To me this is a hiderance to promotion of the hooby. I learned to fly back in the mid eighties and did not have to do anything but show up. Now before I was allowed to solo, I had to provide proof of AMA membership and club membership but that was only if I wanted to fly without instruction.

I understand the whole liability issues but to me it is just more red tape. Give a new guy the buddy box and teach him to fly. If he likes it and progresses, he will join the club and the AMA. Sure I guess there are some people who would learn to fly then go fly by themselves but flying by yourself is not much fun.

We had a group of pilots that met every Sunday at a local field (not a club site). We were not even a club, but we all carried our AMA insurance and taught numerous people to fly without know about the intro pilot program. I guess we broke the rulles, but I know that we trained a dozen or so pilots every summer and the club I mentioned has probably trianed 5 in the last 3 years.

To me if AMA wants the hobby to grow they are going to have to make it easier for the beginers to get involed. It seems like some of the rules just make it harder for the new guy or girl to get flying.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the AMA in any way. I would not fly without it because it's coverage is a benifit to me. But it is hard to get some people involved in a great sport when they feel that they are dealing with more politics instead of a relaxing hobby.