Originally Posted by
ECHO24
In 2008, Rich Hanson,
" ... resigned his position [District X VP] and, during a critical time in AMA’s relationship with the FAA, accepted
the challenge to help AMA develop the position of Government and Regulatory Affairs Representative. As a result,
Rich was selected to sit on the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Committee as AMA’s representative to that group. Their
mission was to draft an outline for the soon-to-be-developed Federal Aviation Rule, which would integrate small
unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS).
The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and Section 336 was, "a successful conclusion to the 4 year effort."
4 years dealing with the government is not exactly a "crash course". And we're talking about the 8 years since.
It's great to want to put a positive spin on the AMA, but a lot of this is out of left field.
I didn't say they were all newbies now. I said when this started the AMA was in a position to have to figure it out. A guy (Hanson) who had not been a government relations guy before took on the role and figured it out as he went. Compared to organizations that have been lobbying and advocating to the government for years, like say the NRA, the AMA was very green when the whole regulation push started. So sure, they made mistakes. It's easy to see that now, but it's not fair to evaluate them based on that hindsight or by comparison to much better funded organizations with a lot more experience.