Originally Posted by
tedsander
What was your methodology for sleuthing? Public records? Club web sites? How many clubs did you find yourself researching (if that question applies)? Are there records (even if not a complete list) of clubs that have requested higher limits, and how they requested?
Going strictly by the above first post, it appears really only one club so far has been approved.
It would be more meaningful if we had an idea as to how many might be "in queue", or might have been denied from even applying by one entity or another, before we extrapolate ("big club, near major cities, in controlled airspace, and have big population of large aircraft and jet flyer") what it might take to get approval.
I did some initial digging via word searches on forums, then made some educated guesses from there. Of course this is all necessary, for as we see from BC's post below, AMA will not give anything except generalalities. For example, look no further than the most recent post from our esteemed EC member:
Originally Posted by
BarracudaHockey
There's a number of clubs that have completed SRM's...(emphasis added)
"
A number?" Is that one, two, ten, or twenty? Why can't (or won't) he give specifics? The AMA EC knows (or has available to it) how many were initiated, how many completed, what FAA limits were before the LOA, and what they were after. And yet the absence of details, and our EC member's unwillingness to give specifics, is significant. After all, if they're doing such a bang up job and generating such success, then why not give details? Why not post on the website? Why not be transparent? But again, they're not. And we need to be contemplating why.
The most obvious answer is of course that what they're actually achieving may not be all that significant. And remember, AMA has huge incentive to "spin" their results, i.e. "... a number of ...". And that incentive is membership $$$. So to our esteemed EC member, "Give us specifics."
Originally Posted by
BarracudaHockey
It has nothing to do with money or what you're flying, though clubs that host jets, IMAC and gliders are certainly more motivated towards getting their waivers.
IF that's true, then one would think you'd be more than happy to share details so we can see for ourselves what you're saying is true. Or is are we, the unwashed masses, not to be trusted with information?