porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

That's a great thought, and a positive outlook. Unfortunately if you've been around awhile, in either the AMA or a club, you'll note that there will always be those that want to exclude others, for a whole number of reasons. Usually it's the guys with newer technology that get the treatment...follow the hobby from it's beginnings and you'll see. The biases come out eventually....more recently it was about ARFs, (not really legit,it has to be scratch built !!) then helis of course, then foamies (an abomination to some), and it even gets down to the style of flying (must fly racetrack pattern, no 3D allowed).

Hopefully more will join to enjoy the hobby the best way possible, through a club...but that certainly doesn't mean someone has to be in a club or even the AMA to enjoy this great hobby. If your safe, and enjoying your flying, that's what counts.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Do you place ME in this camp with the aforementioned rationalizations...?

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

It's not always about you, sorry. If I meant the comment to be about you, I would have named you. Although I haven't read all of your posts, I have a pretty good idea what camp you would be in, you certainly prize "building" and hold it in high regard. Regardless, I don't know enough about your though processes to comment one way or another, it's irrelevant anyway to the comment. I've been around the hobby long enough to witness much of what I noted above. I had to fight some of those preconceived notions in my own club when heli's were unceremoniously dumped and worked very hard to get them back in two years later. No, I don't fly heli's. The annoy me as much as the drones do.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

"Nooooboddddy knooooows the troubles I've seeeeeeen".........Porcia83, December 2015.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

.....it's all gonna be o/k buddy, it really will be. Heading out for some hunting today, got my Duck stamp at the ready!

rcmiket

Pretty much sums it up.

Mike

init4fun

As an interesting side note , not ONE media outlet I've checked has reported anything beyond "FAA issues new drone registration requirements" with not a single mention of the recreational model aircraft hobbyist being forced into the same burden . WHERE is our damn AMA's press releases TO THE PUBLIC decrying this draconian injustice ? I have not seen ONE public statement on our behalf from AMA in a single one of these ABC NBC CBS reports ! Sending me an Email detailing the failure to secure our position is the only peep I've heard out of the AMA and guess what , I already know how the attempted monopoly thing went ! It failed ! Now the AMA had best be getting the word out to a public that just loves "govt. done wrong" stories and if handled the right way , a wave of public revulsion that the freedom to even fly a little toy plane without govt. intervention has now been taken away , could be one avenue to force the separation of model aircraft VS drones . Course , since the AMA don't think there should be any separation , why would they do any more than pay useless lip service to the majority of us who feel we got screwed ? When the drone people's $$$ don't come flowing in like the river of cash the EC dreamed of , and the real aircraft modeler is off flying under the FAA's program , the AMA is gonna be one lonely organization indeed . As someone so rightly said , this IS a "crossroads" time for the AMA , will they choose to support us who have supported them all these years , or will they perish chasing the drone dollars/UAS monopoly that would never have deserved to have been theirs (ours !) in the first place ?

Sport_Pilot

I believe it will come when retailers start telling people they have to register their toy foamie R/C plane. Maybe a reporter buying a gift.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Back to my question about Federally Licensed hobbies.....isn't it grande HOW our hobby of Traditional RC Flying has found itself elevated to a similar level of seriousness as Machine Gun Ownership, Migratory Waterfowl Hunting and High Powered Model Rocketry....?
Well played AMA...!!

init4fun

Best be gettin a move on , it's getting late and them Ducks ain't gonna be shooting themselves and dropping their dressed carcasses into your freezer without a bit of effort on your part ....

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Because of his very busy schedule as a Keyboard Life Cycle Research Technician Engineer he doesn't have enough time to kill, gut, pluck, and butcher his own birds.
Thank goodness for those ARF birds...!

Sport_Pilot

I am not sure I would put High Powered Model Rocketry in this class. I am not aware of a requirement to register rockets. I thought they only had to notify the FAA and issue a NOTAM, which has also been a recommendation for large R/C contests where exceeding 400 feet in altitude as well. I would not mind if the recommendation was made a requirement.

Sport_Pilot

I don't know about ARF ducks, but they have ARTE ducks and other birds!

init4fun

Hi Sport ,

Yes , the public does seem to react to the govt. acting like 'the big bad bully" and proper handling of this story could go a long way in enlisting public support . While on the surface some may see it as "old rich guys complaining about registering their toys" I'm sure there will be those who see it as we do , as the erosion of yet one more small freedom in the ever advancing regulatory downhill snowball that's getting bigger and more encompassing daily . Today's $5 registration fee is tomorrow's background check , and who knows what next year will bring ? As you correctly state , when some reporter has to register the Horizon Hobbies foam cub trainer he bought for his school age Son , maybe that's when the public will hear about the "toy plane tax" , cause it sure don't seem like they're gonna be hearing it from any AMA press releases any time soon . Something that should be national news and one lousy Email to my inbox is all that's been accomplished in the 25 ish hours since this injustice first came to light ? You can bet I'll be watching ALL the 12;00 news broadcasts in my area looking for the AMA's press release demanding this injustice be rectified , So what do ya think ? Think there will be any AMA statement for me to report back here ? I honestly ain't betting the farm that there will be and shame on the AMA if there isn't .

