ORIGINAL: Wings of Peril
[I certainly hope the AMA does not go to bat for noise makers. We should ALL be looking for ways to reduce noise so we can piss off less people. The more we ignore this problem, the more anti-noise legislation you will see. ]ORIGINAL: piper_chuck
Supporting its members should be a primary function of any organization and for each of us; failure to stand behind your fellow modelers is short-sighted and ultimately could be a bigger show-stopper than caving in to every complainer-or not giving up on IC engines completely. I happen to like high performance sport planes and always use a muffler but we also have to think about our brethren who enjoy even noisier models like racers, gassers, large scale, helicopters, turbines and even surface vehicles if we want the hobby and the industry to remain healthy.
Supporting fitting in with the local community and standing up to unfair restrictions, yes. Supporting the small percentage of people who insist on exercising their right to do whatever the heck they want, absolutely not. AMA should encourage fitting in with the rest of society, not coddling people who never figured out how to get along with others. People in other countries are often under much more strict noise limitations than us, but amazingly, they still manage to have just as much fun.