Model Airplane News – August 2019

AUGUST 2019 47

BRIAN BYCHOWSKI, SALES/

MARKETING DIRECTOR,

DU-BRO PRODUCTS

Tell us about yourself and how long you’ve

been involved with RC airplanes.

I have always been involved in aviation. As a kid,

I was certain I would be a pilot and had fighter-jet posters all over

my room. As I got older, I found I preferred other areas for work, but

my brother and father are both pilots, so I have kept flying and have

stayed around aircraft most of my life. I even took a part-time job in

college as a refueler to feed my need to be around aircraft. When I

started at Du-Bro in 2001, I got more interested in RC aircraft, and

my work on the TV show Inside R/C got me fully immersed in the

hobby. It was awesome!

What is your view of the state of the RC airplane hobby today?

The hobby is not as big as it was in the past, but I feel it is still

very strong. I believe the new modeler of today is different than

those who started many years ago. There is usually less mechanical

knowledge and the learning curve may be greater, but they are

always eager to learn and get advice. With all the videos on YouTube

and other sites, many modelers are learning from the Internet when

there is not a club or shop nearby. I think having a mentor from a

hobby shop or club is the best way to be successful, but when that

is not available, I am glad we have other options.

What aspect of model airplanes do you think is growing the

fastest?

Of course, electric is the dominating category, but we have been

hearing more modelers talking about going back to nitro-fuel

airplanes lately; they view it as “retro.” We are glad to hear this, and

we want to encourage them to explore any area of interest they

have in the hobby.

What do you think is our biggest challenge in growing the hobby?

Our hobby today is great because a modeler can get an ARF and be

flying very quickly instead of spending months to build. However,

building is still an awesome art form that we want to see become

even more popular. With today’s “instant gratification” mentality,

builders are less common than in years past. That said, if we

promote building as its own hobby or as a rite of passage into

the next level of modeling, we can encourage newer modelers to

explore this side of the hobby, and it will entrench them even more,

which is good for the industry.

Tell us about new hobbyists you’ve mentored.

I got my two nephews into RC cars and RC airplanes when they

were 10 and 12. They are older now and life has them busy, but they

still love the hobby.

What do you think are the biggest hurdles to getting more people

involved in RC?

My schedule is pretty hectic and that has made it a little difficult

to get the time needed to really mentor a new modeler. That said, I

find small amounts of time, whenever I can, to take my son flying or

shoot off a rocket.

I would love to see a flying-models program in public schools.

I have witnessed this become a huge success with archery, and I

think indoor flying and model building would be a great way to get

kids into the RC hobby.

GREG GIMLICK, CONTRIBUTOR,
MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS
Tell us about yourself and how long you’ve
been involved with RC airplanes.
I started building control-line balsa models
when I was in junior high school in the ’60s, then
started flying RC in 1979. RC had to wait until after flight school
and my Army career was established. My early interest in model
airplanes led me to a career as an Army aviator.

What do you think is our biggest challenge in growing the hobby?
Right now, I think it’s the public perception of what we do. The
drone label has hurt us as it’s been applied to all aspects of remote-
control flying and not just the quads. Negative things done by
irresponsible people using camera drones have produced a blanket
stereotype that all remote-control aircraft and their operators are
careless. Educating the public is the way around this, along with
support from legislators who are willing to see the distinction
between the commercial and hobby side of RC.

What do you think are the biggest hurdles to getting more people
involved in RC?
I think finding ways to accommodate the hobby of flying in areas
close to the population helps. A local park-flier club has partnered
with the town to provide a field in the park system for park fliers.
The town actively promotes it from an educational perspective
and invites the club to participate in park-system events. This has
been incredibly successful, and hundreds of buddy-box flights are
conducted each time it happens. Local hobby shops have reported
back to the club about sales directly related to the public displays.
Education is key. Showing today’s younger crowd that it isn’t
a hobby for old fogies is important, and there are career oppor-
tunities in the UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] world for people who
wish to take it beyond the hobby level. Prices have come way down
from years ago, and the quality/capabilities of the equipment are
better than they’ve ever been. Breaking the perception that you
need to be rich to do this hobby is something that our clubs and
their community-outreach programs can accomplish.

Have you thought of any possible solutions?
Clubs like the Holly Springs Skyhawks Radio Control Group (hssrcg.
org), which has successfully partnered with the town of Holly
Springs, North Carolina, may be the ones who save our hobby. It’s
taken a lot of work by the club officers to work with the town, show
the benefits of the hobby, and educate the public, but the dividends
have been [seen] in the results. The town heartily supports the
club and the hobby because of the openness and willingness of the
club to work with anyone wanting to become involved. They have
sponsored a couple of FPV racing events on a small scale, which
was very popular with the video-game fans. It’s like being in the
game for them when they try orientation flights.
The club has had some very successful group sessions to build
planes from cheap materials and teach the people how to fly what
they built. Some of these planes can be built from $1 foamboard
and about $50 worth of electronics. Radios are inexpensive and
experimentation is bringing fun to everyone who tries it.
Seeing young people get excited and having fun reminds me it was
fun long before it was a business. I’m enjoying finding that again.

SEEING YOUNG PEOPLE GET EXCITED AND HAVING
FUN REMINDS ME IT WAS FUN LONG BEFORE IT WAS
A BUSINESS.