Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

When we signed up to be AMA chartered clubs
we agreed to "promote model aviation".

So why do we make it so expensive to "GET IN" to our clubs and our hobby?
That seems a little silly to put up such a monetary obstruction if
we really are trying to get the hobby/sport to GROW.

Is that not in countradiction to what we are supposed to be doing.....promoting model aviation?

We don't have to run things like 24 hour nautilus.......do we?
How did we get roped into doing it that way?

If we make it less expensive to join our clubs,
it will be easier to build the membership, grow the hobby, the treasuries.... then
buy land, build more flying sites, get more members, buy more land.... build more flying sites......and on and on.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

I believe I am stepping into a pool of sharks so just in case I brought a beating stick with me.....
:D

When we signed up to be AMA chartered clubs
we agreed to "promote model aviation".

Agreed and do.

So why do we make it so expensive to "GET IN" to our clubs and our hobby?

We only charge $55 a year for membership and have two free flights for newcomers. We also buddy box with newcomers even if they do not even have a plane so that they can decide whether to start the hobby or not. I do not see this as being expensive especially a for a person wanting to seriously start out in the hobby with todays inflation. If you need to do upgrades or repairs to the field to keep it looking nice then you may have to raise the dues a little to achieve the clubs goals. All this really depends upon how expensive you are talking about.

That seems a little silly to put up such a monetary obstruction if
we really are trying to get the hobby/sport to GROW.
Is that not in countradiction to what we are supposed to be doing.....promoting model aviation?

Not so. When I first started out it blew me away how much this stuff costs. I liked airplanes and I like building things with wood so I put the two together and decided to cough up the money. After I got to know the membership and saw what great people they were I would have paid $200 just to be around such a great bunch of people. People have to realize that this hobby is not a cheap one as compared to others. If I were to get a girlfriend, get married, settle down, and have kids then my priorities would likely change. My funds would have to go towards other things unless I marry a rich woman.:D

We don't have to run things like 24 hour nautilus.......do we?
How did we get roped into doing it that way?

If we make it less expensive to join our clubs,
it will be easier to build the membership, grow the hobby, the treasuries.... then
buy land, build more flying sites, get more members, buy more land.... build more flying sites......and on and on.

Even if you have free membership there would still be a lot of people put off by the price that it even takes to get started in this hobby. Is it the clubs fault? No I do not think so especially since it was free membership. Planes do seem to be getting cheaper to the people that are already in the hobby, but not to the ones trying to get into it. You can get an RTF nitro for $400. I know someone will say well you can get an electric for $100. Well that very well may be true, but what is that kid gonna go for when you take him/her to the hobby shop and he sees the big planes. Common sense says the bigger stuff, but there is not a lot of common sense in today's society anymore. I am not ragging on the electric guys either. They are in the same hobby as me and I respect them.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

JC, You jest!

I don't know of any hobby group that cost less than AMA clubs require for dues. Nearly all of which goes into maintaining a decent flying site.

Try joining a gun club, hunt club, fishing club for what most model clubs charge annually.

Our club dues are $50/year and we just about break even each year - 75 or so members.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

This is not a cheap hobby, and I hope it never becomes one because then there will be more sniveling, whining and bed-wetting than there already is.

The local clubs in my area each cost between $75 and $100 per year to be a member and use their facilities. If you think that's a "monetary obstruction", maybe you should get a job so you don't have to ask momma to increase your allowance.

If you can't afford the minor fees, shut up and get out - you are bothering the regular folks. [:'(]

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

There are clubs and there are clubs. Suppose that the club has formed a corporation, bought the flying field, and has a 10 year morgage on it. Also there there is the cost of the paved runway and the shade roof, other improvements, as well as maintainace. The club has $200,000 debt, and dues are their major source of revenue. What do you think would be reasonable annual dues for a club member?

On the other hand, I belong to two clubs, dues are $10 and $15 respectively. Both are on dedicated public land with improvements supplied by tax dollars. Both have the expense of a monthly newsletter. Both hold contests and take in entry fees; entering will cost you as much or more than the yearly dues.. Both contribute to a field maintainence fund, and one has received AMA money for field improvement.

