meant to include something like the above in my statement. The same was true for the offroading community. If reason, education and camaraderie fail it is sadly up to us to contact authorities and make sure the person that is (with knowledge) willfully doing something illegal or dangerous is stopped or brought to the attention of the authorities (no personal physical action just notification to authorities with all information possible). I hate to say or do this and believe it should only be a last resort (when education fails) or in response to danger. We need to show to everyone that we are responsible and although we should work towards every opportunity to educate we cannot condone or support illegal or dangerous activities.

We also must push these thoughts into every corner of the community and we must persevere. There will be those that will be angry at the suggestion of the above thoughts but push we must imo.

The above is a fine line and we need to keep ourselves in check emotionally and be as rational and supportive as possible.

 

[Tritium]

The FAA is currently listening to the AMA just like they are listing to all other interested parties......NOT!

Thurmond