I can't explain it; I can only offer an opinion, which means nothing.
Low voter turnout has always been the case in AMA elections, and is typical of other organizations similar to the AMA.
Call it member indifference or apathy!
Actually, membership discontent, or unrest, usually triggers higher than normal voting. How come that hasn't been happening within the AMA?
This forum has always attracted a disproportionate number of habitual malcontents, who seem to tke great delight in being critical of just about everything that the AMA Headquarters staff in Muncie, or the Executive Council, does!
Fortunately, their constant sniping seems to be ignored by most who view the posts on this forum.
Sorta like a flea on an elephant's back!
Regarding the AMA's declining membership; it is a sign of aging. Big surprise, huh?
Just look around at any club meeting or flying field, and most of those in attendance will have no hair or gray hair. Each year, the average member age, increases.
Trying to entice youngsters into model aviation, while a noble gesture; is one that has produced dismal results.
While an airplane was a source of wonder and awe for kids fifty or sixty years ago, today's kids view it about the same way they do a train or a bus. It's just another form of transportation to them, plus there are so many other venues vying for their interest, time, and money.
We like to think of model aviation, and the Academy, as being in existence for many generations to come, while the opposite is also possible.
I don't think that anyone can accurately predict what model aviation's place in the future will be, nor that of the AMA.
As the old adage goes; "only time will tell"!

Maybe, but many feel it is just to regulated or too much bureaucratic BS red tape. Hmmm...Oh!….that is similar to most forms of transportation....err...you got a point there


It is a shame; kids can only find the sense of freedom in virtual worlds now.

Well like I've shown before, there are people doing something about it to help this situation which you stated above. I started a company that introduces thousands of children to aeromodeling each year and we've literally exploded over the last 6 months. We fill every class, in every school we enter and have a long waiting list for students and schools. What started out with 1 instructor and 1 kid 3 years ago is now 20 employees, 3 cities and thousands of children interested in aeromodeling. http://www.thehobbyquest.com

In essence your statement above is not accurate, it is again only a perception based on the fact that parents and adults no longer want to take the time to introduce their children to the hobbies, not the fact that the kids don't want to learn about it, because they most certainly do and then some. When I first entered this hobby some 3 years ago, I didn't see too many kids at the field and I knew something was wrong right from the get go. But what I did see a bunch of grumpy old men frown every time they saw a 10 year old kid learn how to fly better then they do in only 3 trips to the field. That was always fun to watch.

This is one of the reasons I can't stand seeing all this negativity. Instead of bashing and whining about the AMA go out and do something about it, you may just be part of something big. How hard could it be to be a VP or assistant VP? Start a lobby group, but be smart about it. Get petitions going if you don't like a certain policy. All you guys are doing by making the comments that you're making, to the club that YOU BELONG TOO, is hurting it. SHUT UP AND HELP IT! If the thread starter had any respect for the AMA he would at least change the title of the thread, not to damage it any more. A lot of people come to RCU for the first time and read crap like that, doesn't help.

HA! There's only one solution-let us run the AMA.[sm=lol.gif]

Darn.[&o]Why did you have to go and write something that I agree with?

I'll agree about much of the membership hurting the AMA grow older each year. When I was learning how to fly, I saw mainly older gentlemen at the field. One of these just happened to be my grandfather. He taught me how to fly. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have stuck it out. Also, at some fields that I have flown at, it appears to be a bunch of grumps swapping war stories or crash stories.(I actually like hearing these though, but the rest of the kid population probably doesn't) STL, as far as your second paragraph goes, I hope you will consider running for something in the AMA.(even though your view of world comp representation is wrong) I would be doing it if I could. As far as the threads here, it seems that only the negative ones get read. I've posted a few positive ones, but with the exception of one, they really didn't go anywhere.


50%

Well, I just re-read the first post. I don't see anything wrong with it. Someone that has been out of the hobby for a-while has noticed since coming back into it that maybe some of the feelings toward the ama have changed and they wanted to know why. Shame on him! How dare he post such a question and how dare anyone answer his post that isn't blowing smoke up the ama's ars.... There should be no opinion allowed other than pro ama

I've been an ama member for many years now. Been around/effected and thru several changes and I don't really like some of the things that have happened. Before I start let me say that I do my part. I vote, I talk to my AVP and help out the local clubs as much as I possibly can whether it's training, working on the club or whatever..

