Originally Posted by
init4fun

Mike , I hate like Hell to believe this , but here goes ;
I have come to the belief that the AMA sees it's only future in two things , #1 being Drones and #2 being the ability to get itself positioned as the only authority over ALL non commercial UAS flight . It is also my belief that they are perfectly willing to gamble us "traditional" LOS RC flyers rights away to get what they think they need to survive , a monopoly on all non commercial UAS . We "traditional" RCers are not seen as the AMA's future , we're already seen as it's past , and that's the reason the AMA never came right out and made the distinction between RC LOS and BLOS , cause they are banking on their being NO distinction between the two and in fact want to be in control of all of both !
It never has been about "saving" the "traditional" LOS flyer from excessive regulation , It's about the AMA insuring IT'S survival , whether our part of the hobby survives or not ! In the future , if AMA membership isn't somehow mandated by the FAA , The AMA will cease to exist as it's quite obvious where the hobby is headed and folks who need no club fields really won't have much need of clubs , including right on up to the biggest club , the AMA .
I agree but will add it will never work. The government would never give up that kinda power to a CBO. Why would these guys not have the same right of control over all non commercial UAS flight?
http://www.dontflystupid.org/
Either way I really don't see that AMA as a player in all of this anyway. The kind of money Amazon and so on are pouring into lobbying for the rights to our airspace is astronomical compared to what the AMA has spent. The AMA along with us are just viewed as pests that can be sweep away with the stoke of a pen for the right price.
Mike