Believe me , I'd like to see the hobbyist AMA last well into the future , and not just for myself or for my style of hobby flying only , but to be an all inclusive organization for all hobby based unmanned aircraft flying . What I don't want to see , and do believe is coming , is an AMA that caters to the commercial side first with us hobbyists becoming an afterthought . I see lifer has an AMA number of 77967 and Andy has 77227 , well couple that with my 80274 and I'd say we got collectively like 200 years of AMA membership right here and I'd like to see many more years (for the youngsters , if they want it) of the AMA advocating for us hobbyists but know the financial reality of a dwindling membership base will ultimately be it's doom (in present form) .
I don't blame the AMA for what appears to be a general lack of public interest in all kinds of clubs . Just for kicks I researched the club for stamp collectors and found that they're hurting members wise compared to years past as well . If the greater majority of the general public really does not want to be involved in such clubs what can the AMA or any other club do to make itself attractive to a disinterested public ? That's why I think it may be best to focus on the hobbyists who DO want to be members , cater to their interests till so few remain as to become impractical to continue , and then take the same place in the hobby's history footnotes that SFA now occupies ...