ORIGINAL: makmov
</p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 8pt">I joined a club because I was getting more serious about flying, and flying bigger Warbirds and that little public place wasn’t going to cut it. The club who will remain nameless was VERY AMA pro AMA proactive, seemed very well organized and was the biggest club around. It also had money. It was the absolute worst club I ever belong too. High and mighty, pompous, unfriendly and unhelpful, I wanted to fly Warbirds and all they did was telling me I can’t. I can’t do this, I can’t do that. I don’t have enough money, equipment, stick time, I need to progress through 45 different airplanes, (I get it, I get the progress concept, but I don’t how ridiculous they were trying to make it) pretty much Warbirds were for a small group of elitist snobs and wanted to keep it that way. There were some other things going there that just made the whole experience miserable.
</span>
Makmov, you made me realize how lucky I am. I started flying a year ago in a small club here, which call themselves an outlaw club but are AMA members. Outlaw, because the rules are kept to an absolute minimum but safety rules still apply. The people are just the opposite of what you described in the snob club. If it wasn't for these people, I would not be near where I am in the RCsport right now. This could be good or bad depending if you ask my wife. LOL I now have 8 airplanes ranging from a 40 size Stearman biplane to a 30% Extra 260 with a DLE55. I started the sport to fly 3D and done pretty well but these peoplehave also got me into pylon racing which is absolutely great fun and other activities!!! I guess if it were not for these people, I would still be crashing foam planes in the park orhave quit altogether from frustration. My point is that these people educated me and helped me love this sport more than I ever expected. Oh, and my instructor sold me a warbird as my second plane which I still fly, P-51 and our club does not have a porta-potty either. LOL
I joined the AMA for the insurance, plain and simple. It was recommended by my instructor, and I was glad I did when I was teaching my Dad to fly at a different airfield which required an AMA membership (they would not have let me use the field if I was not). The magazine was a great surprise of the membership. I love it. But something I really like about the AMA which I had never considered, is the protecting of my rights as a modeler similar to the NRA and guns. Our wonderful government continues to want to takeour rights away from us in the name of national security and the AMA helps protect us from this. That is more important to me than the insurance, magazine or whether I can fly on another club's field, because without protection, I truly feel we would all have to be RENEGADE pilots as makmov statedexcept it would beillegal.
</div>