Not only do they have a waiver but the airspace is literally closed over the area used by the airshow, roughly 3 miles in diameter and up to 18000ft. This literally shuts down one international airport, several local and regional airports and all flight operations by Boeing at two of their facilities. This runs pretty much from noon Thursday through 6:00 Sunday evening during daylight hours

What this thread needs is a picture .

Ok , here's one .

Anyone who built a Sig or Carl Goldberg kit , as well as other manufacturer's kits as well , surely must have run into this sticker at least once or twice while poking around in the box of wood waiting for the glue to dry on step one . Figuring it was put there by , or at least put their on the behalf of , the AMA , I always dutifully filled it out and stuck it just inside whatever removable access hatch the model had , figuring that sticker satisfied the "on or in" identification requirement and thus kept my AMA insurance in effect by not violating the safety code . I used to go the extra measure of having my AMA number on the wings but stopped that in favor of just having that sticker , and of course now the FAA number , stuck on with a "P touch" label maker .

Nice picture. But there still isn't anything in the safety code that requires putting your AMA number in the plane so long as your name and address are there, is there? I think the people who did the FAQs for the AMA's government relations blog just made the same mistake a lot of modelers have made.

If you are in a sparsely populated area flying by yourself a GA aircraft can absolutely fly 500' over your head.


As for an open air assembly of people...apparently it's 10,000.

OK guys - I'm finally (maybe) beginning to wake up.

First, please tell me that AMA once really did mandate that your number had to be on the outside of the plane and it was supposed to be 1.5" tall, minimum.

Second, please tell me that AMA once really did mandate that the AMA ID sticker had to be on the inside of the plane ALSO.

I've been building and flying with those "memories of the rule" FOREVER (at least, since 1972). Virtually every one of my planes is set-up that way, and I've got 3 packs (10 each) of AMA stickers still sealed for my next builds, whatever/whenever they may be.

My picture does not speak to the safety code requirements , it merely shows what the (AMA condoned ?) sticker looked like that used to be supplied with each model airplane kit sold , long before any of this FAA number business arose . If one WAS to fill out the sticker and attach it in the model , it would appear that name , address , AND AMA number would have been in there , so whether or not there was actual safety code language requiring it , the average model plane "back in the day" most certainly would have included such information .


To be honest , I have no idea where all this angst over an AMA number , or name and address , in the model is coming from ?

People got something to hide , do they , when they fly their model ?

I would think most folks with nothing to hide would WANT as much contact information as possible in the model so as to possibly get it back in the event of a flyaway ?

Or maybe those with a problem with identifying their model WANT it to be "untraceable" , so they can shirk any responsibility for what damage their flyaway caused ?

If ya loved my last picture , just wait till ya see the next one ..........

Actually, over a sparsely populated area, a pilot can fly as low as they like, just the slant range needs to be 500' from buildings etc.

There's another group out there flying low too: military aircraft on what are known as Military Training Routes, also known as VR, IR, or SR routes. They're depicted on sectionals, but route widths are not (can be ten miles either side of centerline). I've never flown SR routes, but have flown lots of VR and IRs. Altitude is below 500' and speeds are 360 KIAS and higher. We typically flew them at 420-480.

Hi Dave ,

Nice pictures ! Thank You for sharing . I'll have to look around and see if I've got any old copies of the safety code kicking around , but I do not recall a requirement for the AMA number to be on model in any specific size , I think I remember it to be "contact information such as name and address or AMA number on or in the model" , but like I said I'll see if I can find an old copy .

PS , we must have joined the AMA around the same time , you being 94881 and me being 80274

Sure, but I have some difficulty seeing how somebody who can't track me down using my name, address, and phone number could do it with the AMA number. Nobody here is complaining about having to put identification information in a model. The only question I had was whether the AMA government relations blog was correct in saying that we have to put the AMA number there. The answer seems to be "no"; there was once a rule that said that, but the current safety code lets you use your name and address instead.

