FlyBoy, I obviously don't know any info on the clubs you mentioned. However, I seems reasonable to me to assume that clubs that host events, even non-competition events, are doing a better job of promoting the hobby to other modelers and the public than clubs that don't host events. In my area, local clubs that don't host events are stale in my opinion, but it is just that... my opinion.

To all: I think too often people look at the AMA as just an insurance company, which of course they are not. The AMA offers a lot to modelers as many have pointed out in this thread and others. You may not compete, you may hate the mag, you may never travel to Muncie, but all these things strive toward uniting modelers across the states and promoting the hobby.

Just take competition for example, most don't compete. But for those of us that do we demand a lot from our equipment. We encourage companies to make better planes, better engines, better servos. What we considered "top of the line" a few years ago is now the sport version that the average joe owns and runs in his Sunday plane. Organized competition and national exposure plays a large part in this. The magazine is just one media of many the AMA uses to promotes the hobby.

Cheers