Originally posted by Bill Vargas
Jr, I'd have to say that if the RC Flight Instructor is appointed by the club,,, then he or she (Flight Instructor-Trainee) should be covered by the clubs insurance policy(?) or by the AMA's Intro Pilot Program,,, in the event of a mishap or damage caused by an accident.
BAH HUM BUG to those that charge the New Guy for learning how to fly RC airplanes. Training the New Guy is suppose to be done for FREE and in the Spirit of Promoting RC 
OOPS, forgot to answer your question,,,
Should AMA Insurance Cover Commercial Training?
Answer- NO
BV
Bill,
I am not sure how the club's appointment might change anything. Most clubs (well, at least my club) pays the extra cost of the "Intro Pilot" ticket ($5 each) and absorbs that cost as part of our giving back to the community. Our intro guys generally get 4 or 5 new guys a year EACH, so we think that is a good investment. As long as instruction is not charged for, other than the membership requirement after 30 days or with out using the Intro pilot guys, all parties are covered by AMA insurance under the current rules.
On a side note, I do not believe that instructors should be appointed by the club unless there is a testing program in effect. Simple appointments become political hot potatoes and some of the appointees couldn't train their way out of a wet paper bag with a pair of scissors. But they get appointed because they are friends with XYZ and WQRT so they must be good instructors. Sorry, instruction is a technique some folks are unable to learn.
I know a LHS owner who does charge for lessons, but he flys at a private field. I have seen his 'results' and teach them the finer points of flying safely. His 'instructions' are not welcome at most of the club fields in the area because of the financial issues. If an individual charges for his time and effort, he is taking club resources and benefiting from them. Most club members look at paid instruction in that manner.
Now to directly answer JR's question. Those with ARF's and no patience will not get more patience if we allow their instructors to fly at our fields and charge them. Most renters of cars buy insurance, do students who are paying the instructor do the same? If that were true, wouldn't the student join the club where instruction is free?
Sorry, I do not think the AMA should support commercial training operations simply because they do not build the hobby. The instant gratification will soon wear off those checkbook modelers and they will (and do in droves) go away. The real problem with providing coverage for commercial training operations is that the implication is that the student does not buy a policy (AMA membership). That means that the AMA has more risk and less resources to absorb that excess risk.
Providing insurance for commercial training operations will only increase the available numbers of "try it for a while" folks who pass through. Raw numbers of turnover help the hobby INDUSTRY by providing a large changing market, but that is only a temporary blip in the income stream rather than a trend shown by a modeler who is in this hobby for fun.
My opinion