Gentlemen,

Newbie to this discussion, but as a r/c combat pilot, one of the first things in my mind is always safety.

I have a few (may or may not be valid) points that I think I should make.

1. I will not speculate as to final results of the AMA’s wishes on the safety officer position, but I will use my home club as an example;
- “Safety Officer” is the chairperson of the “Safety Committee” This committee of which I am a member is charged with maintaining field rules, safety inspections at club events, and hopefully gentle reminders to members at the field when it is seem they are flying in an unsafe manner.
- ALL members of our club are charged with the duties of being field marshals/safety persons
So if they see something out of the ordinary, it is their/our responsibility to mention items that a person might change to fly in a safer manner.
- Our club Vice-President is the “Chief Flight Instructor”. He runs regular “Ground Schools”
For new student’s and club members who wish to freshen up on their safe starting, handling procedures.
- It is highly recommended that “new” students go through these safety courses.
- Instructors are charged with the responsibility of teaching not only flight, but also good field practices.

2. If the AMA wants reports of “accidents” filed by the club safety officer, maybe they should better
define what constitutes an accident. Do they want reports on every crash, or do they want reports on
circumstances resulting in major personal injury. Here a better definition (more clarity) would most likely due a greater service to the membership in the long run, as major accidents can be investigated and safety recommendations made in a timely fashion as they are needed. (Maybe I am discussing what is already in place, or I am seeing a “perfect” world that will not exist)
-MAAC is dealing with a major accident right now. MAAC has requested a moratorium on on-line forum discussion of the
accident so that all details can be reviewed by MAAC and the local Police. I think that this is wrong, because discussion (without
names obviously) would be healthy for the membership. Also a statement from MAAC would be
a good thing, pertaining to the incident and a possibility of steps being taken in the future to
avoid future incidents.

3. Bill O. is my district VP. I have found him to be very straight forward. I cannot believe that he would make any recommendations to the EC that were not in the best interest of the membership. Yes, I agree that he might have overstepped the bounds of the charter for his committee. I think that his recommendations may be good, though I think some on this forum (no disrespect intended) may have taken them far too literally.
4. Our club is one of the largest in our area (250+ members). We have a very comprehensive safety program in place at our field. This program does not interrupt the day to day operation of the field, or it’s use. We are very proud that Bill O. and his AVP’s regularly use our field and club as an example for safe setup and operation

Enough for Now,

Jay Lawless
AMA member
RCCA member/state rep
AMA Contest Director