Would most flying fields exist today without AMA?


BV

yes

Yes I believe so.
As I see it ,the biggest threat to the flying fields,
(at least in my area)is urban development and it
is unstoppable weather AMA is dead or alive.

I'm sure that somewhere there are some fields
that have come about through the efforts of AMA
and are working well. They are few and distant.
We are for the most part ............"land
beggars "and are on our own



Regards
Roby

Neat question but impossible to answer, its hard to say how many fields are able to be simply because of the cheap cost of insurance with AMA ? Many clubs started because of competition supported by AMA. IMO if it wasn't AMA it would have been something else similar.

some more questions ?

Would we still be using 27 and 49 Mhz and only a handful of frequencies being shot down by C.B. radios if it were not for the AMA or similar organization.

Would the Hobby have grown as it has if it were not for the verity of frequencies and as a result the equipment we have today.

Would the expense of high insurance detour clubs from starting and landowners leasing their land.

IMO a Modeling organization was very instrumental in the growth and choices we have in the hobby at this time , and one of the main reasons the FAA or government has pretty much left us alone and self regulating, But it is quite clear that could or can come to an end if we don't do a little self discipline , as the saying goes, just because we can, dosen't mean we should.

The short answer, NO I don't believe the number of flying fields we can all fly at would be as high as it is today, and I believe that most fields would have be somewhat exclusive to club use if it were not for a model Organization joining us as one.

Nice post DB and a good point concerning the use (acquisition) of Frequencies from "uncle charlie"


BV

What is a flying field?
A foot ball field!!
County road!!
Private land!!
Parks!!
Then is the popular cross country fly that take in multiple stops . Where will it be safe to fly. How does AMA protect ther member with some thing like this. You Do not know where or when there is going to be interferance. There might be a farmer with an air stip on his property. Look like we better all get FRQ. meters.

No,
If the above was true then we would have a lot of clubs available that don't require AMA. Some states (TN) seems to have flying areas in their public parks. I commend states that are proactive in nature.

I can say for as many people who fly in Georgia (Atlanta) large flying areas are hard to find.

>>>>>>>>
Would most flying fields exist today without AMA?


BV

<<<<<<<<

Absolutely not.

Master Bowles said it as well as it needs saying. However !!!!

Without AMA Pres. Johnny Clemens pursuing the insurance program, the AMA would have collapsed. Insurance and the resurgence (from the insurance) of the Charter Club program, provided the "strength through numbers" which allowed AMA to survive the '70s.
Had AMA failed, the current frequencies would never have come into being. The RC suppliers were having trouble as the less expensive imports were taking over the US-made market.
None were supporting a change from 7 to 50 frequencies along with narrow-band.
Had the RC car craze not exploded in the '80s, there would not have been adequate profit in the whole RC realm to support the '91 deadline for radios. So don't forget to say "Thank You" to the kid on the street running across your lawn.
Without a few that are ready to work and finance behind the lines, many fields would not exist.
Without the fields, RC's long range would be much less than now.
Without AMA and a competitive program, along with people with VISION and LOVE of SPORT such as Jerry Nelson, Bill Bennett, and several thousand others that simply do for the sake of doing, there would be a whole lot less than there is now.
"No man is an island unto himself." Neither is AMA. It takes all of us.

Yeah, that's the AMA's fault. It couldn't be population growth and encroaching land development squeezing fields out of existence. It couldn't be that people are less tolerant of the "annoying" than they used to be.

When was this wonderful time? Probably back when most people still had some sense of responsibility, and a simple slip-n-fall accident at a flying field didn't necessitate suing the landowner, club, or whoever else was involved into oblivion.

Yep, it's a great big consipracy by the AMA to close down ALL the fields, except Muncie of course.

Sorry, but I don t know your name,,, but do you really beleive what you just wrote above???


BV

Mark, yes I saw the same thing,,, Bummer.


But this thread is not about "mindsets",,, its about the exsistance of AMA and the impact it has on our "Chartered" flying sites. I beleive With out AMA,,, We'd all be flying in the "wild" without little to no standards at all,,, Places to fly would be far and few inbetween.


BV

Mark, no no no,,, not pick'n onyas, just trying to get a few to realize The importance of AMA,,, they Know who they are :devious:


BV

There are between 2500 and 2600 AMA chartered clubs. In the last 4 years about 400 have been lost for one reason or another. That is almost 1/6 of the total number of clubs. The reasons for the losses range from urban sprawl to the death of land owners.

The reason that this is important to this discussion is that virtually each and every club has been replaced by a new club, although not necessarily in the same area. It would seem that looking at this fact has to lead one to believe that the AMA has been helpful and desirable to the new clubs. The club members of about 400 new clubs made the decision to charter with the AMA.

The total number of clubs still stands at about 2500-2600.

JR