LOL. I catch you making a fool out of yourself and I'm the one "playing games"..............

Mike

And just when ya thought you got that whole not wrecking the plane thing down pat.......

Pretty sure there was a Roadrunner & Coyote involved in that!

Steve

Sure it wasn't Moose & Squirrel ?

That may have exceeded the PAA Load.

Or maybe an angry Mrs.?

Astro

And clubs that don't make the cut? That will be the reality check that RC flying is now only allowed in FAA prisons. The AMA optimist will say, "Great! FU to those other poor fools who can no longer participate in the hobby". The pessimist will say, "You suckers will get yours soon enough when there's only a few of you left to fly around in circles". And DJI drones will be merrily chugging along, Remote ID compliant, recording video of the same things over and over, all blessed by the FAA and the other 3-letter security agencies.

My plan is to get a fancy Remote ID compliant DJI drone, all legal like, and put wings on it, just to make a mockery of AMA and their part in selling out the RC flying hobby.

We anticipate that not every single FRIA application will be accepted by the FAA. I'm sure there will be some that operate off airports and the like or in the vicinity of critical infrastructure that will be denied

But unlike your doom and gloom, those folks will simply get a module that they can move from aircraft to aircraft and they can go on about their flying business.

It will be of no surprise when some club fields don’t get approved as FRIA status. There will always be options for those who want to continue flying. It’s possible that there are neighboring clubs that will absorb the membership or the possibility of finding a new site that is more appropriate. Some may have to travel a bit more. Some will say that having to travel more then 30 minutes to fly is a deal breaker. My response to that is the hobby must not be very important to you if you’re not willing to expend a little travel time.

But what happened to, "Nothing has changed, I fly how I always have"?

I'd say there have been a lot of changes, and plenty more to come shortly....


Astro

I can honestly say that as of right now nothing has changed in the way I fly. I anticipate that all 4 clubs that I have membership with will be approved for FRIA status.

Other then having to spend $5 every 3 years and spend 15 minutes taking a test, there really haven’t been any changes at club sites.

The deal breaker would be wasting travel time to be around someone so condescending.

Don’t spend too much time worrying about it. I’m a member of good standing in 4 clubs. If you truly would avoid going to a flying field because of one persons attitude then the statement stands, it’s just not important enough to you to put in the effort. Nothing wrong with that as in everything we do we determine for ourselves how much effort is too much for what we get out of the activity.

Yep, that's okay for you, but we've kinda been talking about the collective hobby. What about those who may lose the only field that they can realistically fly from? I consider that a BIG change, and a BIG blow to the hobby in general.

Astro

I agree. This will impact some people. There is no way around that. There are still some things that at this time are not a done deal that people are taking as absolute. I also don’t agree with this “ what should have happened “ stuff either. This is where we are and this is what we have to work with.

We're restricted to line-of-sight operation of our model aircraft anyway, so why move a module from aircraft to aircraft?

Just broadcast straight from the transmitter - the owner/operator identity and location - since the LEO or FAA would be most interested in going direct to the source of the transmitting position to talk to a live person - not the aircraft.

Put RID in the transmitter instead of the airplane; we'll be where the airplane is flying anyway - not somewhere else. This action would certainly simplify things by not having the burden of moving a module from aircraft to aircraft and associated undesirables - like carrying aloft an unnecessary weight penalty, necessitating accommodation in tight spaces, or forgetting to move the module to the active model.

I think it always pays to evaluate what has happened, in order to be able to make better and more informed decisions in the future. Plus, the "what should have happened" comments that I have made, came from a perspective of actively communicating with the AMA BEFORE any regulations had been set and it looked like they were going to romance the droners. It's not a complete hindsight statement. At the end of the day, the AMA decided to take the direction they did and I think it was damaging to their membership and the future of our hobby. While there is no turning back now, I think it is prudent that the current membership know and understand the options that were available to AMA leadership at the time, and which path they chose to take in order that they can better have a voice and place their votes accordingly in the future.

Astro

If the field doesn't get approved then you fly with a module. Why all the talk about loosing fields?

Astro, I agree in knowing history to avoid the same mistakes. As far as AMA is concerned our only pathway to have our voice heard is our vote. I got my ballot last week and have already sent it in. I hope you have done the same.

Again, been hashed over here before, but it's been made clear to me over my 30 years of membership that only about 6% of the membership casts votes because they are just not that engaged. The vast majority have no clue about leadership and what is going on outside of their little club and need to join so they can get the coveted insurance card and fly their toys. Of course, that all changes when they find out they just lost their flying field......

Astro

Astro, why do you keep talking about "lost flying fields"

Not getting approved for a FRIA does not equate to a lost flying field.

It is that 6% that decides the outcome of the election. Are you one of the 6%? With that low of a percentage your vote becomes even more valuable.

What fraction of 1% of AMA members belong to 4 clubs? Not exactly representative of the hobby as a whole. AMA's future is bleaker than I thought if it depends on that kind of commitment. Same with your competition planes. You might be a master craftsman with composites, but very few prospects are interested in all that effort when they can buy a drone and be in the air in an hour..

Yay, I'm a six percenter ! ..........