porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Dear Members, We are happy to announce big news related to FAA authorization. As of today, both the Senate and House of Representatives have passed a 14-month FAA extension, and the President has signed the bill into law. We are very pleased that the FAA extension affirms our right to continue to fly within AMA's community-based safety program and free from additional government regulations. Congress continues to recognize the importance of AMA and our strong commitment to safety. As you know, AMA aggressively engaged with Congress to achieve the best possible result for our members. It is through these advocacy efforts that we were able to achieve our goal of maintaining the Special Rule for Model Aircraft and protecting our hobby. This victory adds to AMA's history of successfully advocating for our members at the federal level, including with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forrest Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the FAA and Congress. There are two important things for all AMA members to know about the extension. The first, and most important for our hobby, is that the extension preserves the Special Rule for Model Aircraft (Section 336 of the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act) through September 2017. And second, while this bill does not nullify FAA's requirement to register, we are pleased to share that the problematic language that existed in earlier FAA bills has been removed. Our advocacy efforts are not over - we continue to work with the FAA on reducing the burden of the registration requirement on AMA members. And, over the next 14 months, we will continue to work with Congress on a long-term reauthorization bill that will further strengthen the Special Rule for Model Aircraft and advance other protections of our longstanding hobby. We want to extend our appreciation to all of our members and donors for your support throughout this process. Thank you, AMA Government Affairs Team

franklin_m

Downright Promethean. Too bad that didn't wisdom didn't foresee a way to prevent the whole registration issue. Or the bad press due to drones.

franklin_m

Translation?

- We didn't lose anything
- We didn't gain anything
- It's not as bad as it could have been

& We're going to spend another year trying to accomplish what we couldn't accomplish this past year

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

You've been well aware of all of this going on over the past 10 years, at least that's how long you've been second guessing the AMA. What exactly did you do in this time-frame to prevent the whole registration issue? I mean, with all of your contacts that you threatened to use days ago to bring down the wrath to settle a personal grudge...why in the world weren't you reaching out to them to prevent this issue? All that knowledge and experience and know how and connections....and all we have for this is failure? Ineffective and unable to accomplish a single useful thing.

Asking why you didn't foresee a way to prevent the whole registration issue. Or the bad press due to drones is as bizzare as asking why the AMA couldn't. This org you feel is so useless was supposed to be able to tell the future, AND somehow stop bad press? High expectations. No wonder they keep failing you.



- We didn't lose anything
- We didn't gain anything
- It's not as bad as it could have been

& We're going to spend another year trying to accomplish what we couldn't accomplish this past year[/QUOTE]

But wait...how about "time will tell". Is it your position that they haven't accomplished anything? Do you really think the hobby would be in the same exact place it's in now without the AMA advocating over the past two years?

Not joking at all, I think you need to run for AMA President. It's obvious to me now, after the past two years, you seemingly have every answer and every strategy to lead this organization through these difficult times. I'm not joking in the least, I'm happy to nominate you. I hear the salary and perks are pretty good in Muncie.

Chris P. Bacon

My Feedback: (4)

Good thing too, otherwise you'd have to give them credit for it. Probably break your heart too.

rcmiket

That's going to be the biggest challenge the AMA has ever faced.

Mike

rcmiket

Pretty much. Were claiming a victory because our legislative branch is too screwed up and gridlocked to get anything done and than claiming we had something to do with it. Well we did in a way we voted for those morons.

Mike

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Really? Ever? Like even more challenging then dealing with the FAA. Or dealing with membership declines during world wars? And economic depressions that made 8 years ago seem like nothing.

Here's the good news though. Folks today are far more open minded about embracing change and being accepting of new things. They probably won't cling to the way things "used to be" and long for the good old days where they had all the perceived power and control. Most will have been exposed to modern day work and social interactions that actually look for diversity of thought, and more importantly teamwork. I doubt they will look down their noses at the new and exciting, and denigrate those folks for not being like they were while they were "building up the hobby".

