There still is no such thing as a district contest coordinator. Each club has their appointed contest director that approves along with the club board competitive events for the year. He works with special interest groups such as IMAC, NSRCA, NMPRA, LSF, AILS League etc. to put together a schedule. The ONLY thing with a District title is the AVP. The only thing he has to do with contests is make sure they are operated in a safe manner. I have seen an AVP take action twice in my 40 years As an AMA member.

Could you have had an issue with someone within the AMA. Certainly, we are all human after all. However it always takes two to tangle. There is more to the story I am sure.

Hydro and Appowner. First off thank you. Those last two posts seemed to have the attitude dialed down and I wanted to let you know I appreciate it. In regards to the cost of items on base, perhaps the Air Force is different. Prior to my father retiring we lived on base at Travis. I remember many trips to the commissary with my mother. When my parents split I went with my father and we lived in Fairfield. My dad still drove onto base ( 12 miles ) to buy groceries and gas.

Appowner, regardless of whether you want it or not any and all servicemen have my appreciation. That is the attitude I must carry with me everyday into work. I'm certain that you recall me saying that my career for the past 20 years has been working for defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, L3 and Aerojet Rocketdyne. Truth is that I have most likely had my hands on just as many programs as guys in the military. That is what I presently do for my country. I will also early next month be putting my youngest son on a bus to Camp Pendleton. I am very proud of him but as you can imagine there are mixed emotions.


Now back to thread topic. We should be able to share our points of Veiw without it getting nasty. We all,are adults right. I get it that some of you have had bad experiences with either the AMA or clubs. We all have the right to enjoy our hobby the way we want as long as it is done legally and safely. As long as those two items are met neither side of this devide is not doing any harm to the other. Yes the financials of the AMA look bad right now. All organizations go through such challenges. Look at Sears right now. The AMA has survived multiple wars and conflicts and several recessions. I am confident they will survive this as well. If not I see the seperate special interest groups stepping into the CBO role. The dues collecting club environment is never going to go away. As far as guys within the AMA not voting, IMO that means that those guys are happy with the way things are being run. Just like here on RCU. We have hundreds of AMA members that are also regular contributors here on RCG. How many of them come into the AMA forum and post? I see only a handful. People generally only voice their opinions when there is something to complain about otherwise they rather remain quiet. How many times have we all complained about a server at a restaurant? How many have taken the time to ask for a manager and wait around to tell them you received great service? Nobody here is going to end up being The savior of the hobby.

Yes, my information is rather old. But shouldn't we be able to talk about our hobby without the conversation getting to this point?

I am all for keeping an open mind. Yes the FAA has on that particular page that we are to fly at 400' or less. It also on the same page references section 336. From what I am reading is that the new laws requiring 400' are not in place as of yet.

The resolve to that would be a simple one. The FAA has the email addresses of everyone who registered, they have the ability to keep us updated. Has anyone who is currently registered gotten a confirmation email from the FAA? I haven't.

The current goverment shutdown is going to slow things down a bit however what I see happening is that the FAA will be putting together an exemption for CBO sites the same as they have in Canada. I honestly feel that would be the best solution for the majority.

Right now we are at a "wait and see" point. The reality is that there is not an enforcement tool in place. At least in my area the police are not concerned with guys flying models at club fields. The only time any police officer will act on somebody flying a model is if there has been a complaint. That opinion comes from a few family members that are law enforcement.

Until I hear any differently I will continue to fly as I always have.

While you are correct that shutting it down is an oppression to freedom of speech, it is also IMO is damaging to the hobby as a whole. Complaining online about any organization is simply a waste of time. If you really want changes they have to happen from within. The resolve is join and run for office if it really is this important to you.

As far as " the good 'ole boys" are concerned. Would that title not apply to you, Hydro, Appowner and Franklin as well within this forum?

I do agree that AMA needs to be run better. Do cuts need to be made? Yes. More importantly we ALL need to work on making this a popular hobby again. We need more members so we have a bigger voice with lawmakers.

I also know that when staffing you need to look at what the median pay median pay is for that particular position in that particular region and pay competitively regardless of the health of the organization. Would you accept a position that payed less then the median because the organization was struggling?

I have payed my dues being in the hobby industry. I have seen many businesses and shops fail. Most of these were being operated like a large cooperation. The standard business model just does not work well in the hobby industry. Use Tower Hobbies as an example. Fact is most successful hobby shops have been operated by guys with little to no business education. Examples: San Antonio Hobbies ( shop that I managed the R/C department ) Sheldon's Hobbies, Dons hobby shop, Tammies Hobbies, D&J Hobbies. Granted, most of these stores are now gone however at the height of the hobbys popularity were very profitable. When I worked at San Antonio during December the cash registers had to be emptied twice a day because the 20, 50, 100 dollar bills and charge slips under the cash trays would stack up to the point we couldn't close the registers. Two things have changed since then, mail order and the popularity.

If you were considering entering the hobby or you had a child wanting to start the hobby and stumbled into this forum to see the way we all speak to one another would that not discourage you? It would me.

What would worry me isn't what we're saying as much as the information Franklin has obtained and posted. That should worry the AMA to no end as it would prevent me from ever applying for membership due to how wasteful the AMA is shown to be. Since Franklin is posting information that the AMA had itself put out, they also don't have any way to discredit him for doing so