ORIGINAL: abel_pranger
//snip//
They and other mfgrs seem to well understand what a PF is, and AMA would do well to learn from them - that is, if AMA should be in the PF arena at all, and I do have some serious reservations about that.
PFs tend to be independents, and AMA has an utterly club-centric view of model aviation, and demonstrated collective mindset that organized, exclusionary clubs are the only way to fly (and for AMA to stay in business). That, along with the view of most public entities that the public parks they administer should remain open to the public and not privatized by clubs, etc. are the primary reasons AMA's push to get into the PF market will fail.
Abel
The world is changing by the square by the day. Regardless of MY PERSONAL DESIRES, if AMA wants to survive, then AMA needs to get interested in electrics as the modeling public along with all the newcomers are doing. Electrics do nothing for me however they are tomorrow's power plants. However I have already predicted my thoughts for AMA's future which will come to pass because the average modeler doesn't give a da_n whether AMA flies or falls.
Got this today from the Club's CD for our annual Pattern meet.
>>>>> "The 5th Annual Jetero Pattern Classic on June 03-04, 2004 in Houston Texas is now history and proved to be a great success. We had hoped for 20 contestants and ended up with 26 contestants. We had contestants from all over Texas and Louisiana - a major regional event and a traveler as far away as Hancock, New York !!. " //snip//
"
This regional event featured both glow fueled and electric powered airplanes.
Electric airplanes took the top spots in FAI, and Advanced classes. There were no crashes or mid air collisions which was really good news and no one was injured by props."
<<<<<<<
The guys flying these electrics will be flying at the NATs and they are the guys that set the pace.
It takes a while but big changes are going to happen in this sport of model aviation. Glow and Gas will be here for many many years but will soon be the lesser of power plants.
The new blood lives in the fancy additions around the urban areas. Like when I was a kid I saw and fell in love with CL by watching those big "OLDER" high-school fellows flying in the baseball field or whatever was available. Today's youth will have that same interest in RC foamies, etc.
In such case that AMA should actually desire to return to and remain an organization for modelers, then they need to get their lard-butts down where the action and current trends are!. [:-]