My understanding is that the FRIA will enable aircraft that currently can not be upgraded with remote ID to continue to be flyable until a time when industry will have add on remote ID available or the FAA thinks that FRIA aircraft ( traditional airplanes ) will have all worn out or crashed. It may also be FAA's way of keeping us traditional guys corralled.

I invision that those who do not want to fly at a FRIA site will mostly be the MR or RTF group, not all but most. These aircraft will be the first available with remote ID as standard. Building model airplanes from kits or scratch is a dying activity. I think the FAA is well aware of this and think we will all be happy flying RTF with remote ID. Again not everyone but as we know the government works in averages.

I don't know of any other solution to keep aircraft that can't be upgraded to remote ID flying. As you know, I beleive that there are well over $100M worth of said airplanes out there. I simply can not and will not support a system where we simply take a loss on that much money.

There are clubs out there that will trade Field maintenance for membership. It's usually a good deal for retired guys as the tasks are usually best done during a weekday.

Now for the hard reality, to avoid having to join the AMA some sort of substitute liability insurance has to be provided. A FRIA site is going to require the insurance plain and simple. As of right now AMA is the only option there. I get that many are not happy with the way AMA is run. I too feel that if they are to survive they need to make changes and right now. Obviously that does not bother me nearly as much as it bothers others. I really only require 3 things from the AMA, these are access to AMA club sites, ability to participate in events and the liability insurance. Since 1977 AMA has has not dropped the ball on any of those items.

Do I think the HQ is more then needed? Yes. Where to cut? I don't know. I remember what a huge pain it was to have the NATs change locations each year. They were always understaffed and the flying sites were usually not appropriate for the event. I have not made it to Muncie for the NATs but have hopes of doing so. I would also like to visit the museum. I agree that a very small percentage of AMA members will ever make it to Muncie but all the members have the opportunity to do so.