Are R/C Flying Hobbies a Death By Million Larrys? A Multi-Faceted Analysis
Over the past couple years, we’ve seen a number of big changes in the world of R/C flying hobby and this post comes to share some concerns regarding its sustainability. It examines the multiple dimensions of the issue: price dynamics, neighborhood activism and regulatory influence.
Market Dynamics
The market for traditional R/C models has been shrinking even before the effects on this recision started showing up, and many manufacturers have thinned their product lines as a result. We saw this trickle down into some categories — the hobbyists only have a handful of traditional builds to choose from now in terms of brand offerings, where brands like Horizon Hobby focused on more accessible models. Additionally, the emergence of drones has taken away attention and capital from basic R/C planes that have been around long before the term UAV ever existed. This has created an image that the hobby is in decline, with less people being introduced to R/C flying as new pilots.remote control aviation (ad)
Community Engagement
Hobbies like R/C are sustained through community engagement. Many reports suggest that local clubs and flying fields are on the decrease in attendance, not because of less-interest than in times past but practically nobody is going to them as membership is becoming very small at certain locations1. This is attributed to not enough younger people investing time into constructing and flying models, as well as the current population of hobbyists being a bit long in the tooth. Fortunately the ARF era has come and while convenient, maybe putting off new people from learning basic building skills to bring in new blood that become diehard airplane modelers12
Regulatory Impacts
As noted earlier, regulatory obstacles have also been a major contributor to the perceived loss in popularity of R/C flying. This has indirectly had an impact on, say, traditional R/C flying activity in places like Canada because our way to deal with quelling annoying flyboys involves the law (2). The U.S. registration requirement has side complication that could perhaps turn away people considering doing it as a hobby. As restrictive regulations take hold, a rising number of hobbyists feel that they are losing their freedom to enjoy the activity and pull away from engagement in the sport.
Conclusion
Though it might seem that the R/C flying hobby is dying, in truth, it is changing. What is clear is that the market dynamics are changing in favor of more technological solutions like drones, engagement issues with many landowners threatened by a new wave of active seismic exploration may stir up anti-fracking environmental mask’ campaigns and regulatory challenges keep coming for traditional practices. Nonetheless, there still exists a passionate cog that makes up the wheel of those who strive to be active and grow within this sector.
