What is the future of the FTCA
- Thread starter alan0043
- Start date
how is one related to the other?
i would turn down the job until you get more experience with the club.
as far as recruiting younger people, that's another question, and the future of ftca is another
Perhaps I'm asking the question wrong...
But my understanding of the goal of the FTCA was to recruit younger people, and older people I suppose, but recruiting people non the less... did I miss understand that? Therefore to your last point I would say the question IS valid, and both are the same, unless I miss understood the goals of the FTCA.
To your first point, I agree. However if the club had someone else to step into this role, I don't think they would have asked me.
I'm wondering how the FTCA can help struggling clubs now and in the future. Clubs in this area used to have 150 members, events monthly etc. Now they are all dying. In other words what is the future of the FTCA, and how can it help?
If I did in fact misunderstand the goal of the FTCA please let me know what it is.
fliers1
Member
It appears that it's out of the hands of the FTCA or even AMA as it is in Canada, MAAC. As I was told by an AMA official, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." In other words, they can't force members to do more as far as recruiting goes, since allegedly there is no interest in aviation, models, or full-scale. You can't force people to get into the hobby/sport - maybe if you paid members to recruit or the public to give the hobby a try. lol Oh, that's right, you can't get paid to teach, it's against the rules, and since there is so much free instruction offered, and if it wasn't against club's rules, you would have to take the exam for Part 107. Pink Floyd - All and all it's just another brick in the wall against growth in the hobby/sport/industry.
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Here is their mission statement:
About - Flite Test Community Association
Flite Test Community Association (FTCA) is an independent, non-profit organization that was created to cultivate the community development effort to promote the world of model aviation. FTCA’s desire is to share the joy, passion and knowledge about model aviation as our mission to make flight...
ftca.flitetest.com
To me, it reads like a way to support them, and perhaps someday, there will be tools for the local clubs to use to grow the hobby.
The problem as I see it is that they are bogged down in the new government regulations, and those are an impediment that may be difficult to overcome.
If use to be local clubs with their own regulations and an AMA license.
Now the obstacles are much higher.
Where can you fly
What can you fly
Licenses
Identification
Etc
fliers1
Member
"Perhaps someday, there will be tools for the local clubs to use to grow the hobby." Which is precisely what my mass and rapid growth program is all about. My concept is a tool for clubs to use to grow the hobby. All it would take is for anyone in the industry or aeromodelling organization to take my plan seriously to come to my area to investigate my program and allow me to do a demonstration and train him with a non-flier in tow. He could videotape the entire session. He should then be convinced that my plan is legitimate and pass on what he learned to everyone. He would learn enough to be able to either train beginners if he thought necessary with the use of a buddy box to practice my technique or on an RC flight simulator. When he got back to his area, he could do so with a large audience to validate the process and they could learn the technique en masse.Here is their mission statement:
About - Flite Test Community Association
Flite Test Community Association (FTCA) is an independent, non-profit organization that was created to cultivate the community development effort to promote the world of model aviation. FTCA’s desire is to share the joy, passion and knowledge about model aviation as our mission to make flight...
To me, it reads like a way to support them, and perhaps someday, there will be tools for the local clubs to use to grow the hobby.
The problem as I see it is that they are bogged down in the new government regulations, and those are an impediment that may be difficult to overcome.
If use to be local clubs with their own regulations and an AMA license.
Now the obstacles are much higher.
Where can you fly
What can you fly
Licenses
Identification
Etc
no one likes a change to the status quo, even when the ship is sinking.
i'm sure there are a lot of people who feel that they get what they want out of the hobby, and who wants to spend time worrying about the future.
if the next generation wants to fly, they can deal with it. if they don't, they don't.
i'm sure there are a lot of people who feel that they get what they want out of the hobby, and who wants to spend time worrying about the future.
if the next generation wants to fly, they can deal with it. if they don't, they don't.
Piotrsko
Master member
Started in '63, bemoaned the lack of recruits to replace the geezers even back then. Then every so often, something new comes along and there's a bit of resurgence, but the numbers are never as high as they were back then. However, we had RC only, no pocket computers and flying anything was >>very elite<<. I suspect we are recruiting some percentage of 1% of the population and it won't get bigger. Even the military has problems recruiting RPV operators, much less grunt recruits. The sucessful programs are attracting kids in like first grade
Tench745
Master member
Josh talked a little about the FTCA in the newest podcast. (Which MrNCT kindly posted earlier in this thread).
He mentioned that the FTCA is not a club based organization like the AMA. It is a global community, and was, among other things, established as a tool to allow people to fly legally and establish FRIAs where other CBOs wouldn't necessarily allow them to. And also, to work for the betterment of everyone in the hobby, not just its members. This is unlike the AMA, which is understandably focused on its membership first and foremost.
I think, consciously or not, we all keep trying to make the FTCA fit the AMA model because that is the only one most of us have known. But it's a new type of thing that is still growing into what it may eventually become.
I think that what exactly the FTCA is, or should be is a little nebulous right now. Because it is something that hasn't been tried yet, no one is entirely sure what that will look like in the end.
My dad read an entrepreneurial book once that talked about how to start a business. It talked about how most people try to nail down exactly what the business will do before starting; the "Ready, Aim, Fire" method. The book went on to say that a more successful method has actually been "Ready, Fire, Aim" (like a TOW missile). The idea being that you get just close enough to get started, and then let your customers help direct you to a successful business model. A for instance: you open a fab shop, and then as customer demand and opportunities change, you may actually become a left-handed widget specialty shop.
I think that's where the FTCA is right now. Flite Test knew what they had to be to get started; a legal entity and CBO to allow another avenue for FAA compliance. Now we, the users, get to help figure out what is working, what isn't, what we want, and what we don't. We get to help shape the FTCA into a successful organization that works for everyone involved in the hobby.
Vaguely related, later in the podcast Josh mentions that they hope to add some kind of functionality to the FT app where people will be able to connect to fly together. Essentially, you could go on and say where you were flying and when, and then anyone local could see that someone is out flying. I know of about a dozen other people who use the park I fly at, but I rarely ever see anyone else flying. It would be neat to go out when you know someone else is there and maybe make some new friends.
I think those are some real good responses, and does help clear up what I was wondering. I love the flite test idea and it has gotten my young sons to start flying and in turn gotten me back to the hobby. But I'm an old AMA guy I guess, maybe even a geezer that loves big gas planes and grew up smelling nitro... I hope one of them finds a way to bring back this hobby for all of us.
Seems that ftca was born to help free range park flyers attain a legal spot to fly and did that well, but now is transitioning to what ever comes next. I hope that's not just a sales gimmick but something that actually benefits the hobby at large.
Tench745 said it well it's up to us to shape the future and I think it should a bit of both clubs and the free ranger park flyers.
Seems that ftca was born to help free range park flyers attain a legal spot to fly and did that well, but now is transitioning to what ever comes next. I hope that's not just a sales gimmick but something that actually benefits the hobby at large.
Tench745 said it well it's up to us to shape the future and I think it should a bit of both clubs and the free ranger park flyers.
Why not post a video of your training technique on YouTube? That would surely reach a much larger audience than asking people to travel to your location to learn it. If you are serious about growing the hobby, and believe that your solution will do it, this is the possibly the easiest approach to getting it out to the masses.