I'm a waiver holder for jets. Let me just say that it's been a MESS!!!!

I also fly aerobatic planes... Rule #9 (no tail touching) was a MESS!!! If you think a majority of the ama was happy with the decisions made then why was that rule changed so quickly?

I still can't figure out why the headquarters for a warm weather sport were put in a majority cold weather area vs ANYWHERE south.. If you want it central then Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas etc... Just anywhere with a better climate for hmmmm RC.

With flying sites being being restricted or clubs losing them, rather than building a 10 million dollar museum (I may be wrong on the $), how about putting the money back into the membership and try to purchase land in each state for a regional site. In turn that would attract more members to the hobby and make a large permanent site. We would be talking about $200,000 per state to buy some land in a semi rural area for a flying site and more important I believe would be that a majority of the membership would actually get to use or at least visit it.. $200,000 would buy a NICE rural flying site!!!! Not saying the museum is bad, but I've seen a lot of museums that are nice for under 1 million...

I've said enough to get me into trouble so

These are just my opinions which I believe I have a right to just like the other pro posts...

Now where did I put that hard hat

Oops, someone in another thread mentioned it was 19 million... that would make it 380,000 per state. Wow, what a club that would be!!!!

I'll take a break in the action to ask a favor-

Hey 50%plane-
If it aint trouble, you mind knockin about a dozen $ off your sig? You're sig is givin me scrollbars on a 17" @1024, everybody else's posts fit just fine. Thanx if you do, if not... whatever.

OK guys, back to the AMA fighting-
Ya'll should be lookin at a great source of land- The BLM
Last time I checked, the Bureau of Land Management had a few acres left... well, a few million acres. Get a field, not on the edge of BLM land like everyone else wants to grab, but a good 10-15miles in.
A. Dont have to worry about condos getting built & getting kicked out
B. Even 40% jets will have a LOOOONG way to go before hitting anything worth more than $2
C. Just ludicrous squaremiles of BLM land is where it snows 5 days or less a year. Tons of it have less than 7" rain a year.
D. Your AMA clubs already get County Park leases, just up the ante to Fed level land leases, rather than postage stamp sized lots in cities with noise restrictions and whatnot.

that is some of the red tape I am talking about

Hows this?

Sweet
Thanx 50%

Like I said last page,
we get along fine, we fight over AMA, then get along fine about other stuff
He flys % planes, I fly 1/2A- no problems chit chatting like adults

Spot on.

SFA had some internal issues not related to their battle with AMA. I never thought it was a straight-up outfit even though I bought their coverage.

I was sorry to see UMA fold up shop, because they were at least straightforward in their dealings. I had their coverage when it was available.

One thing many folks seem to forget is that both the SFA and UMA insurance wasn't all that much less than AMA membership, and the ancillary benefits were non-existent. IIRC my UMA dues were $48 at the end, and AMA was only ten bucks more for a whole lot more benefits.

Still, the SFA and UMA "competition" didn't do anything to AMA except make them pay attention. We could indeed use a competitor for AMA simply because having to compete sharpens any organization.

BTW - I never did drop AMA in favor of SFA or UMA, and I'm still a Life Member of AMA. I just wanted the other insurance 'just in case' because like a lot of modelers, I probably couldn't defend against a lawsuit if I had to and would wind up in the poorhouse.

AMA has always been 'better' than the would-be competitors, but that competition sure helped AMA sharpen it's focus.

While I don't share your optimism regarding present day youth's interest in model aviation, I sincerely hope that you're correct, and that your introducing youth to model aviation business venture is a successful one.
I, admittedly do not know the figures, but I'd like to know what the present AMA youth membership number is as opposed to what it was, say 20 or 30 years ago. A lot less, would be my guess.
Just out of curiosity, can you tell us how many of the "thousands of children that your program has introduced to model aviation each year and has exploded in the past 6 months"; have retained an active interest in model aircraft, and become AMA youth members?
Most of today's youngsters have a variety of organized activities, special interest programs, and amusement items to select from, and my point was that an "airplane" is no longer the magical source of wonder that it once was for children.
Perhaps you're old enough to remember the time when an airplane appeared in the sky, it was common for many children to watch it until it was a small speck on the horizon, and many knew what type of aircraft it was, and could site details about it.
How many kids do you see doing that today? Most don't even bother to look up unless the aircraft is flying rather low, and then their interest is usually only momentary.
That's not a negative assessment; it's reality, and it does illustrate that today youth regard aviation in a different manner as opposed to past generations.
Again, I hope your efforts to expose youngsters to model aviation are successful, and hopefully at least a few of them will retain that interest.

