Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

With the dust clearing on the "Drone" thing, at least for the time being what are we all going to do with our time here?

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Bashing the AMA and each other seems to be keeping a few quite busy!

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

I do not for a minute believe the Drone thing is over. All of the AMA members that care are busy putting stickers on their planes and drones, but the person with more money than brains is still going to run into the local Hobby Shop and buy a drone. There is not a Drone being sold today with any paperwork in it that tells you to get an FAA number and I am willing to bet that most Hobby Shop sales folks are not going to tell them they need a number. What is astonishing to me is that there are folks in the government that think this is going to fix anything. To me it is like pounding a cork in the end of a gun barrel and stating that you have fixed gun violence. I have installed my numbers on my planes and I am in compliance with the new rules, however I wonder what is coming up next when these people that dreamed this up realize that this program is not working.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

I hear ya' Dave, saw a post on a FPV Tank........boy that could be another BAG OF WORMS, one only has to use his imagination to see the potential for wrongdoing. Hope AMA stays the heck out of that one.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

That's simply untrue. Best Buy has paperwork attached to the units they are selling that clearly explain the registration process. Their sales people have gone through specific training to address the registration process AND safe flying.

The other comments about people having more money than sense is just more second guessing and shortchanging those that do buy, and choose to fly safely, as well as shops. There are shops out there that are trying hard.

The registration isn't supposed to "fix" anything, it's an educational program as well as a preventive one, and also will be a punitive one if needed.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

It's all CYA, amazing how hysterical people get

raptureboy

O.k I'll bite. Lets complain about the loss of flying sites going on all over the country, and not because of the drone issue. My club just lost it's site of 18 years due to a change in land ownership, and we are finding out just how hard it is becoming to find a new one. zoning, development, land preservation and even other clubs refusing new members are creating a real crisis. Even though we are located in an agricultural area we find that farmers are not interested in leasing land to a bunch of grown men and their toys. When you do find a place and invest several thousand dollars into a new field some developer will come along and build houses next to you and then the neighbors complain to the local government and your getting tossed out again. This is where the AMA should be using it's resources to establish new flying sites. If we have no place to fly then we have no need for an AMA. Just think how far a million dollars would have gone in purchasing land for modelers to fly. Instead of just one big site in Muncie what if there were regional sites in high population areas where flying sites are needed? They could be open to any AMA member to fly at instead of having to belong to a small club that may or may not let you in based on what you fly or who you know. Chew on that for a while.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

Interesting you brought that up, had coffee this am with a flying buddy and this was a topic we discussed. Our field is on State land and subject to re-possession when they need it as a gravel pit. Grim thought, then the question of where to go?
Our hobby sure has it's own set of problems!

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

The logic here seems faulty. The AMA wasn't set up so that it could go find flying sites for people. They provide assistance in setting up a field after the members have put their own equity into the project, usually both in terms of sweat equity and cash. Sorry, as a dues paying member I don't want my dues going to some club across the country that didn't do their due diligence in getting their own field.

I fail to see that logic that if a club can't manage their field on their own, or can't find one, somehow this is something the AMA should be doing. If the locals can't do it, how exactly is the AMA supposed to do it? The locals are the ones who should be maintaining not only the field, but a relationship with the property owners, be it a public or private entity. This isn't the AMA's responsibility in any way. And almost always the complaint about the field in Muncie. Total straw man argument, similar to all the other cost cutting measures (get rid of the building, cut salaries, etc etc ) all so that clubs have more for themselves.

Not sure about your specific field, but most times properties just don't sell overnight. Was there warning, a chance for the members to chip in and buy the property. If so, and the cost was to much, is it your position that the AMA should step in and pay? Any club on land they don't own should be planning for something like this. All the more reason to build and maintain relationships with the owners. Do the clubs involved them in any way? If the town owns the land, is the town involved, does the club host events for the town etc etc. Are the clubs involved with Scouts, or with the schools. As for other clubs, it's probably natural that a club might not want a huge influx of people all at once. It's usually nice to be able to be part of multiple clubs for many reasons, this issue being one of them.

Finally, the AMA did help 33 different fields last year, to the tune of about $1,000 each. Were you aware of this? Also, what has your club done in terms of reaching out to the AMA for help here? Have you involved any of your local AVPs? There are 14 in your district, 4 of them in your state. Have you reached out to your VP at all? Another member here complained about the lack of help they were getting from the AMA but eventually confirmed they never completed the application process, which at the end of the day is pretty easy. The resources can't be put to use if they don't know there is a problem. At a minimum, they might be able to contact local clubs in your area and see about them waiving the membership caps.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/members...p-getsite.aspx

raptureboy

In answer to your questions yes, we have done our part, as a matter of fact one of our members is an assoc. v.p. I started this thread to get others feedback http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/club...our-field.html We lost our field because the property owner died and left it to his wife and daughter and the daughter took control from the mother and she didn't like us so she made it difficult for us to stay by placing undue restrictions on us to the point where it became nearly impossible to fly anything but a foamy. My point which I think you missed was why not pool the resources of AMA members and establish permanent flying sites in highly populated areas where more people will have access. Just like what small farmers do to compete against large agri companies,form a co-op. How many clubs do you know that can afford $100,000 or more to purchase 5-10 acs for a flying site? If the AMA were to establish such sites in cooperation with AMA members then a separate club would not be needed and more people would be able to enjoy a top notch facility rather than just a select few. You would simply pay your AMA dues and fly. Since most of us pay upwards of $100 a year to belong to a club why not just lump it all in and increase dues. A member would be able to fly at any AMA field across the country. Say what you will but I believe that model aircraft flying as we know it is becoming a dying hobby and there won't be enough new blood to support it in another 20 years. Look at the avg age of the members of most clubs, they are like myself, over 50 and becoming smaller and smaller all the time. Our club has been in existence for over 50 years and is less than 50 members now from a high of over 150,and most are over 70 and falling out of the hobby each time we get the boot from a field. I am not a drone hater but lets face it the people I know that fly drones don't care about joining a club or need to for that matter, and we who are the traditional hobbyist will not have any place to fly soon and will leave the hobby and then who will support the AMA? Really a whole 33 clubs? $33,000? Compared to over a million spent trying to convince the FAA we need drones? Now there's a straw argument.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

Yes it is a dying sport. It became that way when the Chinese made it a buy and fly sport. At our field, the activity is less than 1/2 the activity it was a year ago. But the member count is the same. Its just that you can buy a P-51 and go out and run it around the field a few times and it just gets old. You don;t even have to learn how to fly it. You can just steer it around like driving a car. The challenge is gone.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Hum,,
First off,, IMO, It's never been a "sport", it's a hobby

also,
Seams to me State & Federal Gov.policies have made it more profitable to build our toys, and most other things, in China,, ya can't really blame the Chinese for that. It's mostly USA based companies manufacturing these things over there. Let's be real.