We need the AMA if we want to continue enjoying this hobby, and as you all know, no organization can please the entire membership, because there are always two sides of the coin. I have belonged to AMA for 61 consecutive years, and in my opinion it has only gotten better as time has progressed. It's not easy govering all types of models, like R/C, Free- flight, U-control. Electrics, Indoor rubber, or whatever. It's only natural for R/C'rs to complain when the AMA does something special for Free-flight, and vice versa. However, we are all in this together, (much like Republicans and Democrats - but all Americans), so it behooves us all to support AMA even though there are times when one doesn't agree with their final decisions, that are usually made to benefit the majority of modelers.

I joined the AMA in 1941, but I only have an old license dated 1945, so I can only take you back that far. That license cost five bucks ($5.00), and for that you did not get a magazine, but had insurance as follows:

1. $25.00 for each model lost in a building destroyed by lightning, fire, or explosion - excluding loss by self ignition.

2. $25.00 for each model destroyed in a vehicle accident, excluding bicycles, motorcycles, and motorscooters.

3. Public liability for bodily injuries - $500.00 maximum.

4. Public property damage - any one accident - $500.00 max.

In those days, it was all free-flight, and some U-control, but no R/C of any description. In 1945, a new car cost approx. $1000.00. That same car today would probably cost $25,000.00.
Using that same ratio then, the dues today should be somewhere about $175.00 per member - but they aren't - they are only 1/3 that amount. And since 1945, R/C has blossomed into AMA's largest component that must also be insured. There are still some die-hard free-flighters, and some U-controlers that make up the AMA membership that could care less about R/C'rs,
- but we are still in this together. $58.00 for dues that give you insurance protection, and a fairly good magazine, is still a bargain in my opinion.