While some are so intent on confusing what traditional modeling is versus what these “flying tripod” drones are (to the point of feigning ignorance IMHO), it is refreshing to see a third AMA presidential candidate with no problem recognizing the category of “traditional” modelling.

Candidate Eric Williams demands that the AMA protect “traditional” modeling in his statement:

“AMA must protect our traditional categories of flight while ensuring our hobby's future. “

Not so hard for Eric to give a shout out to the importance of traditions, just as it was not for Lawrence Tougas or Frank Tiano

Hi Matt ,

It sure would be nice if there was a bit more than the one page each candidate wrote to go on , In fact I kinda wish they all had taken the offer to come here and answer questions like Frank Tiano did .

Yea and be attacked like Frank was?

Mike

I am voting for the one who has protected traditional modelling. Not those who claim he and the AMA hasn't but cannot say how they would protect traditional modelling any better.

Hi Mike ,

The 99% of us were very well behaved and welcomed Frank , that other 1% I believe would find fault with anybody and as it turned out , Frank endured his "trial by fire" quite well indeed . In fact , I believe it showed Frank has not only a "human side" , it also showed he has a great sense of humor as well .

It's funny , I had all but made up my mind that Rich was gonna get my vote , but then seeing what Frank endured here , and his well laid out response to that , I now am completely undecided between voting for either Rich or Frank .

So I guess you could say that the attack backfired quite spectacularly !

Eric was one of the first ones out there with his campaign statement. I guess the use of the word "traditional" in his statement is enough to get him a second look, lol. You must have not looked back to the EC meeting notes to see how he voted for the 250k funding on the MR issue a few years back. Eric would make a great president, he's got a positive outlook, is involved in his district, and most importantly, embraces all facets of this great hobby. Ya, that includes the "non-traditional" MR crowd. Also, and most importantly, he doesn't look down upon on those folks who fly those horrible "foamies", you know, the folks who don't have as much "invested" in the hobby as those folks who build and fly turbines. Wonder if those issued would change your perspective.

Pretty telling that none of them would come here isn't it. The excuse noted by Mike is a convenient one, but lacks any real in depth analysis. Oh, that's not an attack, that's called an opinion. Keep in mind most of the EC and others are members here, and have been for years, but don't actively participate in this forum. Can you figure out why?

Oh please, enough already with the poor Frank was attacked routine. You'll note he didn't dispute a single thing he was asked about....not one. Just spun his excuses and explanations, fair enough I guess. As far as attacks...any reasonable person reading his responses would see where the real attacks came from. Him. Repeatedly. Personal attacks, threats, intimidation, and finally, some libel for good measure, specifically regarding AIW. Those blatant violations of the site's TOS remain up there to this day. Gotta wonder why that is. Hmm...wonder if the other candidates notice that (they do).


LoL...more judgement and finger wagging, go figure. Oh most of were so well behaved...but that 1% wasn't. How dare they ask Frank any tough questions. How dare they ask him about his self admitted abrasive personality and ask him how that might play being the president of the AMA. Such a horrible trial by fire being asked to explain his very questionable and very pubic behavior. Oh the horror. His defenders were right there explaining away everything and excusing this abhorrent behavior by saying "well he was provoked". He gave us great insight into his temperament didn't he. A pretty good indicator of how he might act in future situations. If he can't handle a few questions from people he wants to vote for him...how is he going to handle the EC, or worse, dealing with regulators.

As for how you end up voting, I doubt very much there was ever any doubt. I wouldn't normally mention that but you bring the issue up. If you think Frank deserves your vote because he responds to a question by threatening someone ( "I KNOW who you are, you'll be sorry, etc etc etc)", but all means, cast your vote for him.

There was no backfire of course, notwithstanding the spin. Much like the national election cycle, Frank will lose no votes from his die hard fans. No matter what he says or does, they will always vote for him. He will likely not gain any votes from those that would never vote for him in the first place. The middle of the roaders, the undecided, is the sweet spot for him. Based on his responses here, I'd have to guess they the glaring character issues and will vote accordingly. Or not vote at all, who knows. It would be nice to see 30-40k turn out and vote, I guess we'll see soon enough.

You noticed that too? Based on two comments here, they might say he would have been attacked if asked to provide specifics on how he was going to protect traditional modeling. Actually Tiano and Tougas both alluded to this, but completely failed to provide any specifics on how they would do that, and how they would measure success of that. Just "trust them" I guess.

Yes, I know in previous elections there was quite a bit of activity here.

I have recently had a couple of encounters that I found interesting (and obviously anecdotal).

At 2 different events I heard the same thing. My son and I were flying some foamy warbirds at an electric fly in and I heard the same thing at a jet rally a bit later. These were older gentlemen that admittedly were not very aware of internal AMA machinations, but had nonetheless taken the time to open the ballot and at least scan the material.

3 of these guys (electric sport guys and IMAC guys) said the same thing. They could quote Lawrence Tougas' opening lines almost verbatim, including:

We must return the AMA’s focus back to traditional modelers.

They had no other specific comment about anything related to drones, the FAA, registration, Section 366, etc etc.

But that statement they remembered: We must return the AMA’s focus back to traditional modelers.

So if these guys are any indication, Lawrence could be onto something. Not many people normally vote but with the continual tone deaf blathering coming from the AMA about drones, this reaction is not unexpected.

