Stickbuilder

Used to belong to a club...
then the politics (it does exixt) got in the way of having fun... (see definition of hobby)
got out of the club...
still belong to AMA
Need the insurance
Occasionally need a different place to fly
don't have to listen to all the bovine feeces from newbies who are running the club
just some of the reasons...

rn68123

Went to the local flying field to visit the local club. Well, maybe it's just that I need a new deodorant..... Couldn't have been my little 'lectric foamy. Now I think the flying field is rapidly becoming one more housing development.
"No, break ground and fly into the wind!"

bhole74

Good grief! I've been looking through the Charter Club pack trying to get info on starting a new club here in the county and what a bunch of red tape. I guess I'll have to try to get a lawyer, half a dozen congressmen, a banker and an insurance agent toghether so we can all deceifer it!

J_R

If you are truly having that difficult a time with it, call Lois Pierce, Club Secretary at AMA HQ. Ext 291. If she can't help you, she can get you to someone that can. 1 800 I FLY AMA for toll free call.

bhole74

It's more the writing of the by-laws to meet AMAs approval that gets me. We're all a bunch of guys that work for a living, not Harvard grads.

J_R

See if this helps with the by-laws. You are not the first to have concerns about creating by-laws.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/PDF-files/535-A.pdf

abel_pranger

Don't sweat it, there isn't anybody approving them. The way only to garner AMA disapproval of your by-laws and have your charter held up is to not submit any. HQ has file space that needs filling.

Abel

bhole74

Thank you guys, we are looking into locating a new field due to good ole urban sprawl, which is a very common problem here in SW Mo/ NW Ar. Trying to find a more centralized location, but it is very difficult when the state owns the prime property and private owners want $10,000 an acre. Still trying to work on the state park avenue, will defiately need help convincing them. Heck, I've got 29 acres, anyone got a dozer?

rcmiket

Since I've been flying..... a whole 16 years I have always been a club member. I have served as a club officer, joined in on work projects, run several events for charity, donated food for club events and meetings and so on. For the first time in my short R/C life I'm having issues with paying my dues.
Not just to the club but the AMA. I'm giving serious thought to just getting rid of all my nitro stuff and just flying in the park. The stupid rules some want and the petty politics are driving me nuts. 10 years ago when I joined this club we were all for"having fun and dont do anything stupid". Funny thing the guys who want the most rules and push the politics are the guys who show up at the field 3 times a year. Thanks for letting me vent. I know now why some just don't want anything to do with clubs.I guess I'm one of them now. Mike

boggey090

rcmiket,
16 years of flying and having fun is very commendable. I see you live in El Paso that must be excellent weather for flying. I used to live there as a kid and grew up in Van Horn just down the road. On another note I know the situation maybe different my our club from yours. We just went through a change in administration and some of the best and most knowledgeable flyers really took it hard. They decided to leave but they left and really hurt their friends and novice flyers because their savy is priceless. Their know how is passed and needed by younger and new flyers. My suggestion is don't let those fair weather flyers keep you from flying and assisting others. Guys with your experience is really appreciated by others. Just letting you know you are probably appreciated more than you might know. Keep up the great flying.[sm=thumbup.gif]

littlecrankshaf

My Feedback: (58)

rcmiket

This thread is particularly interesting to me, because I can really relate! The very same problems exist here. There are some members here that very rarely, if ever, fly but attend every meeting and incessantly push for more rules and more petty procedures. I too have considered just being an AMA member without a club affiliation due to the never ending BS but alas...

Others here have just given up and quit altogether. What a shame that such is allowed to pervade the hobby.

flybug

Here is a question, are you still covered under AMA insurance if you are flying at non AMA sanctioned fields? So if you are not covered and not flying at a sanctioned (club owned) field, why are you still paying AMA dues?

bkdavy

My Feedback: (1)

If you read the policy, I believe you will find that as long as you are a member of the AMA and flying in accordance with the AMA safety code, you are covered by the insurance, club or no club. The sticky part comes when you are flying at a field owned by someone other than yourself. If you don't have specific permission to use the field, you might be in trouble. Also, the owner of the field can be covered by the AMA insurance policy, but that requires a certificate from the AMA, and I think that requires a club charter.

Brad

flybug

So in other words we are back where we started. If the owner of the field needs to get a club charter, I understand it as you are not covered unless that field is sanctioned by the AMA. I am thinking it's a high price for a magazine subscription cause you are definately not covered if you are not flying out of an AMA sanctioned field. You might as well go fishing.

bhole74

You are covered anywhere you have permission to fly providing you follow the AMA safety code, no sanction nescessary.

[link]http://www.modelaircraft.org/PDF-files/500-l.pdf[/link]
[link]http://www.modelaircraft.org/PDF-files/2005clubkit.pdf[/link]

Maybe these links will help.

jeffEE

My Feedback: (5)

When I started flying RC, the local club was a great thing to be a part of. Lots of new people to meet and get good (most of the time) advice from. Help at the field, training, fun at club events, good food too. But after about 5 years of flying and belonging to the club, it lost its usefulness to me. Very few new members, and the same information. I no longer belong. But I still give me time to any flyer with a question. Or any that need help with starting a plane or just getting all the stuff to the flight line. I am always an AMA member. Why? The same reason I wear my seatbelt. Its required at the fields I fly at, and its just stupid to go without.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

I flew for about 13 years before joining my first club in 1992 or 1993. My motivation for carrying AMA insurance all of those years ? Insurance. From the age of 18 to 24, AMA insurance was the only insurance I ever had. So, AMA insurance was primary insurance for me. And back then, the magazine was rather respected for its news and articles.
There were AMA club sites within 30 minutes of home. But there were also neighborhood sites within 10 minutes of the house. I flew almost every day. I (we) had a paved site and could fly even on rainy days. In fact, the BEST time to fly is just after the rain stops. The air is still and cool and full of power and lift.
The local clubs here believe that grass runways are more effecient. But the grass runways are generally not usable the same day it rains and often the fields aren't usable the next day either and sometime even the day after that. Why join a club that offers 100 days a year less flying ?
Eventually we lost our neighborhood site and couldn't find another. A few of us joined a club. Most of the gang just quit flying all together. Of the 15 or so of us that flew together, only 3 of us remain and 2 of us fly at a club. The third flys jets. He uses a local airport because he needs a hard surface runway. He drives an hour to get there.
I don't fly 30 days a month anymore. I don't even fly 20. In a good month I will fly 15. In the winter, maybe 6. The field is 45 minutes away. I get home at 3. Its dark at 5. And the weather in Houston in the winter time is one of two things. Its either cold and clear or its warm and raining. Tomorrow will be one of the golden few days when it is both warm and sunny. My friend that flys at the club with me has already planned his escape from work.