Joe
but what exactly is AMA about and can I join if I am still flying electric? And also why do people say it is "mandatory" if I want to fly nitro (as I would like to do one day). Is it legal to fly nitro planes in a park??
A) AMA is a member organization for model aviation enthusiasts. Its members range from the young to the ancient, men & women that share a love of the hobby. Ini ts latter half of existence, it has expanded its member services to offer magazines, insurance, and even has started doing congressional lobbying for (itself / the hobby)
B) AMA was built on, and relied some decades on, the belief that all modeling is the same and we all pay the same.. from quarterpound Rubber FreeFlight , to 100lb giant models, rubber / electric / nitro / Turbines and gliders... we are all just the same AMA member. Recently AMA started offering a discount membership tier with less service and features and magazine, expressly for small slow electrics for almost half the regular AMA price: 2lb <60mph, <200' alt and cutrate insurance far FAR below AMA standard insurance.
C) The reason people say its mandatory are usually of two camps: Many times, local AMA clubs have entered lease agreemenst with landowners and have put a requirement to have all flyers be AMA members. Also many times clubs are mistakenly believing AMA requires all flyers at the club be AMA members. The other camp is just members trying to sell more AMA memberships by telling folks its mandatory.
D) Legal? There is no federal ban on flying model airplanes. There are no state bans on flying model airplanes. Many cities/countys have adopted local laws restricting modeling on city/county property (like say a park [:@]) .
If you got the moxie, ask the local parks department what the rules are to use the park. Do NOT ask if XXXX is forbidden, cause the easy thing for some lazy public worker to do is just make up an answer like NO, and you are hosed. Heck, we even saw an electric club claim a schoolyard was electric only, but when I asked the school they didnt say that. Ask the city what the rules are, and if they dont tell show you a rule against it, then you are golden. Also, do not ask if "Nitro Airplanes" are allowed,
you want to know if flying models is allowed, and if they have a rule against nitro then they should show it to you when you ask for all the rules.
I say 'if you got the moxie',
cause what are you going to do if you find out the parks have been
No Model Airplanes this whole time?