ORIGINAL: jester_s1
I honestly think the drop in AMA memberships is due to the simple decline in aeromodeling interest. Flying isn't the high tech and cool activity it once was and that shows in the number of younger people who want to do the hobby. People who really want to fly models will mostly join clubs and it seems that most clubs understand the value of supporting the AMA. Renegades will always be on the fringe and park flyers are a different kind of modeler. I do believe that AMA will continue to decline as younger people pursue other interests. What I hope is that they don't try to change aeromodeling to make it more palatable to potential members who aren't interested, or start trying to milk their members in order to maintain the budget and staff that they've gotten used to.