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ORIGINAL: JollyPopper

I don't intend to defend myself over this AMA non mermership thing. As I stated earlier, we were AMA until one day when the self proclaimed AMA cop at our field threw the owner's brother off the field. He did not know it was Jim's brother, but I doubt that would have made any difference to him. This self important AMA member's name is Carl. None of us really liked Carl and his shennanigans was tearing the group apart. He really thought he was the boss even though he had no official status in the club. So when he really belligerently insisted Jim's brother leave the field, Jim's brother went directly to Jim whose business is also on the property. Jim came down and did everything but physically attack Carl. I wasn't aware that Jim even knew some of those words because I had never heard him use them and to this day have not heard him use them again. To make a long story short, Carl has never set foot on the property again and we became non AMA affiliated that day. I have also observed that since that day there has not been any kind of politics or dissension in the group. We are not now AMA and we will never be AMA again as long as we fly on Jim's private property.

I realize that having the AMA insurance backing us up would be a good thing, but it ain't gonna happen as long as we fly at Jim's field. So we have two choices. We can continue to fly at Jim's with everyone getting along very well or we can find another field, join the AMA, and hope nobody comes along who wants to assert himself and use AMA rules to back him up. The politics in that situation got really nasty.

We have all heard the horror stories of how difficult it is to find a decent place to fly.

I choose to stay at Jim's.

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But having AMA would do me no good flying at a non AMA sanctioned field.

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ORIGINAL: JollyPopper

My understanding is that you must be flying at an AMA sanctioned field for the insurance to be good. Correct me if that is wrong,

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ORIGINAL: JollyPopper

One 180 would fly a 15 pound plane, would it not?

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Top_Gunn, can you be in compliance with AMA code and not be at an AMA field? I thought that was the first stimpulation.

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ORIGINAL: eddieC

We routinely fly at AMA sites, and non-AMA sites including public parks, a private airfield and a farm. An AMA member's insurance is in effect as long as they comply with the safety code, as stated. 

There is no upper weight limit. IIRC Mac Hodges' B-29 weighs about 400 lbs. 

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ORIGINAL: K-Bob

Two pages now with a very important point being misstated by several including one who ''sat on the AMA board''. There is one, count along, one AMA sanctioned flying field. It is in Muncie, Indianna on property owned by the AMA. In addition, there is no such thing as an AMA sanctioned club. The AMA sanctions AMA events hosted by AMA chartered clubs.

You are covered as an AMA member for liability anywhere you fly as long as you abide by the AMA safety code. Even if you don't, the AMA will be named in any suit against you and will probably defend itself(you) in court. They might even settle if the legal defense looks sketchy.

There is no AMA stipulation stating that Non-AMA members cannot fly at a site managed by an AMA club or even just a site used by AMA members (as in the OP's case). The only advantage to chartering a club is that you can buy additional insurance for the landowner. Who flies at a site, and their status as AMA members, can only be determined by the landowner. Period. An AMA chartered club can only have AMA members in it, but that has nothing to do with a flying site or who flies there, or what they fly. If the landowner has no problem with folks flying 1000lb. planes off his property then no one else should. In the case of an accident the flyer and the landowner will be on the hook. If the plane is sub-55lb. or has an AMA waiver fro overweight, the AMA will cover the flyer, the landowner, or in reality his insurance carrier, will still be on their own. Believe me, if there is an accident, the lawyers are going to come after everybody.

In the case of the OP, I assume that since the landowner has a business on the property, he is well insured for liability and that he has checked with his insurance company to make sure he is covered for this non-business related activity.