Most of the misunderstandings about the AMA come at the club level where you are simply told that you have to have an AMA card to be a member of the club. The clubs take the line of least resistance and do not explain what the AMA is and what it is not.
To be fair. Most clubs require you to have AMA for the insurance coverage. NOT because of the magazine, for ama events or to further model aviation ..... Only because of the Insurance. So you say ama isn't an insurance organization but without the insurance feature of the ama, the ama would dramatically decrease and clubs would not require you to have it!!!
EVERYTHING from the clubs point of view revolves around the insurance!!!
Jon