YNOT

The by-laws of the AMA include, as a purpose for the existence of the AMA, the following statement in article II, Purposes: “(m) To license model aircraft and fliers thereof for competition.” Although competition is not as big a part of the AMA as it once was, the promotion of competition is still a major reason for the existence of the AMA. Call it a license, a membership or simply an AMA card, as you please. Letting people leave with the impression that the AMA is no more than an insurance company is counterproductive to the AMA. It seems to me that hobby shops, above all other places, have the duty to explain the AMA to customers. Without AMA chartered clubs, many RC focused hobby shops would cease to exist. Explain why it is a license, and go forward.

The subject of trial memberships is one that annoys me beyond reason. The EC made the commitment to trial memberships. Advertising was placed in other magazines, at hobby shows, and the money to promote the new program was spent. Why does it annoy me? The HQ staff, although fully aware of the effort, dropped the ball. The AMA website, which was referenced in the ads was not ready, although there was substantial lead time. The initial reaction to the program had no place to go for fulfillment, not just for days, but for months. Perhaps the new ED, who, among other things, is a previous EC member, will be able to set the priorities of staff members and have those priorities acted upon. Maybe we will see a realignment of resources to reflect the goals set forth by the EC, instead of having those resources redirected by non-staff individuals, who believe the crisis du jour is more important. Certainly, a part of the effort to promote trial memberships could have and should have included hobby shops.

YNOT, you might have your dad contact Sandy Frank, your AMA VP. Dr. Frank has been active in trying to establish programs for indoor park flying, among other things. Sandy asked for volunteers to help sometime back. I posted his request here. Has your shop volunteered? There are a lot of us that would agree that the potential for growth in the AMA exists NOW, in numbers never before seen due to the inexpensive park flyers. You and your dad are on the firing line. You probably have substantially more to do with the way the AMA is viewed than even a club does.

While I do not understand the attitude, and personally oppose it, there are clubs that do not want new members, spectators, or even their existence known. They do not want the AMA telling them how to run their clubs. While there appear, arguably, to be some efforts to tell clubs how to be run, the basic approach has been, and still is, for the AMA to keep their hands off. Telling those clubs they must be nice to newbies would be fruitless, and potentially, counterproductive.

The way we have, as a group, received inquiries has always been suspect. How much? I spent $2000 for this plane alone. How often do you crash? As a new pilot, you will probably crash a lot. Why do I need an AMA membership? Insurance. The simple fact is that we, as individuals, are asked so many times, over the years, that we become calloused to the newbie. It’s going to be hard to change that.

Just as a last thought, you might mention to your dad that contacting the members of the EC might be more effective in changing the operation of the AMA than contacting staff.