ORIGINAL: STLPilot
But then again Bill what was Muncie way back when and what has it become now? Honeslty I don't really know the answer to that question. But I've been there a few times and it's a pretty sweet facility and looks like something that has been improved over time. The more the AMA keeps the NATS in Muncie, the better it will be year after year. Keep moving it every year, you're just starting from ground zero. You've been to Oshkosh, no, the EAA grand event. Well it's never moved and look what it's become today. Talk about your Graceland for aeromodlers.
Dion,
Way back when, Muncie was and is a wide place in the road to somewhere else. Yes, I've been to Oshkosh many times, but there you have older pilots and owners of light aircraft gathering for the annual event. They don't need to try and drum up business, since people who already own, or are looking to buy tend to gravitate to where the airplanes are. We, the hobbiest, don't already have something like the EAA, or the AOPA, to cause prospective participants to look us up. Most of the newbies either go to a LHS, or in the case of the park fliers, go to the Wally Worlds, etc, and next thing they know, they have an RC airplane. Most of them never heard of the AMA, so your constant comparison between the AMA, EAA, and the AOPA is not valid (at least in my eyes).
You are correct, in that the facility in Muncie is a nice facility. The problem is that who ever goes to Muncie for anything other than the Nats. What percentage of the time is the facility used to the maximum potential? I don't disagree that the AMA needs a National site, I do, however, disagree with where the National facility is located. You have to want to go there to get there. What else is in the vicinity for the remainder of the family to do while we are at the National flying site? I can't help but wonder why the E.C. (at the time) chose Muncie for a National flying site. Didn't they understand that the Moms and Sisters want and need something to occupy thier time while the Dads and sons are out flying, or watching someone flying? (No sexist connotation intended, but historically this has been a Male dominated hobby)
The fact remains, and it is an indisputable fact, there were more attendees at the Nats, when it was a travelling road show. Check the attendance records from the 50's and the early 60's, and see if you don't agree. Back then, the AMA was growing. Can that be said for the membership today?
Bill, AMA 4720