Let me try to be a little clearer, since my post was a little misunderstood...

I don't think anybody should be forced, persuaded, or encouraged to pay for instruction. I have tremendous respect for the volunteers that give so freely of their time for the satisfaction of helping others. They are some of my heros. In no way would I say anything that disrespects them.

Like others, I am just asking for the OPTION. For the clubs where free instruction meets the needs of all the students, more power to them. Paid instructors would get no business at that field, and there is no fight.

The reason I mentioned the AMA is that there are currently STRUCTURAL barriers to paid instruction at AMA clubs, and only the AMA can remove them. In other words, currently, for almost everybody who doesn't want to travel to Monterray, paid instruction is NOT AN OPTION, due to AMA policies.

What I support is for the AMA leadership to understand that volunteer instruction is not working at all clubs, and is not working for all students, and with small low-cost changes, they could lift the barrier. While I do believe that over time paid instruction would become the norm, I could be wrong, and it might never be the norm at certain clubs where you have volunteers passionate about free instruction.

There is a huge debate whether paid instruction would increase or decrease interest in flying. I think it would increase interest, but if I'm wrong, no harm would be done, since it wouldn't catch on. We'd simply look back and say, "Yeah we tried paid instructors in the 2000's, but it never caught on with the students."