Al I agree 100% that a name and address is better than an AMA number because like you said , it's easier to find someone by name rather than having to look up an AMA number and find out the name behind it .(same could be said for the FAA # as well) What I was getting at is the fact that all along , the little sticker that I presumed the AMA got the manufacturers to include in the kits had both name and address and AMA number info and that one little sticker was always considered plenty enough identification for any model contest/event I ever attended . I did put my AMA number on the wings also , but that was just my thing , I never remember seeing the AMA mandate it , and I only stopped doing it when I came to realizing the need to thin the herd a bit and didn't want to sell any plane with my AMA number on the wings .

Once upon a time, when you signed up you had the option of getting an AMA Rulebook or not. It had both general rules and specific rules for competition events. Since I was a CD from the 60s, covering the time the printed rulebook was available, I got one every year they were sent out. I don't remember getting whatever non-CDs got in lieu of a "rulebook". I also got many, many packets from the AMA they sent to CDs with they approved your application for a contest sanction.

The AMA did require numbers, but the only time they could verify that was at contests. In fact, contest directors were required to check membership and verify correct numbers on the planes. What was correct on the planes varied over the years. Just as the rule about clearly identifying models changed every so often.

For example, I'm not sure that IMAC planes ever had to display AMA numbers. Yet every one of those contests was AMA sanctioned.

But, yes, there were some years the numbers had to be a specific height. And I think the rule was modified at least once to more appropriately suit the scale of the model. And was rewritten a number of times.

I don't believe they ever asked clubs to enforce numbers at club fields although I definitely remember a club I was a member of putting up a big sign listing their rules and it specified having numbers on the planes. And of numerous models there without them. Exactly what will probably happen with the FAA numbers.

You ain't kidding.

I used to live on a farm that was a couple of miles from the Charlotte city limits. It was on the exact top of a hill. The old farmhouse was surrounded by ancient oaks, 5 of them. This was in the 70s. One night after the family was in bed one HELLACIOUS THUNDER blew right over the house. My little girls were terrified and out of their beds and into ours in a heartbeat. I went straight to the yard to see where that jet plane had crashed. Just in time for the next Phantom to come over. I saw it coming up the power line and was positive it was going to hit the oaks. It was maybe a minute behind the first one. It shook dead limbs out of those trees the first plane hadn't.

It turns out those two F4s were very close to a minute separation. At least a week or so later the next 2 were. I wrote down the times both shook the trees (and the house, and my 2 little girls). That farm is now inside the city limits. My girls often tell about those planes at family gatherings.

Yes, the military looks at altitude from a different perspective. Although I greatly doubt those jets were on a MTR.

Just for the record, here's the AMA label that they STILL SELL onsight. Got loads of these sitting around - and in every plane (RC plane).


Just for giggles, the "obsolescence" of this label is shown on the bottom line - phone COLLECT????!!!!

WOW!

I've recently actually thought a bit about removing them from my planes. This FAA thing, at least in my mind, and the general state of "drones" can easily lead to a situation where a person loses a plane (for whatever reason) and ends up in jail for "endangering the public", or some such stupidity. The original purpose of the label was so we could get our planes back - not to be sued/prosecuted.

That is correct! Since 2.4, fly offs are not heard of these days. "Back in the Day"!! Had to say it. Switches failed, batteries failed, receivers, transmitters failed, and on 27mhz and 53mhz, flying r/c wasn't as reliable as it is today. When 72mhz came out, fly offs incidences dropped off. I can remember watching planes fly off, getting in the car to go chase them down, and hopefully, if the plane landed/crashed into someone's yard, the good Samaritan would call you and "collect" if it was long distance per land lines back then. NEVER did we think about getting sued for the plane flying off. IF the plane did cause damage, the owner of the plane would usually pay for the damage, unless it was too severe, then hopefully AMA would kick in. Contact info was to retrieve the plane, not to be sued or jailed as it is today!! Our country has gone overboard with laws and rules.

The risk tolerance in military flying in the 70's was a whole lot different than the period I flew (86-2009). Even if not an MTR, that sort of behavior was permitted, or at worst folks looked the other way. Contrast that with what happened to two Navy crews who did the overflight of Georgia Tech game a few years back. They came over too low - and although it impressed the fans, the teams, and the media (they all loved it), that turned out to be their last ever flight in military aircraft.

Things like that are considered a breach of flight discipline, lack of professionalism, and a fundamental safety risk that is intolerable.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/f...ignored/nQdXn/

I agree.