Ok! I thought I had to pitch in and add my comments too!
This post is not intended to be offensive nor it is pointing out anybody's abilities or capabilities.
I read this entire thread which started like a nitro engine and mis-fired on its way up..
To be frank, in my point of view, any person who has the ability or the understandability to build something from scratch, locally found materials or internationally bought ARF kits is a hobbyist on his base!
Aero modeling and flying are rather titles given to our hobbies.
Its like being a mechanical engineer and working in a civil construction company. We are technically Mechanical Engineers in the end right ?
In the same way, we are all hobbyists in our roots, some of us build and some fly and hence title ourselves as fliers, aero modelers!
If one is a heli flier and calls himself a aeromodeller, what and where is the harm? does that person not go through the same trouble or maybe more to get his heli into the air? leave alone his skills!
If someone scratch builds a plane and finds out that it wont fly with the best electronics around, does that too not mean that he is a aero modeler ?
But the base is our ability to learn from what we do, that interest and trouble we take to rethink what went wrong makes us a hobbyist!
the point I am trying to make is, all aeromodelers and all fliers, builders in the end share the same title!
"a hobbyist"
I am a hobbyist, I declare it promptly! I build helicopters from ARF kits, I sit on my work table blowing some ESC's and jamming some servos, lastly making a chunk of electronics and frames fly! I also build planes. I remember I once made a scratch built Spitfire from no plans, just watched it on TV and made a few sketches and sanded the fuse on a chunk of thermocol, finally, the outcome ?
A unbalanced realistic looking plane, which lastly landed in my showcase! I remain, still a hobbyist and call myself an aero modeler, don't I?
So my friends, what I intend to say here is, that, no matter what our titles are or what we call ourselves, we remain hobbyists, and we are lucky to have that talent in us!
As someone said, we are that rare breed in India, and we are here on this forum to help and be helped, that's what a true supporter to the hobby does!
I joined this forum because I needed information on a little issue that I faced, finally with all the support(which I never thought would happen) hung on here and am planing to stay here.
So, lastly, I intend to let each and everyone know, that no matter what titles we give ourselves, we are all the same and share almost the same dream! To give wings to our hobby!
Regards,
Dorwin