Originally Posted by
combatpigg
Red, anyone who tries to minimize our negative reaction to recent developments, is taking a page right out of Baghdad Bob's Cookbook.
The AMA as a virtual monopoly finds itself in the unique position where they can pretty well do anything they want short of selling the complex in Muncie and running off to Argentina.
As the only supplier of services for what amounts to a non-essential part of our lives they know that nothing they do at HQ would ever be enough to fear mobs of angry subscribers showing up with torches and pitchforks looking for "accountability".
Outside of any individuals at HQ who abandon their posts, I doubt we will see any sense of shame or blame exhibited by the leadership any time soon
It's not the fact that there is a minimization of the anger and frustration to what has gone on, it's more the empty sloganeering that occurs as a result of it. If someone is going to blame the AMA for this (and completely absolve the FAA), and try to spark some type of uprising, it's fair game I think to ask for specific remedies, what's the plan stan? If people are happy with empty trite overused sayings like "we need change", and "lets get new leadership", well then they can pump their fist and say hell ya, that's what we need, then move on to the next thread. Serve up a viable alternative to what we currently have, and if it's a good idea, people will follow.
As for the monopoly, that's not something to blame the AMA for, that's just a reality that they are the best at what they do. Nobody can touch them, or come close. And everyone who laments that they are the only ones in town, and do nothing about that, have only themselves to blame. Impotent, ineffective, and lacking the ability to try it on their own. If only someone with the keen insights of this hobby could step up and try, after all, someone did 25 years ago. What a sad commentary. But hey, they can complain about it here, that will help. While not perfect, because who is, the folks at HQ have nothing to be ashamed of, at least they are doing
something.
So along those lines, I've started researching an alternative to the AMA, after all it's just insurance that landowners want right? No bells and whistles, not perks, no help to clubs, just straight up liability protection for a group of people who want to fly on both privately owned as well as publicly owned land. I'll be starting off at lower limits of protection that what the AMA provides, so it won't exactly be an apples to apples comparison, but one would think I could get a better deal with lower limits. Stay tuned, once I start getting more info I'll start a thread and we can discuss it there.