What your age?

[Xanadu]

Ever wonder what the average age around here is?
I do...........
Poll time.

[Racedriver25]

37 here

[Xanadu]

Just a young un' - 45

[cdwheatley]

I'm 41 in June.

[John G. Jedinak]

In July............74!!!

[fychan]

31 - though I clicked the up to 30 by mistake

[lennyz]

51 HERE

[John G. Jedinak]

Dave: Believe it or not, I rather be old then young. Majority of the bad times are behind!!!!

[supercruiser]

Interesting data. And maybe a little disturbing. No 8 to 13 year olds voted.
Mind you I understand that this poll is hardly comprehensive. Likely there are hundreds of people that browse the forum and are not registered users. And the younger people who are beginners may feel they have nothing to contribute and therefore do not post messages. However, I wonder about two things: how much damage the porn on the site caused. Could some parents have said, "son, you can't go to that discussion site anymore because of the bad things on it" and most likely: It's a sign of the times. Young kids just aren't interested in spending the time and effort to build a model airplane. I don't think money is the problem, most kids have got money (I see them spend it all the time) and they can afford say a 500 series kit.

"GET TO THE POINT, MAN"!

If you can... encourage and mentor a young person to get started and enjoy this hobby. I think the benefits and rewards are lifelong.

That's my 2 cents.

[fychan]

I wonder about two things: how much damage the porn on the site caused. Could some parents have said, "son, you can't go to that discussion site anymore because of the bad things on it"

As a parent to a 1, 5 and 15 year old, I can tell you that there are far worse things than a forum in a hobby they're interested in having a couple of clearly labelled spam posts... Have you ever seen the sort of thing that comes up if you mis-spell Disney on a Google search? Weird as it is, some porn sites deliberately target child sites and their common mis-spellings... A hobby site with posts with subjects that have NOTHING to do with the hobby don't worry me... At that point, it's a case of educating your child rather than banning them - teaching them to keep themselves safe will always be a more effective way of looking after them - unless you can guarantee you'll ALWAYS be behind their shoulder every time they interact with the internet (let me tell you that my 15 y/o school doesn't ban all porn images - I've found printed pages of them from his school in his bedroom before )

and most likely: It's a sign of the times. Young kids just aren't interested in spending the time and effort to build a model airplane.

This I 100% agree with. My friends at work and at fencing (who are all 30-45) can't understand why I'm putting the effort in. My boss (who's only 36 odd) got bought a polystyrene RC aeroplane for Christmas year before last - and can't understand why I don't just buy something like that for the instant gratification. Doesn't get the concept that even when the spitfire plunges into the ground nose first and becomes so much kindling wood on her maiden flight I'll still be chuffed to know that I built something that stood chance of flying with my own hands. Try as I might, I can't get that concept across.

If you can... encourage and mentor a young person to get started and enjoy this hobby. I think the benefits and rewards are lifelong.

Agreed.

[Vert Paleo]

In Sept. will be 68

[Walt]

I will be 70 in July. Started building balsa models when I was 9.

I find as David pointed out that most Hobby Shops do not stock balsa models so when the kids go to the Hobby Shop they are not exposed to them. Even RC model kits are becoming a thing of the past as many want the convience of the RTF or ARF planes. It is a sad comentary on todays society. But I guess some would say it is progress.

[Flyguy172]

I started when I was 12, 13 now but I voted 14-20 because age changes and soon I will be 14. Oh, and in case some of you are wondering, RTF means ready to fly and ATRF means almost ready to fly (at least that’s what I think ).

[Fuel]

I turn 40 in June. I used to build as a kid. I had back surgery 5 months ago, and this was a good diversion to the pain. I've built 4 planes in the past year and am starting my 5th.

[b.mcmahan]

I thought I'd chime in with my $0.02 here. I'm 28 and have been building for as long as I can remember, starting with a Catalina when I was six-ish with my grandfather. I whole-heartedly agree with everything said here. I think all those years of building model aircraft with my grandfather has taught me patience and the value of hard work that unfortunately, is relatively unheard of in my age group (and declines exponentially as the kids get younger). It got me "into" aviation, and now I'm fortunate enough to be employed as a software engineer in the military/defense aviation industry. Honestly, I think I owe a lot of what I've become today and what I'm able to do for my family to my grandfather and this hobby - if for nothing more than being a conduit for learning the values so many people today seem to lack.

So in turn, I'm starting my oldest son off early! He's almost five years old and has been "helping" me with his second model, the 900 series T-28. I can only hope to have the half effect on him that my grandfather had on me.