Old farts at the flying field....

[weedsnager]

I go to 4 different fields in my area and every one of them has "that" group of guys. That clique. I could walk by them with my hair on fire and they would act like they don't even see me. Anyone I see at the field I say hello, with authority, looking right at them...and these guys walk right by me.
These guys are not helping the hobby. Don't you want to encourage more people to become involved ? More people in the hobby could equal more people in your club, more money in your budget. Less people involved equals less people buying from your local hobby shop, which equals a closed stored at some point. All you old farts aren't going to live forever.
Now if your an old fart and I'm offending you, I'm sorry. None of the middle age Guys (I'm 44) seem to have their nose stuck up in the air. Your area might be different then mine.
Say hello to someone, especially someone who has the same passion as you...you don't know what their situation is in life....you might be the only guy he talks to all day

[dkalwishky]

We've got some guys like that in our club, bunch of old curmudgeons. I call them fun haters.

[OV10]

Weedsnager............Very good observation and smartly stated, just don't apologize to them for hurting their poor sensibilities because we all know that they most likely aren't the ones that would participate on a forum of this nature.

[StormyDog1962]

Every club seems to have at least a couple of these types, had one who got mad if you didn't mow the grass exactly the way he wanted so I purposely mow in a different direction just cause I could

[VOODOO]

Boy, am I lucky! I belong to a club with only 37 members. I am 79, and not the oldest member. Some are in their 30s and 40s, but NO ONE fits your description of an old fart. All the members are pleasant and welcoming to anyone who shows up, be they spectators or prospective flyers. Last summer, I went to the Ball Ground, Ga flying field of an Atlanta area club as a guest flyer with my grand nephew, who is a member. That experience was just about as you described yours. Too bad for them, they miss out on the chance to promote the hobby, and perhaps meet a new best friend.

[Grossman56]

Yep, you are lucky Voodoo. I just recently like in the last week have started to make a few more connections with a few guys in or on the periphery of the club and the biggest complaint is that they go to the field and very seldom is there anyone there. The answer, post a message or blast out an e mail and let people know you're going.
Old Farts (63 here, as of today) would almost be better........hmmmm, maybe not.
I'm always hitting people up to see if they are into flying or at least learning. Heck, I remember going to the local field when I was young and no one ever approached me to see if I was interested, boy would that have changed my life.
Maybe have put 30 extra years into flying, something to think about the next time we see a kid who hangs around just to see the planes. A future club member, president, AMA president, or anything in between, or how about just someone who finds a life long hobby that keeps him out of trouble??

Grossman56

[xviper]

Not everyone who is old is an "old fart". I belong to 3 different "clubs" and only one of them have these "old farts" (some of them aren't old). They huddle together at the field and at the monthly meetings and make snide remarks about everyone else and everything they see that doesn't quite conform to their ideals. Some don't like foamies because they aren't "real" airplanes. Some don't like electrics for the same reason. Some don't like them if they come out of the box ready to fly. If you don't fly in a way they think you ought to fly, they snicker and laugh behind you back. They just wait for something bad to happen because that makes their day. I joined that club purely because they have a Geotex runway for some of my planes with little wheels. I brought 2 others with me to join. Next year, one will not rejoin. He has NOT flown there yet this year. The other will grudgingly join again just keep his options open and because they give a discount if you re-up early. He's flown there twice this whole year. I've flown there 4 times so far. None of us like it there. The atmosphere feels "off". I flew with my "buddies" again this morning at our regular field and the comment of "Those guys are such A-holes" was mentioned.
Yeah, the "old boys club" ...................... Ya can't kill 'em and it'll take too long to wait for them to die.

[farmflyer]

I don't have these problems as I don't have a club or an official field to fly at. I fly alone a lot and sometimes with my sons when they are around. I think if I did while they're wiping down their gassers or refueling and such I'd just look at them and smile while I put another battery in my foamie and went up for another flight.

[boomer108]

My club has members from 30 to 80 and I'm 65 but overall no one acts like a Jack a**. Oh theirs always one or two but we all for the most part don't act like that.
Roy B.

