i was never trying to start stuff first and all i've tried doing has been more to hey you guys need to fix these problems hence why it is i say on alot of these threads the samething ........................ "are these the people you want representing the AMA"
it's not that i'm being hateful i would love to see things change for the better in alot of years i've meet AMA'ers that were good as gold but i never needed to join so when i went in for the first time in a new area it all went to poop....
we are all here to air our problems out and i never try to single anyone out but this is not flaming nor is it complaining .
and alot of guys have hit the nail on the head it comes down to fear of change and that fear can and will be the end of the AMA unless something happens and happens quick if we allow the newbies to be run off we lose the future of our hobby, and i've said it before i'll say it again i know and understand not all clubs are like this i do not lay the blame on everyone but it will take everyone to fix these problems .

for now i'm a non-AMA'er we'll see what happens in the future .</p>

You know...as much as I would not want this to be the case, I have a hunch that this is right on target for the majority of the clubs because of the age groups of the members.

This all boils down to changing our habits and preventing this type of attitude from existing. I like flying as much as the next person and there are times when I simply want to fly without bothering with anybody (inconvenience). When I arrive at the flying field my agenda is fly, fly, fly, and then fly some more. I am a weekend warrior and do not have the time a retired person has. Flying is what I desire to do for my membership price and the reason I joined the club in the first place. The club requires me to be a member of the AMA to fly there.

I did not join for a social outing as many enjoy. I had one person tell me he enjoyed the social aspect more than flying. That is not me at all. My sole purpose is flying my planes. I don't mind the occassional chat session and socializing because one can learn much from others, but that is not my main agenda. It is all about flying. However, in that agenda, I do not exercise rudeness or disrepect to others. I often, wll sit down and let others fly even though I may have been the first on board to fly. Many times I have fueled and gotten my engine started only to shut it off and let someone else go up.

I believe in being considerate to others. Sometimes I pay a high price for that and lose a lot of flying time because others jump in front of me, but I believe I opted out for the more important thing and that is my intergrity. I have searched for more downed planes than I can shake a stick at and not one of them have been mine. I believe that is the right thing to do.

If that's the case, are all AMA members hermits? Friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, anyone they happen to have a conversation with. AMA has already offered many suggestions and ideas on ways to bring in new members. I don't think AMA can do any more, espeically if members don't really want to be bothered with new members. With a wink and a nudge, they can claim to want more members, but that doesn't mean it's true.

Ask any instructor if he really enjoys teaching. I go way out of my way to offer anyone at all, to fly my trainer and have no problem finding people to take me up on my offer. I haven't had to pay for AMA in many years, thanks to AMA's Sign 3 program. BTW, I did this before the program and would do it if it didn't exist. Once more, you have got to want to teach and bring in more club members. If not, there is nothing that AMA nor anyone else can do.

Fliers1

So, in a nutshell the overall mentality and attitude of the clubs members need to change and that starts with every individual

Quote: "So, in a nutshell the overall mentality and attitude of the clubs members need to change and that starts with every individual."

Correct...without the smiley...and if anyone takes a careful look at the numbers...there is no reason why the AMA could not double its membership in month or so. All it takes is for the current members to take it upon themselves to sign up just one new member in October. Have your local club put an ad in the local paper and offer an introductory training day at your airfield...and watch what happens. Like I said before, I am a newbie...just got started with a trainer and am not off the bottle errr...buddy box yet, and I would not be involved if a friend had not invited me.

We can cuss AMA until the cows come home...but in truth...AMA is the only organization that is willing to help build airfields...who else is doing that? For my $58 I got a bargain...and will continue to be a member for the foreseeable future.

Mountaineer070

Luchnia,

Yes ! Great post.............

The best program for that is TAG. The AMA supplies money for the clubs to put it on and all you have to do is apply through your district VP.

