Originally Posted by
Hydro Junkie
I'm going to chime in on this one. While I get where Aymodeler, Jester and PopeyeCharlotte are coming from, I respectfully disagree. My reasons are very simple:
1) Aymodeler says he hasn't found a nice flying site that isn't operated by an AMA sanctioned club. Did you ever wonder why? The AMA has basically made it where anyone that wants to operate a flying field almost has to be sanctioned by the AMA for any of the members of that field to be able to fly anyplace else. For sake of argument, let's say I fly at a local park with an electric foamy. A friend invites me to go flying with him at Marymoor Park's flying field in Redmond Washington. We arrive and I'm not allowed to fly, not an AMA member. Now, all I can do is sit and watch my friend or pay for a membership that I probably won't ever use again. Where's the value in that for me
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Sure, those flying sites require AMA membership. They were started as AMA chartered clubs and use AMA insurance to limit their liability. That's the business model they operate under. So yes, non-AMA members don't like it when they can't fly there.
I'd argue though that most of those clubs and their nice flying sites wouldn't exist at all without the AMA. So there is a net positive effect of the AMA's existence, as the choice really isn't a nice flying site with or without AMA membership required, but rather a flying site with AMA or none at all.