Tiano and Tougas's statements are pretty similar. Both are not subtle in any way about hiding their disdain for the "non traditional" shift they see from the AMA. Curiously, both fly aircraft that were not part of the "traditional" hobby years and years ago, but it's o/k for them to want to keep MR/Drones out since their methods of flying are embraced. Guess we gotta have a bad guy or something to blame, and conveniently it's "drones". Both of these guys are appealing to what they feel is their base, and using the trigger words of "traditional modeling". They make no bones about their platform. They also both fail in any way to explain how they would go about "returning the focus" to traditional modelers. Not one specific plan of action. Doesn't matter though, their fan base will vote for them regardless, and not ask for any specifics.

Go back and look at Eric's statement. Here is the first sentence that runs at the top of his web page:

[h=2]Protecting Model Aviation![/h]His statement:

http://www.amaelection.com/campaign-statement

Pretty sure folks can see how it's pretty different than Tougas or Tiano. Having met and spent some time with Eric, I can tell you he is absolutely not on the same page as Tougas or Tiano in many ways. I do think all of the candidates on the ballot have the hobby in their best interests. Eric is more than qualified to be the president, and I'm sure he'd do a great job if he won. Wonder who would be ready, willing, and able to step into his shoes for District 2.

The scale community supporting Tiano's traditional modeling platform is pretty organized also. I wouldn't be surprised if the write in's this year have a good showing..

Mike

Yes I have known Frank for a long time and the question is, will he generate enough interest with his name recognition and reputation alone. If the turnout is low enough (as it has been in prior years) he could pull it off. In any other year, several thousand votes would do it IIRC.

But I have a feeling a lot of people are opening this ballot and reading it like these guys I met did, and of course Frank's name never shows up. If the voting gets to a bigger number than usual (>15,000 votes?) I think Frank has an uphill battle.

I also noticed they are putting "incumbent" on the campaign statements but I don't know if it is on the ballot. That got changed back in 2004, I moved to get it taken off the ballot so people would have to at least read the campaign statement to see who the incumbent was.

Also, I noticed how Rich Hansen's campaign statement is first (alphabetical I assume), above the fold AND the book fold (you never see anyone else) and with the word "President" right above his name..... This positioning is good for a lot of votes right there, good fortune for Rich....

Yes yes. Would this be those sheeple that claim "there was nothing that could be done to separate traditional model from drones...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING", or is it the ones who tell us "the AMA is crucial to protecting us against further government agency overreach" (the same overreach they say was inevitable/unavoidable before)?

Should be interesting. With that said if the "traditional" modeler candidates have a strong showing is that indication that the active AMA ( the ones who actually take part in the process) aren't to thrilled direction of the organization?

Mike

Oh, Tiano's reputation has generated some interest, that's for sure. I like whole positioning of Hanson's name comments, I remember when Cain started bringing up similar issues when he was running, can see where this is going a mile away. And Tiano wasn't on the ballot because there were 3 candidates more qualified.

"sheeple".....so typical. I guess "traditional" turbine building folks and others who have more invested in this hobby than others had all the answers on what the AMA should have done, and how the FAA would reacted accordingly, right? Everyone has all the answers after the fact of course.

I'm sure it would be spun to fit the narrative, but at the end of the day who knows why people do what they do. The important thing is that people vote, the more involvement the better.

Hi Mike ,

Yes Sir my Friend , I think tradition is a wonderful thing and should be preserved whenever possible .

What is typical is you continuing to spin. You continue to use ONE individuals' comments about his level of "investment" in the hobby and lump ALL turbine flyers in that group as if they all feel that way. Which illogical fallacy is that again?

Astro

How many angles can dance on a pin?

That depends...is it a traditional pin?

Lol...illogical fallacy indeed, fancy words!. I've done nothing of the kind of course, but let's not argue over that. I guess you forgot that it was none other than the OP himself who opined about how much more invested in the hobby he was based on what he flew because of the cost, specifically more than folks flying those arf and foamies. That's why I bring it up in the context of this discussion. It's that whole context thing ya know? The good news I guess is that it looks like he's flying foamies now, so there's that!

Opps, that should have been angels not angles. Classic logic argument.

In my poll thread about district flying sites , Tim J told me that Lawrence Tougas was instrumental in almost getting a west coast site built , except that some rare spotted woodpecker or something like that lived on the land that was under consideration and squashed the plan . Well , just the thought that Mr. Tougas IS so forward thinking to advocate for a regional flying site makes me want to take a second look at him before I go casting my ballot . Funny , in the beginning of all the election talk I said that it was my belief that any of the 4 candidates would make a fine AMA President , and the more good things I see each of them advocate for the more it reaffirms my belief that we really are lucky to have 4 very good candidates to choose from , and that our Country's Presidential election should be as lucky as to have the kind of great choices we've got .....

Laugh it off and deny it, but it is right there in black and white! LOL
UMMM...yeah, that is what I was just speaking to......ONE person.....and all of a sudden all jet guys and others feel that way?

Astro

The flip side to that however is how unpopular Tougas seems to be in his own district. Not a lot of good news from his constituents. Most comments I've seen note his failure live up to his campaign promise, and even specifically regarding the flying site issue (failing to know about the ecological issues). His "traditional modeling" campaign promise is a turn off to me, but his articles in MA are pretty positive, and the way he handled himself when he ran for office last time was a positive too.

For the record, I believe Williams is also running on the idea of regional sites, but not buying and maintaining them, rather I think it's a partnership with local clubs.