So the club dues cost situation is club specific, and is the number the club has decided it needs to function into the future.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Bad Daddy rolls it up in a nice little package.

A little more blunt than I would have put it, but straight and to the point.

I suppose we are going to have to start some sort of RC welfare system in the future because of course everyone is entitled to have access to anything at all whether they can afford it or not. :eek:

^ yes thats sarcasm.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

I read these post on the AMA forum and the only thing that pops into my head is the $#!t burning the soildiers did in Iraq. While the fuel mixture was burning there was the necessary odor due to the burning, It was working fine, but the poor ******* assigned to burn the excrement HAD to STIR the pot to get every little detail out of the process making the stench unbearable.

I think is time to unsubcribe from the AMA forum, i thought the discussions here had more brains and less emotions than what I've seen.

Why do I even want to get into this discussion? :eek: If the club owns the field, expect to pay more membership fees. If it is in public land expect your fees to be lower. If you can't afford the fees, you probably can't afford the hobby in the first place. Move to an RC friendly State or City where the RC fields are on public land and your fees will be lower. HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PROMOTING THE HOBBY. :eek:

I've wasted enough time and skin off the tips of my fingers.

Rafael

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

One club that I'm a member with charges $45 a year. Great club! The other club, charges $100, has a low rent, sucks as a club, and complains about just breaking even. Just an observatioin, but it seems that if everyone is having a great time, dues don't need to be outlandish as everyone helps and that keeps club expenses down.

50%

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

$45 to fill the tank in my Pontiac, $150 if I'd like to eat per week and $275,000 for an "average" home ( in my neck of the woods ) - now that's outlandish. $45 for a years' worth of flying - priceless.

Dan

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

I doubt it. I belong to two clubs, both about $50 a year, both with a couple of hundred members. Suppose we reduced the dues to $20 a year. Do you honestly think we'd grow to 500 members (the number we'd need just to break even). Do you honestly think we'd grow to 600 members? How much land could we buy with the extra $2,000 we'd make if we grew to 600 members? Do you think those people who only invested $20 a year to belong to the club would participate MORE than the ones who paid $50? I think they would fly and work less, not more, not really thinking of themselves as serious members.

As long as the annual dues are a relatively small portion of the hobby expenditures for most members, I think they are priced about right.

You could probably make a more convincing argument if you used some real numbers. What do you consider too expensive? Have you actually talked to people who could afford the hobby but not the club dues? Lots of them?

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

I am always "impressed" with the attitude of "think how many we can get if we lower our dues" mentality. Been there and seen that and if a person is complaining about $55 to a $100 a year to fly at a club with a paved runway and large metal shelter, they really are operating on a false sense of economy. That breaks down to less than $5 - $10 a month for 24 hour access to a field. I have seen guys pay much more for priviledge to hunt a few weeks a year at a hunting club, or swim a few months a year at a pool, yet they will gripe and moan about this small sum of money.
IMO this very subject will break up more clubs and cause more confusion than any other thing on the agenda.
Clubs have to be able to pay their bills, and as someone alluded to there is a new concept of having someone else (those that can afford it should fund it for everyone else) is a sense of socialism. This "R/C welfare program" is going to do more to run people out of the hobby than anything else I have ran across in a while.
I notice DB even alludes to the fact that the Senior Citizen discount costs each additional member of the AMA about $3 currently, and that number is growing as the population of the AMA is skewing towards the AOA (active older adult). Pretty soon, half of your dues will be used to supplement someone else's discounts.
Tommy

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Hmm.. I am the president of our local club. We charge $75.00 per year to be a member. With that, we have two flying fields, both are grass so someone has to cut that and equipment costs money to both own and run. And there are other cost factors. Porta-potty's for instance, care of our small club house, upkeep of our flying benches (although not that much, it does add to what we have for income) and that most people do not pay until March or April for a January start month..