103/17

Growth. Its not really as easy as just getting every member to bring a friend, I wish it was. That friend needs to want to do it and more importantly the club has to want to do it and needs to be comitted and most are not. By comitted I mean they nee to have the resources to handle the new folks who want to learn. I winged up two good solid flyers this summer on top of purchasing a new ( old ) house and working my job and trying to fly my own stuff. It gets hectic. Most of the instructors I see are not older retired guys they are guys like me in my 40s. Time is hard and thank god my kids are off in the Navy and my wife is understanding...........

It would be great if we at our club had more instructors, we could use them and we are going to discuss it at our next club meeting. I have a youngster who is going to try his hand at instructing next year, hes 12 and in a few years will be one of the club hotshots I am sure. His skills are amazing and his attention to detail is excellent. We are also going to see if we can getb him into an officers position this fall. Most clubs would run screaming if you told them you were going to install a 12 year old in an officers position. We all agree that if we dont include the younger people in the club they will feel like they cant ever have a say.

I think if I had to pick the hardest part of getting new folks into the hobby from my perspective it would be not having enough instructors. Go onto the AMA site and look at how few clubs have Intro Pilot Instructors. I bet it only about 8 to 10 percent that actually have listed instrutors...........sad. Its one of our hardest hurdles to get over.

FYI, I bet my traing flight to personal flight ratio was about 14 / 1 this summer. Great for the trainees really bad for my own personal fun flying ! This is why most are reluctant to train in my opinion.

103/17

Go to this link and punch in your state and see who around you has an intro pilot instuctor for newbies to learn from in your area. There are not many.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx

103/17

This is the AMA's TAG (Take off and Grow) program. Look how few clubs took part in 2010. The AMA has a great program with TAG , read about it if you are not familiar with it on this link.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/education/tagprogram.aspx

103/17

Quote: "Go to this link and punch in your state and see who around you has an intro pilot instuctor for newbies to learn from in your area. There are not many."

And the point is? When I visited my first fly-in a few weeks back...not less than 5 individuals invited me to visit their club and they would work with me on a buddy box...why should there be an intro pilot instructor...when there are literally thousands of really good pilots who can work with others on a buddy box? But...are they willing to do that? I guess your post would answer that question...not many are interested in giving up an hour or two of their flying time to teach newbies? [] That is really too bad, and it speaks volumes as to why AMA and the sport of RC flying is not growing. Thanks

Mountaineer070

Quote: "This is the AMA's TAG (Take off and Grow) program. Look how few clubs partisipated in 2010. The AMA has a great program with TAG , read about it if you are not familiar with it on this link."

I would have expected as much...simply because during the short time I have been involved...no one seems interested in helping build new airfields, help maintain those we do...and the clubs are not interested in venturing into the unknown...they live in the comfort zone. What incentives exist to entice clubs to sponsor an AMA TAG program? Someone in another post may have pegged the answer...the older flyers are not willing to give up their flying time...or time on a field, and clubs are run by these older flyers.  

So what I intend to do is contact AMA and see what is involved with holding a TAG program. Thanks for letting me know that such a program exists. Enlightenment. 

Mountaineer070 

Mountaineer070,

Glad to help, AMA will provide money through a TAG event for the club to put on the event and attract new folks to the sport. There really are some neat programs out there, problem is most of us are unaware of them. Contact your local District VP and he can guide you through the process. Our club is getting ready to apply here in District 1. Good luck and I hope you put on a TAG 2011 event. Onward and upward.........!

103/17

At one time our little club in the Ozarks had a whole 10-11 members. We tried our best with ads an other things to grow the club. Nobody showed other than a coupla gawkers on the learning days. After a couple years we finally give up trying to get people, an between dying an losing interest, we are down to 5 of us now with a really nice field with nobody to fly on it.

We dropped the ama charter because the owner said he had plenty of insurance for it/us anyway. So for a treat we gave all 5 of us a free$25 membership this year.

Heres a pic of half our field, the chopper quit before we got any other pics that day. This was on a day when we held a Profile brotherhood fly in. Since then I have took up other hobbies (pellet gun target shooting, restore old Wheel Horse tractors) to kill time. Its not much fun flying by yourself. I am 60 an the youngest one out of our group right now....But I still do use the field for my target shooting if nobody is flying that day....haha.....fat chance of that.

