Originally Posted by
porcia83
The AMA threads are traditionally negative in nature, pretty much no matter where you go. They are an organization that most of us belong to, many of us appreciate, and a small percentage here do not. The thread here also serve as a platform to complain about the FAA and Federal govt as well, rightfully so in many instances. For the most part I would say almost everyone here enjoys the hobby at the end of the day, however again, there is a small percentage that are vocal about the changes they have seen of late, ie the introduction of "non traditional" aircraft in the hobby. Change is difficult to accept sometimes.
I've been accused of that, but in fact I have no real problem with non-traditional aircraft, i.e. multirotors, in the hobby with the reasonable condition that they are operated under the same rules that are applied to traditional hobby aircraft. There should be no special rules crafted to accommodate them.
I do have a problem with the AMA's pursuit of the
commercial sUAS market, whether involving traditional aircraft or not. It is clear that is where AMA is headed, for example in the Senate version of the FAA Re-authorization Bill. AMA favors it over the house version, as it includes a clause that would grant AMA (as the only qualifying non-profit CBO) monopoly concessions in conduct of sUAS operator training. It's highly unlikely the market for such training will come from the ranks of hobbyists. So yeah, having our hobby models lumped in with commercial unmanned aircraft by the organization that supposedly protects us from the regulatory process is change I won't accept quietly.