In addition, we sponsor several events each year, only one of them puts money back into the treasury, and that isn't much. We have a monthly newsletter. That costs to print, mail, not to mention the time the editor puts in to make the thing. If you figure that $75.00 per year, well, that works out to $1.44 per week.. if you fly weekly, that's quite a bargain. Try to play golf on that. It also works out to $6.25 per month. If you fly once a month, well, it's still quite a bargain.. again, try to play golf on THAT.

Nope.. yer way out of line here. Clubs are very reasonable and provide both a safe and enjoyable place to fly our aircraft.

DS.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

After reading through the post that started this thread again I can't help but ask,

Huh?!?!

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

It was great to get some numbers up from across the country.

Average DUES to most ran between 50-75 dollars

But what is the cost to join the club in total? ................not just the $55/$75 dues monies?

what is the total cost to join your club.?

Could we make it cheaper without running in the red?

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

It would appear that from the responses here to the original post that someone doesn't have a good handle on reality. Either that or the other 14 posters are off their meds. :eek:

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Try..... to go way back...... and remember
when you joined your first club..... was it not a bit of a monetary pill to swallow?

I do agree its a great activity for the money.

The point of this is.....

CAN WE MAKE IT CHEAPER TO GET INTO OUR CLUBS without going into the red?

Its not going to really hurt us to TRY is it? Can we do better?

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Sadly some clubs have outlandish initiation fees to drive off the percieved riff raff. Fortunately I've never run across one in my travels but I've heard stories.

Other than that I think most clubs are pretty reasonable. I know the 4 within driving distance of me are.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Time to launch another crusade John, it is quite apparent from the responses here that this dog won't hunt.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Even though I have always found club dues a bargain, I have often wondered why there hasn't been a real push for public flying sites by the AMA. It does amaze me that since 1936 there hasn’t been much interest to promote the hobby any further than the membership.

Oh, I guess someone will weigh in with some innocuous or incidental examples of promoting the hobby but an AMA assisted public flying field, where AMA membership is not an absolute requirement, is truly the litmus test in my mind of AMA’s resolve. An organization committed to “promoting the hobby” should have an arsenal of viable means for flying fields to exist. Currently, there is essentially only one member based method.

It sure would be nice if STL could get some real help for the Central Park, Park Flyers. BTW I do really mean that.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Most would agree......That's a real crappy thing to do to fellow modelers.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Although this too would be a great idea, the first thing that struck me about this proposal was "who would take care of it?". What most of us may take for granted is that these fields and sites do not only not mysteriously just appear out of nowhere, if they are not taken care of they will cease to exist. Building and creating them is only the initial part, the true test comes with keep them maintained and in good general condition, and this is not an inexpensive premise.
I cringe when I hear people complain about "park flyers" not being able to share the local fields, which is maintained usually by a club which these people do not want to belong. The fact remains that it is a "slap in the face" of those who maintain and pay to maintain a field, for others to take it upon themselves that they should have the right to use it without the committment to maintain it. We all need to contribute. Some use their talents to teach newbies, while at the same time they help cut grass and trim weeds. It is a group effort, that we all need to participate in.
Tommy

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Oh BTW I just want to mention; at one of the flying clubs I belong to we have recently decided to cut the dues in half for new members. Our resolve is real but then again it is not an AMA club...go figure. I think it is a grand idea and I don’t mind paying twice as much as the new members…matter of fact I think this club truly understands what promoting the hobby is all about. I am lucky I belong to two clubs that really has a genuine interest in promoting the hobby…not just mere words.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

Some clubs have a huge investment in their facility. It is not unreasonable for them to require a buy in to the equity they have built up.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

You should be able to cut them. Your are sharing a public park with another club that has funded any improvements.

RE: Why do we have outlandish fees to join AMA clubs?
 

No crusade here, just trying to re-evaluate
how we got started in this 24 hour nautlius
style of entering a Model airplane club.

whats the purpose?
why do we do it?

Its members dues and events that builds a clubs treasury.
Get the members in the door........get the dues $$$$, more members....
more events.... more money.... more fun....... more people join in the fun and so on.
it's self feeding it's a nobody lose's situation.

So lets make it as easy as possible to make them modelers and members.