[Dewey H Lee]

Boy I'm glade that we don't have that problem at our club. We have a total of 38 current members and I don't even know half of them. I've never seen all of them. Some fly on weekends some through the week. Everyone I have meant though has had that good old NC hospitality attitude and I have been a member for 2 years. There's a good portion that fly helis and the drones are starting to take a small place at the club. There are 6 of us that are there about every weekend and unfortunately I am about the only one converting to foam as all but one other than myself fly only Gasser's and nitros and that one seldom flys the one foam plane he has. We are all good friends though but it makes it hard to get tech help from a fellow member if you are the only one flying mostly foam.

[VOODOO]

I've been thinking what might make our club of 37 so different from all the negative experiences mentioned in this thread. Perhaps it is because almost all our members enjoy a wide diversity of model interests. ( and other hobbies as well) One day a guy will show up with his 90" gasser CORSAIR, then next time with his 18" HABU mini-EDF. One member scratch built a 55lb P36, now undergoing taxi tests, then bring out his foamie next week. And so, and so on. Often discussions are about the hot rods or classic cars guys are involved with. Whatever the reason, all get along and help one another. Almost forgot to mention the 16' wingspan Aeronca C3, or the 14' scale seaplane. Two of us have been fortunate enough to fly in TOP GUN.

[Grossman56]

Well, it sounds like the good news is that there are a lot of great clubs in comparison to the....others shall we say.
My flying buddy ,Brian has a mixture of both. He had a Rare Bear, first time I've seen one, man is that fast, not as fast as the bird at Nefi, but not bad at all, 100 mph he figured. No L/G is the only drag, but most of our guys fly a mixture of both and those who don't, don't make a big fuss over it .

Grossman56

[corsair167]

all clubs have difficult persons, personally the Indiana bunch I flew with had Liars, Fliers, Jokers and Smokers!!!!!!

Everyone has crashed and some are about to, the liars say they never have. Double you pleasure, double your fun, get yourself 2 engines instead of just 1.
Radial engines do not leak, they just mark their territory.

[weedsnager]

Where in Indiana ?

[doctormike]

There is no room for snobs in this hobby. I don't care how good you are. The two best pilots in our club are also the most friendly. They fly competition aerobatics. One is 80 years old and owns and flies a full scale Sukoi, which he flies in competition. Anyone who thinks they are such hot stuff as to not speak, most likely is not all that hot. Almost every pilot I run into will jump though hoops to talk and give info. I guess you can tell I despise snobbery. Doc

[doctormike]

Isn't Indiana somewhere near New Mexico? Doc

[Grossman56]

Full of Indians I hear! LOL
Since I was the only one at the field today, I guess I was both the best pilot and the worst pilot there.
My buddy Brian, gave me some advice on landings which helped tremendously, I went through a half dozen batteries with P-1 and got the method down, then flipped over to BBD and sot more landings with her.....HUGE difference!!!!
Before he gave me the advice, he asked if I'd mind if he did, and that some guys don't want any advice. My reply was that anything you can suggest that makes me a better pilot, bring it on!
Its interesting that those who talk a good story don't fly as much.
It's always, I'm breaking in a new motor, or oh my carb is acting up, or I haven't got time to fly, I'm too busy teaching these guys who don't have a clue as to what they're doing.

Sometimes, you just have to go to the field for the pure entertainment value!!

Grossman56

[weedsnager]

What was the landing advice..please share

[Grossman56]

Well, first of all, Mike and Charlie were instrumental in me finally starting to figure out how to land a warbird, then Charlie told me how to set the flaps (30 degrees for landing 15 degrees for take off). I start off with around half throttle with landing flaps, bring her around onto final and reduce throttle a click or two, depending on the wind. Keep the fuselage level and use the throttle to control descent. Just off the runway, reduce throttle to idle and (Brian suggested this) ease the elevators back slightly to flare it, not much, its a feel sort of thing, and she'll touch rather than hit the runway. Pin the tail once your speed is down to the point where she won't take off again. I practiced it on the sim (Real Flight 7) with the Big Beautiful Doll, then with the Pitts, then out to the field with Pandora One then into the Mustang. It's amazing and this is only the second time I've tried it in R/T and the first day with the P51.
Usually, with the Mustangs, I'm sucking up more runway than I care to, but I swear, I didn't use much more than landing the Pandora. I was determined to figure out the secret to landings and to nail them. I still have a way to go, but, like Mike said, once you've got it, your landings will be great, and he's right, the light has turned on!

Grossman56

[weedsnager]

Good info...thanks