That's exactly my point Brad, that there is a fundamental shift in the culture of the generations. It's not the cost of the membership, it's the perceived value of the membership. As far as I can see, the AMA essentially provides two services to the majority of its 170,000 members - insurance and government relations (for radio frequencies and right to land use). The clubs provide a venue to participate.

The young people who are getting involved in motorsports sanctioning are doing so with the motive of profit at the forefront of their involvement. They are a business and provide a service. I don't know enough to know if this sort of movement has already happened within the R/C community, but it wouldn't surprise me if a new sanctioning body moved in and began chipping away at AMA's 7-10 million dollar revenue stream.

There simply isn't a sufficient motivating factor for the younger generation to volunteer and deal with the hassle. There are too many other hobbies that do not require or have the expectation of "Giving Back." Again, I'm not saying it's right, or fair or cool to be selfish - I'm just stating my observations of the majority of the participants of the various hobbies I've been involved in.

I believe most of the young people participate in activities with an eye on a "hassle factor." If the hassle outweighs the reward, it just doesn't get done. Let's look at some factors limiting why some people may choose not to participate.

Convienience is a large part of why this hobby isn't even more popular. I'm lucky to have nice large park 10 blocks away from my house. I can go fly every evening after work for a half hour if I wanted (weather permitting). A major limitation is space. When I was growing up, BMX was king. I was into that too, but when all the vacant lots in the neighborhood got built up, we didn't have anywhere to do our thing after school - and the only place we could build big dirt jumps was the trackso we stopped.

Another is flying a plane is simply not easy to do. It takes determination and skill. I recently told a friend about my plane and he decided he wanted one. I recommended he buy a Slo-V to learn with - and also recommended he not fly it without me around to help him. He went out and flew it anyway, cracked the fuse and practically begged me to buy it from him for $100. I'm still working on helping him get the courage to fly it some more and get good at it.

IF AMA wants young blood, they need to realize a fundamental shift in the culture of hobby enthusiasts has occured and react accordingly. Personally, I don't think it's in their best interest. What I believe AMA should do is continue to operate with their existing structure and embrace and cater to the people who love their mission, vision and culture. Keep the "old farts" running the organization. They often have the passion for and are best equipped to run a club.

If it hasn't happened already, a competitive private insurance and event coordination company will likely come in and pull half their members away with a new service more diirectly catering the younger market.

The benefits are two-fold 1. More products available for the market which will force competition among sanctioning bodies leading to creative and aggressive promotional campaigns. 2. Those who don't like the way AMA is run can find a home with a competitive organization - leading to less crowded flying fields, more flying time and more pleasurable experiences.

Both of these benefits will likely create an increase in pleasurable participation in the hobby.

Now, the only question is, who is best qualified to create a competitive sanctioning body? An alliance of the manufacturers of park flyers, of course.