Um . . . wrong.

AMA is not a "privately held company" by any stretch of the imagination.

AMA is a membership organization, and the directions the organization takes are dictated by member input.

Alas, lacking member input in the form of uncontested elections means that the incumbents are left to do what they believe the members want.

If enough members don't like what their representatives are doing, they can replace that representative when they desire by exercising the ballot.

I hold my District V appointment because enough members down here did just that, and elected Tony Stillman as District V Vice President, and Tony in turn appointed a bunch of AVPs who are actually doing what AVPs were supposed to have been doing all along.

Don't like what AMA is doing ? Tell your elected and appointed officials.

Still don't like what AMA is doing ? Use the ballot.

Trust me, it does work.

My father did not use profanity or vulgarity, with very few exceptions. However, he would remark about someone, "He just sits around with his finger up his a** and complains." Anyone you know?

You want to keep playing back and forth on who is right and who is wrong. The AMA is MOST CERTAINLY a privately held, self supporting, not for profit corporation. If a company is not pubic entity then it's a private entity. The board of directors whose names are held by the NFP can choose to do whatever they want with the company. The board of directors have chosen to set the company up the way it is presently, but it's still privately held.

Well I can't really provide that number as it's proprietary information, thousands per year is accurate. As far as them becoming AMA members, I don't know as I've contacted the AMA one time and asked if they had interest in a partnership and they never responded. No big deal, my job is to teach children aeromodeling, I don't work for the AMA. However the FAA and the Aviation Education Council is very interested in what we are doing and is writing and editing much of our materials and offering plenty of assistance.

Personally I think the focus on kids is the AMA's biggest problem, but I don't really care what they do about because is as I'm handling it my own way. As far as them continuing it after they leave us, it's up to them. The goal is to introduce the art of aeromodeling and hobbies, we don't force it on them. If one of our students, say 25 years from now, is the first person to step on Mars, then our program worked for 1 person and that's better then 0.

See pics below. I have literally thousands of photos like this. They will speak for themselves. It most certainly is a magical source to a child, just not to an adult like yourself who thinks this is possible in a time of Playstation, Gopeds and the Internet. You have to see it first hand to believe it.

If you want to see online presentation of what the kids do in a typical school: http://www.thehobbyquest.com/presentation

I don't know where you live, but I don't know many kids that don't get excited when a plane roars over head. Kids are still kids ... aren't they? A 5 year old kid in 1940 is the same as a 5 year old in 2006??? It's not like we are evolving that quickly. The attitude of the child has not changed, the attitude of the adult has.

I agree that today's 5 year old kid is no different than his or her 1940 vintage grandparents were at that age.
However, interests do change and an airplane flying by, no longer mesmerizes kids like it did in 1940.
Granted today's youngsters may look up at it, but for most of them; their interest is at best casual, and short lived.
Regarding your statement "the attitude of the child has not changed, the attitude of the adult has"; I agree.
The trouble is; the child has a tendency to grow up, and when that happens their attitude does in deed, change! I think it's called "maturity".

BTW - in your previous post; what's a "Pubic" entity?

Are you speaking on behalf of the children? Or are you speaking on behalf of yourself? This is the attitude of the adults that I'm speaking. A child is interested in anything interesting. It's not what you give a child it's how you give it to them. This is why we have waiting lists for kids to enter our program.

So what you're saying is that children are evolving quicker then before???/ It's all a numbers game. If you teach 10,000 children about aeromodeling you're going to capture at least some of them for life. If you teach 0 children about aeromodeling then the number is going to be much less.