I have contacted my district for information and await their response. Thanks for your assistance.

What I want to do is become an instructor for one reason...I find it just as rewarding to instruct new members as it is to my personal flying time...but then I am quite a few years beyond 40.

mountaineer070

all this is great information but thats IF it's applied ...........
i'm 42 and simi-retired (not bragging) and with 25+ years under my belt in limited 3d skills and more combat skills to mention i would be at the flying field probably 4 to 5 times a week plus i have no problems mowing the grass, picking up trash and even cleaning toilets i love to teach because to me it's just as fun as flying and it gets me so excited to see someone solo for the first time it reminds me of those days when that guy in my small town in (this is for you 103) keene, NH. yelled at me "keep it up boy your doin it" and that feeling of wow i'm flying !

and when i talk about doing the club myself it's because of the short falls of some of the members of the AMA the same people that in my opinion (remember opinions are like butts everyone got one) should be pushin the hobby not chasing people off .
i'd love to get into a club but 1. you need to feel like your accepted 2. the cost, as it has been explained to me should be no more the $60 a year.
this club where i'm at and maybe it's a isolated incedent (lets all hope) but that attitude didn't help there cause, then with no one i've seen in my generation even, they want $100 a year membership that would be strike 2, what this club should do is on there web site just say closed no new members wanted it would keep the people away and not tarnish the AMA.
i understand that different areas could cost more here and there but to be $25 to 40 dollars higher then everyone else your sending a message.
and it sends a negitive message but hey those members are all from 50 and up when they see the decline in membership it means yet another AMA'er has gone to that big flying field in the sky lose enough and you've lost your club it could be avoided but those "oldhats" don't care thats the biggest problem in the AMA and it shows with the decline in memberships nation wide .

you could be in a very open and freindly club it only takes one person to screw it up and maybe that person you'd be better off without ...........

Here is the AMA Intro Pilot info with the application form. We have three members, including myself, who are intro pilots. Good luck and If i can help with anything let me know.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/917.pdf

103/17

Our cub applied and AMA turns us down.

Fliers1

Keene NH..........Been there many times. "Live Free or Die" NH state motto and I would say thats unique. Glad to see you had a good start in the hobby, thats the way it should be.

Bad eggs are bad eggs and I think sometimes the AMA gets poop in their eye by proxy. Club members who turn folks away are bad for the hobby but again its a free world, not always a nice world. I can agree with the folks who dont help out but its a club thing to me not an AMA thing.

Hopefully everyone will figure it out in the next few years and our hobby will come out healthy and strong. I am sure our hobby will continue to change and all we can do is do our part to help it change in the right direction for all of us..

I think for the last few days anyway this has been a pretty productive thread and I have enjoyed the input and the discussion.

103/17

? Do you know why ? I know there is an application deadline. I also know funds are allocated on a bit of a first come first serve basis. Who in your club filled out the app and sent it in?

103/17

The only way I can see how anyone can figure it out is to find a way to change human nature or force volunteers to volunteer. AMA has tried everything but not how to do that.

Fliers1

They said our club wasn't big enough, or something of that nature. It would seem that a small club would be in more of a need than a large club.

Fliers1

Quote: "They said our club wasn't big enough, or something of that nature."

I sure hope that is not true...because in order to grow any sport, even one new member should be reason enough to approve a TAG application.

mountaineer063

Somebody's buddies are gonna get that money an you know it as well as I do......AMA is not one iota difff than the thieves an liars in DC. They have gotten big enough that they are mainly concerned in their position/jobs/ i.e. themselves.

Tear the whole thing down an start over is what my opinion would be.

Not a witch hunt. Put in all the details and things don't get misunderstood. The above is much different from your earlier post:
"But I got a PM from a mod that said ''Where can you get a year of insurance for $57 to fly on any chartered field in the country?''"