80 years.....I think a change in demographics is something they can handle. I think they got this.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

At least those morons did something more than endlessly whine and complain from the sidelines. At least they ran for office, accomplishments or not aside.

franklin_m

While I appreciate the offer, I have no desire to live in Muncie. My kids one kid is in college where I live, another one is in his senior year, and my third has her first group of friends that lasted for more than three years (military moves). Leaving would also mean giving up my cabin and land that has been in our family since before the Civil War.


Additionally, I thought you had to be a leader member first for any of those positions. Since I am clearly not of the same mindset as the esteemed council of elders - even if I were to single handedly get registration revoked, get AMA named a CBO in a White House ceremony, get AMA recognized as the only Global CBO by the UN, get put into law that to fly even a paper airplane anywhere in the world you MUST be a member, and get the membership to agree to dues equal to 50% of one's take home salary - there's no way they'd ever make me a leader member.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Downright Promethean.

franklin_m

I'll keep your comments in mind as I watch coverage of what promises to be an interesting week in Cleveland. I'll remind myself that what I'm seeing is folks embracing change, looking for diversity of thought, and more importantly teamwork.

franklin_m

While I appreciate the compliment, Prometheus is often discussed as a God of Wisdom. As my comment was more sarcastic than wise, even I'll admit it's a misuse of the word.

Chris P. Bacon

My Feedback: (4)

Thanks for the compliment.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Please do, I'll be interested to hear how that convention ties into the hobby, and how ultimately the AMA is at fault for something, because aren't they always? Don't look to hard there for lots of new ideas and embracing of change from that specific "traditional" group, they aren't really known for that are they?

mongo

My Feedback: (15)

dunno bout that dude...
they gave me one leader member slot for admin, and then later gave me another for scientific.
and i am a contest director, too.
the only one of those designations i asked for was the CD.
there is always a chance.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Clearly someone thought you deserved more, probably for actually getting involved in the hobby in some proactive, substantive, and meaningful way, rather than just taking potshots from the sidelines. And you're right..there's always a chance.

big fred

Franklin, this is not a slam. But it surprises me that everyone does not see that the AMA has gained exactly what they wanted. It is now a law, that if you want to fly any kind of RC, that you now MUST belong to a CBO. And they are the only game in town. All the flyers that were not AMA are now required to be. This has been their goal from day one. Could mean big money for them.

H5487

We must BELONG to a CBO? I was under the understanding that we simply had to adhere to a set of safety standards developed by a CBO. (Which I take to mean that the FAA is going to allow us to self-police ourselves since the FAA doesn't have the personnel to assign to monitoring hobby UAVs, nor the experience. I'm not a lawyer but I doubt that it would be legal or ethical for the government to require membership in a civilian organization like the AMA in order to fly model airplanes.

In fact, I can see how a requirement to join AMA would be counterproductive to our hobby. There have been several comments earlier in this thread about how today's youngsters aren't entering the hobby in big enough numbers to keep the hobby thriving. What do you think would happen to those dwindling numbers if an annual AMA membership fee were added?

Harvey

ira d

A lot of us think like you do and until I see something in writing from the FAA I will continue to think the same.

Chris P. Bacon

My Feedback: (4)

http://www.modelaircraft.org/membership/youth.aspx

Chris P. Bacon

My Feedback: (4)

A lot of us are already AMA members so it's irrelevant.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Where do people come up with this stuff. Where are you getting your information? The amount of absolutely incorrect information out there about this hobby is just amazing.

You're completely wrong.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Just dawned on me that you said you have two designations that you didn't ask for, or something isn't quite right about your story. You applied for your CD designation, and were given two leader member designations. It seems almost impossible that you were given two leader member designations without asking for them. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, you have to fill out an application for Leader Member. You also had to have at least 3 people vouch for your standing for each of those designations. And your district VP had to sign off on that.

If you didn't ask for these designations, and nobody vouched for your, wouldn't it be dishonest to accept those? What's going on down there in Texas? Did this happen under the new VP or the old one?