NEW Florida Fast Electric Club

[osprey21]

Looks as if we have a motion and a second on the idea. I'd say it's time for some serious discussion or to put it to a vote and have the whole thing resolved.

Aye!

[RCKong]

$35 a year seems fair to me. I would pay that. When I ran a offroad racing track and club, that is what I charged for yearly club dues.

[sailr]

All good points. We had to start with an initiation fee in order to buy a retrieve boat(s), trolling motor, battery, etc. We started with fewer than 10 members and remain there due to some dropping out and some others joining. It's an unfortunate fact of life that if we ever intend to put on an official meet, we will need some $$$ to do it. With so few members, I'm not sure how you do it on only $25 to $35 a year without an initiation fee.

Now if you tell me each member would be willing to shell out a $100 assessment to put on a meet then I've got a bridge or two I wanta sell ya!

What I have seen is for the members who are truly serious about their hobby, the cost hasn't been a factor. The members that dropped out are the ones that rarely showed up to run anyway. It has always amazed me that whether it be r/c airplanes, cars, boats, etc., people will spend hundreds an even thousands to build their models and then bitch about a small cost to have insurance and a place to play!

All food for thought. I sure don't have all the answers. I hope more of you will chime in.

Careful there Jim You'll have all of us wanting to be snowbirds with as miserable as it gets during the summer. I'll take Nov thru April for mine.

My own thoughts...
I still think we should kill the initiation fee and just charge 25 or 35 a year. Might bring in enough new interests to make it worthwhile.
Anybody just starting out is hit with the 50 bucks for namba then having to fork out another 100 to come out and play can make it a real deterrent for some folks. If we're not expensive it could well encourage more support from more people.
This would be a really good place to discuss it without cutting into play time.

[sailr]

We need a true vote. I think $35 a year is reasonable. Are you guys saying $35 for everyone or should there be a snowbird rate that is different?

[bill34207]

We need a true vote. I think $35 a year is reasonable. Are you guys saying $35 for everyone or should there be a snowbird rate that is different?

I'd go with a $35 a year for everyone. When you stop to think about it most of us locals don't really care that much about running in the heat of the summer either.

If the folks from up north feel like that is too much I really don't have a lot of sympathy for them. It's a very reasonable price regardless of how long you are in the area for.

As for $$ spent I'm about to let my MCRC flying dues lapse this year since they are raising them to $100 a year. I mostly fly at SRQ anyways but would have still kept the MCRC membership to help support the club "IF" they hadn't decided to increase them from the $65 it has been.

[highndry]

I'll agree to whatever the concensus is, but in my opinion $50.00 to $100.00 annually for the amenities of joining is peanuts relative to the cost of the hobby. To pay hundreds to thousands for boats and moan about $100.00 annually to run them with a club is rather absurd. Regarding the part-year residents, I'm glad to see them, but they should pay the same as everyone else.....just sayin.......

[bill34207]

I guess that looking at it from that angle, the same cost factor should apply to the snowbirds too.
When it comes to "amenities" Riverview has Ackerman beat many times over yet their dues are lighter than ours currently are. Unfortunately they only want to cater to the gas oriented modeler.

Oh yeah... (good old crs) Todays videos are starting to be linked in over at RC Groups

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1327096&page=4

[sailr]

Wow! That's an awfully big increase in one jump! The flying club I belong to charges $75...same for years and years. As a result, we have 250 members. We do have a $125 initiation though. So first year is AMA, $58 + Initiation and dues, = $258. Doesn't seem to stop anybody around here.

I'd go with a $35 a year for everyone. When you stop to think about it most of us locals don't really care that much about running in the heat of the summer either.

If the folks from up north feel like that is too much I really don't have a lot of sympathy for them. It's a very reasonable price regardless of how long you are in the area for.

As for $$ spent I'm about to let my MCRC flying dues lapse this year since they are raising them to $100 a year. I mostly fly at SRQ anyways but would have still kept the MCRC membership to help support the club "IF" they hadn't decided to increase them from the $65 it has been.

[sailr]

Mike Whitney, President at Riverview told me they were discussing $65/year. They may have nice amenities but they must have each ponied up a bunch of bucks for them. They don't have many more members than we do. I wish they would get their heads out of their a$$es and be positive about us joining, but they are not. God knows I tried.

I guess that looking at from that angle, the same cost factor would apply to the snowbirds too dontcha think?
When it comes to "amenities" Riverview has Ackerman beat many times over yet their dues are lighter than ours currently are. Unfortunately they only want to cater to the gas oriented modeler.

Oh yeah... (good old crs) Todays videos are starting to be linked in over at RC Groups
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...1327096&page=4

[sailr]

So who all was there today?

[bill34207]

Wow! That's an awfully big increase in one jump! The flying club I belong to charges $75...same for years and years. As a result, we have 250 members. We do have a $125 initiation though. So first year is AMA, $58 + Initiation and dues, = $258. Doesn't seem to stop anybody around here.

Yep. It cost me 200 initiation 65 dues and 58 for the AMA at MCRC so it was over a $300 hit when I came back to modeling in 07. Times are getting tighter for everyone though and I'm just no longer willing to justify paying a higher price for a less attractive facility where I almost never go.

I don't really ever see MCRC going anywhere great with what they are willing to do to their place. Yes it does have nice shelters (same at SRQ) but they will always have that rough grass runway and the tree line to contend with. Neither works well with what I like to fly. Still I would have remained a member (mostly because I was a charter member "back in the day") if they hadn't decided to jack the dues. It's not a jump to the full hundred yet only up 15 this year but with a yearly increase until it hits that.

[bill34207]

So who all was there today?

Good turnout. Ray, Hugh, Mike, Chris, Scott, the two guys from down south who's names I can't remember. (good old CRS) Dang I just ran out of brain cells again. Who else was there?

[hebner]

You forgot Larry aka Truckpull

[highndry]

*!***!***!***!**, I just posted a big diatribe and lost it.. bottom line, in my opinion, we are not going to join with a nitro club and have any autonomy..we have tried that option and it aint gonna happen! Any further discussion on those lines is a complete waste of time. I dont care what the fee is, as long as ya'll don't care if we can't support our basic needs as a club. If you want to wait in line and be reated as a"second class citizen", then join a nitro club... My original plan in starting this club was to establish a FE prescence on the west coast.

[bill34207]

Thanks again Hugh. I hate it when I draw a total blank like that.
Heck I was about to battery up my DF 33 for another run to pull down the last packs for it. Only after checking voltage before putting them in did I remember that we ran 2 heats of P.