No, he joined our club because he wanted to learn to fly and we were the local club that will can/will help him!!

According to our agreement with the facility that we fly at, everyone must have insurance in case of an accident and to eliminate the liability of the VA center..... As we chose the ama to cover the insurance requirements for our lease, we told him that he must join the ama for that reason. Since it is an ama sanctioned field, everyone that flies there per the ama must be a member of the ama. Now whether this is because the ama wants to make sure that everyone flying at the field has insurance coverage or that's it just an easy guarantee of extra money is another subject.....

I think we've kind of got this thing backwards. We didn't find the ama then decide that it was a worthy cause, then go and create a flying site/club for airplanes, jets and helicopters so that we could further the ama. Thru the ama we obtained the insurance required so that we would be allowed to pursue our interest in flying which allows US to create interest thru the neighborhood and city about aviation. The people involved in the hobby are the ones which give life to the r/c community, not the organization. I think if the ama were to fold (no I don't want this to happen!!) that another organization would take it's place. I also think that instead of competing against or filtering (ie, not allowing to participate in competitions etc) other organizations involved in the hobby, the organizations should be working together if what they really want is just to promote the hobby!!!! Jon