Sloping Off - September 2004
Almost Ready To What?
Fly or Fall?
In which Terry Sullivan gets all philosophical.......
As a newcomer to Model flying, I have read a bit, listened a bit, and browsed dozens of websites. One of the things that has interested me is the criticism from some quarters of the ARTF models now available. So I thought I would try and put down my thoughts and provide an almost outsiders point of view.
Certainly there are many advantages to the more traditional approaches, whether it be a kit or a plans build. One has the satisfaction of seeing the finished article up in the air and knowing that you have transformed a pile of Balsa into a flying machine. With Scale models, one also has the satisfaction of knowing that you have re-created a little bit of History. There is pleasure in the building process itself, and for many people this is the whole purpose of the exercise. And there is often an intrinsic beauty in the finished article. Certainly some of the models I saw at the AGM the other day were beautiful.
But the world today has changed, not always for the better. As an example, I remember my Mother's first car, a 1967 Triumph Herald. It had a 1.2 engine and would travel at 70, the instruments were sufficient, the lights adequate and the seats were only uncomfortable on long trips. But the heater was hopeless, the de-mister took ages and the radio wasn't there. In addition to this, it had a couple of potentially lethal design flaws.
Comparing this to my 3 year old 1.0 Micra, the difference is astonishing. The newer car is quicker, safer, more comfortable and better equipped, superior in every way except the turning circle. If one tried to market a new car like the Herald, the Receiver would be the only caller. And yet I loved that little car.
Today we demand more. We want the instant heater and the Airbags to keep us warm and safe. We do not want to entertain ourselves with games of I-Spy, we expect the CD-player to do it for us
In the modern world, many of us work with computers and machines that do most of the work faster and better than we could ourselves. We do not need to be skilled carpenters as we can go to B&Q and buy a flat pack, or buy it ready made, delivered and set in place. We do not have the skills to make things for ourselves, a computer controlled robot with a router does it better.
And as a result, many of us lack the skills needed to make these models from kits or plans. Certainly the youth of today would rather sit in front of a TV screen and play computer games than build a model plane. They lack the skills, they lack the patience, they lack the facilities.
The pace of our lives has changed, there is so much more that we are expected to do, so much more that we have to do, and so much more that we want to do. In my youth, if I wanted to go out, I cycled, walked or caught the bus. Nowadays, our kids expect to be dropped off and picked up. They expect to have toys ready made, not build a Go-kart from an old pram and a wooden box, make a bow and arrow from a couple of sticks and a piece of string or a kite from some of dads garden bamboo sticks and a bit of rag.
And so if there is to be a future for model aviation, it will be mainly in the ARTF planes that one can buy today, fly today. There are dozens of planes available that come complete, all one has to do is charge the battery and throw it up in the air. Naturally, most of these will end up in pieces on the ground, and probably some of these kids will want to know why, and they are the future for our hobby. Certainly there will always be the craftsman who wants to build something for themselves, but I predict that they will be people whose interest has grown out of flying ARTF models.
In conclusion, I can certainly state one simple fact. I would not be involved with model flying if I had not been able to buy a plane that was ready to go flying. (Good thing or not? remains to be seen) I have health problems that have stopped my other hobbies, and I have problems with my hands. I have also never developed any talent for crafts. So it would be difficult if not impossible for me to start Butchering Balsa to turn it into something that would probably only leave the ground once.
So to those of you who mock the ARTF flyers, please remember that there is room in the air for us all. We have what we want from flying, as do you. It may be that in the future we will want to try building, but for some of us that is not an option. But we must accept that we have different goals within the broader scope of our common interest in model flying and support and encourage one another in whatever ways that we can.
ARTF? - the 32" span Scorpio SE5 can be completed in less than half a day, from moulded foam and pre-cut balsa and liteply. Flies well too!
