ORIGINAL: BillyGoat
cj_rumley and Hoss if I understand your post correctly, the AMA did publish engine noise standards but it was in the form of a handbook or recommendations to Clubs?
I'm even more perplexed then. Reading the article that is nearly 20 years old and thinking back... I was nothing more than your standard AMA member with no access to information beyond what was mailed to every member. So I surely would have thought the numbers I quoted would have been part of general AMA membership info???
So guess I’ll put this down as one of those things in life that I can’t explain why I did what I did and rewrite the article without the reference to the AMA.
BillyGoat-
In the cite from the handbook that I quoted, Crispin referenced action by the EC that had occurred years before. He had a monthly column in MA, certainly this standard was mentioned there long before the handbook was published. I know I was well aware of it at least as far back as ca 1985 when I was involved in establishing a new flying field in a particularly quiet neighborhood, and it must have come from the MA articles (actually, some of my work there is cited by Crispin in the handbook).
FWIW, I think it would be more productive to research local ordinances and tailor standards at your field to meet them than to dwell on this early recommendation from AMA that has been superseded. The AMA recommendation was changed to "comply with local community noise abatement standards" before Dave Brown disbanded the committee and assigned its role to the Flying Site Assistance Committee, and
AFAIK it still stands. Joe Besher or Wes De Cou ought to be able to tell you if there have been any developments since.
There is good information to be found in MA archives on how to go about establishing standards for your field, with traceability to applicable community standards. Look for the Sound Committee's quarterly column "Sound Advice" published 1998-99, usually the 1st article in the AMA News section.