[quote]ORIGINAL: STLPilot

Are you speaking on behalf of the children? Or are you speaking on behalf of yourself?

I wasn't speaking on behalf of anyone; just voicing an opinion or assessment.
This is a "Pubic" forum, isn't it?
Honestly; the best of luck with your youth program enterprise, and I sincerely hope that it produces postive results for model aviation.

Sorry but I highly disagree with you and I have plenty of reseearch that can back it up. In 1940 you didn't have F-18's roaring by or 747's, it's all relative.

Not completely; technology advances have also brought about a much greater variety of items that appeal to youngsters, than was available in 1940.
With model aviation now competing with Gameboys, I-Pods, computers, arcade games, etc., combined with a plethora of school oriented (after classs) activities and programs that never existed in 1940; it's a tough sell.
Introducing kids to model aviation is great, but the possibility of many of them sustaining that interest, is far less in today's world, than it was in 1940.
While I don't share your highly optimistic prognosis for model aviation's growth and popularity amongst today's kids; I do hope that you're right.

OK, I have some issue's with the AMA, but who does't? It is in good nature to scrutinize that service we pay for, some people have higher expectation's than other's and like to sound off their dis-satisfaction, It is our right to do so without fear of reprisal. That is some of the thing that America is all about. Over all I do like the AMA but I do not love them, I love other , more meaningful things, like a sweet P-51. What the heck, any war-bird, LOL.
The cold hard fact's are the AMA number's are on the decrease and that is not a good thing. I have done my fair share of bashing but it is not to hurt but to constructively criticize. I think that is what most are doing as far as what some may perceive as hate.
We are the AMA, How many people actually vote? How many members actually participate and promote? I know a guy that has made it a way of life to do this, now he is retired and does so much for the youth and other organization's and is often discouraged by the way thing's are in this hobby, but he still promote's and instruct's big time .
We all must take responsibility for this decline and every member that has a complaint that does absolutely nothing to help the problem and do more than just vote, are just as much as fault as those situation's they are complaining about.
Don't confuse constructive criticism with hate but don't criticize without exercising your solution. The AMA help's keep us within our right's to fly. They participate in the legal process of our Government, (FAA, FCC and so on) and keep all our voice's alive. They exercise our strength in number's. We need AMA.

Well, I agree on that first part, but the P-51 is more worn out than the Extra.

Bobwrc and STL, I disagree with both of your positions. Also, the reason that kids these days aren't as interested in models being because the airplane is all to common these days is a valid reason, but isn't the only one. How do I know? I'm a 90's kid. (That should be enough criteria for you.) Let's look at a different example than planes for this point. Look at your TV. Scroll through the channels. How many do you have? What do you want to watch? IF your bored with one program, how easy is it to get a better one? The same goes for hobbies. There are hundreds of hobies these days as there were in the 1940s, but there is another element to it. It is the cool factor. Back then it was expected that you do certain things.(at least that's what I was told by my grandparents and great-grandparents) A few examples would be like knitting and sewing for girls, and working on mechanical things for boys. Now, it isn't uncommon for women to be mechanics and men to sew. Also, kids have more ways to communicate with friends. This really reduces the time for kids to have a real hobby. Take a look at computers, cell phones, pagers,(ok, a little outdated) etc. Also, let's examine the web. Have any of ya'll ever gone to myspace.com? I have a myspace and I spend way to much time on it doing nothing worth it. Toys these days are just more addicting than toys back then were. For instance, I have a cousin who spends around 8 hours a day playing video games. Now, this is just one example. There are hundreds of others. One final point here, many kids these days absorb themselves with things like video games or other 'facinations' as many kids are close to suicide. You probably don't understand this, but it is sadly true. In fact, 90% of kids have thought about cutting. (If you don't know, cutting is one short step away from suicide.)




50%

Well either way if you don't think kids are getting enough aviation in their lives, then the real question is, what are you going to do about it to make it different?

Exactly right, love or hate the AMA without them we wouldn't be able to fly RC so freely, not by a longshot.

You guys might not be aware of this but every single day in Israel, 1 or more Palestinian is sending a homemade radio controlled plane into Israel with small explosvies. You think our goverment doesn't know about this? You have no idea how bad YOU need the AMA right now.