PS , I don't live in some small isolated village out in the country where news can sometimes lack a national view , I'm 30 miles outside Boston , the biggest city in Massachusetts and if ANY news would have coverage of an AMA press release challenging the ruling I'd think it would be here . Maybe we can drum up another "Boston Tea Party" but instead of Tea we'll throw one each of a Drone , the AMA EC , and the FAA into the harbor . If they sink it's cause they're pockets are too full of our money and if they float , well , let me tell ya us colonists , Salem in particular , know just what to do with Witches

init4fun

Thanks Buddy ! My keyboard needed a good cleaning anyway .

Sport_Pilot

I believe the AMA has released a press release. I know they have before. But there are thousands of press release's each day and the press will not pick up on them unless their keyword search's pick up on them. Perhaps if they put the phrase "Trump is a $#@!", it would get noticed.

init4fun

Hey Sport ,

Well there you have it , I watched all 3 noon news broadcasts (gotta love "Picture in picture") and all three mentioned the FAA and drones , and not a one mentioned the AMA and us model plane flyers . If the AMA has issued a press release , it's being completely ignored by regular broadcast TV news .

PS , just for the heck of it , I sent a link to this discussion to Trump's campagin office with a brief run down on what's going on . Who knows , maybe Trump can shame them (the FAA) into doing what's right , lord knows our AMA don't seem to be having much success ....

Sport_Pilot

Do you ever go to their web site? AMA will have an article in Popular Science on the issue. Not sure why Popular Science, except that maybe that they are biased toward the AMA or that they won't be fear mongering as the mainstream media does.

init4fun

Yes , I did see that , and as much as I love Popular Science (Popular Mechanics too) it's not exactly the mainstream coverage something like this needs . That's one of my biggest complaints here , I'll bet not one "non hobbyist" knows that we're being subject to unneeded unfair govt. regulation and in my opinion everyone who values our diminishing freedom really ought to know that the rulemaking frenzy has finally got so intrusive as to treat a 3/4 pound foamy the same as a Cessna !

franklin_m

The AMA's blog also mentioned interviews with a number of news agencies in the last 24 hours. When you search for those interviews, few show up at all, and those that do (e.g. USAToday), it's merely a repeat of their "statement of disappointment" and even then, its buried in paragraph 16 out of 20 or so.

Sport_Pilot

I am sure there are those in the FAA who know this.

init4fun

Thank You Franklin , I appreciate the info and I went to USA Today and found the news story you referred to here . I found it interesting that beyond the AMA's expression of displeasure there was a transportation analyst quoted who thinks the FAA ruling hasn't got a chance if challenged in court . Did you notice that part of the story and if so , do you think the gent is correct ?

Sport , I'm not quite sure here what this statement is in regards to ? Those in the FAA know what ? That this is an unneeded burden on model aviation that addresses a "problem" that doesn't exist with us in the first place ? Do you think the FAA felt they had to include everything with a TX so as not to be seen as discriminatory against the drone flyers ?

acdii

It isn't needed for the launching of the rockets, but the transporting of the fuels or igniters used, since they are in the same class as explosives.

You do however need an FAA waiver several days in advance before launching one.

Several pages back it was asked why did AMA not separate drones from conventional RC. That is a damned good question. The moment they made quads, or any RC aircraft for that matter, capable of carrying a transmittable camera, they should have created a new classification for them. Instead they lump them all together, and now we have this messterpiece.

The Question is, who holds more power over laws, Congress or the FAA? If Congress says that RC aircraft that are flown in accordance to set guidelines are exempt from further regulation, how can the FAA override Congress?

init4fun

Well guys , call me all kinds of "Tin Foil Hat" here , but a very interesting thing I noticed is that of the "No" voters , there are several names I've never seen around RCU before . Checking their profiles , I see at least two with zero posts to the forum and a join date sometime in the mid 2000s . One guy even lists himself as not a US resident and still felt the need to vote on something that doesn't affect him ? It's a pretty lame state of affairs when folks are so desperate to push their minority views and have to resort to such transparent BS as I see here .

Now , guys on the "No" side , this is it ! , You chance to attack me since I can't PROVE these are sockpuppet votes , but tell ya what , go look at the profiles of the three "NO" voters whose screen names begin with W and then with a straight face come here and tell me they ain't socks !

Pretty telling that even with sockpuppet votes , the "Yes , it IS a mistake" votes outnumber the "NO it was not a mistake" votes 75% to 25% .

Guess it's time for a few more socks in the mix , eh guys ?

Aerocal

I say that I wonder if you work for a network news outlet. Your making a statement of fact that in reality is not true at all and then asking ppl to vote on it.
It makes no sense.