I am new to r/c flying and am trying to find out all the info I need. I was told to find a local club so I checked out a few and have some questions about joining clubs. For starters, are there normally fees accossiated with joining r/c clubs? This one I was looking at charged an initial $30 joining fee then $65 a year. Does that seem like a lot or is that normal? Also, from what I read most clubs do not accept you if you are not a member of AMA. Does AMA have a fee also? If so, how can a newbie such as I get into this hobby without having to start out spending a fortune? I already have a plane, but without a place to fly its useless and to get a place to fly I must join a club which also require you to be in AMA. I read that you can just find a place that does not prohibit flying, but where do I find that info out? In the beggining I thought I could just find a large field and go flying, but I dont want to get into trouble flying around if its prohibited and joining a club seems to be an expensive venture. I would appreciate any help on this issue.

I just looked up the other club in my area and the dues are $100 signup and $75 per year. Geez.

I too am just getting into the sport and find the fees for the clubs a little over-bearing. But I also understand why they cost as much as they do. The club closest to me pro-rates by month and requires you to become a member of the AMA, so joining now would cost me $58 for the AMA membership and then $35 or so for the club costs. And then for next year the club is $60 and AMA again is $58 I believe. The club then offers free lessons and a really nice field to fly at with all the buddies a guy could ask for. But yes, the fees are kind of hard to over look. I'm going to put the money out for the fees just because I just spent $300 on my plane and Acces. and I still have more to buy. And I would hate to find a big field and try to fly solo and slam it into the ground. I figure, if I do the club thing for a couple years, and then decide I don't want to pay the dues, at least by then I will have learned how to fly, so I could find a big field that permits flying and then fly bymyself.

Just a couple options. Knowing me though, I'll be part of the group for a couple years and then won't be able to part with the friends I'll make.

Welcome to the hobby. Yes there can be certain expenses involved.The $65 membership and $35 fee sound reasonable and these amounts vary greatly all over the country and even across a given city. You didn't state your age, if young enough many clubs and the AMA have discounts. Many clubs will pro-rate memberships fees after mid-year, this would give you a chance to try a club and see if you like it. The AMA offers several membership options but a full membership is $58/year. You can save money by electing not to receive the magazine and there are a couple of other options also. Check them out at: www.modelaircraft.org You can sign up online if you wish. They offer liability insurance which many companies leasing land to clubs REQUIRE in their leases. My club membership is $120/year and I am happy top pay it. Would I rather it was lower? of course, but I am provided with a nice paved runway and nice grassy field also along with other amenities that all cost the club money. NO FREE LUNCH TODAY. The club will also probably provide you with free instruction and advice as well as comaraderie with a bunch of great guys. If you try flying by yourself in an open field you may do OK but the odds are that your plane will be short lived and if you should hit something or SOMEONE with it, the law suit will ruin you financially. AMA is just as valuable as your car liability insurance.
Sorry to say it, but spend a few more dollars and enjoy a great hobby with us. The local hobby shop will be getting more of your cash pretty soon anyway

I understand the fees to a point because it all has to get paid for and if I had a lot of money tied up in planes I guess I would pay it, but I average about $400 a month right now. Minus bills that leaves me with very little. Between me and my fiance we dont have a lot of extra to spend and the only reason I was 'allowed' (LOL) to buy a plane was because I aced my networking certification. The plane I bought has fairly cheap replaceable parts so no worries there. I would love to be apart of a group, but at that cost its almost too much for me right now. An instructor would be nice, but I will have to wait until I have a job that pays. I was just curious as to why its so expensive, but I guess I understand now. I dont need a runway thought since my plane must be hand launched and lands in grass. Its kinda frustrating though when you already bought a plane and now you find out all this other stuff that makes it hard for someone to get into the hobby. Think of it this way.....say a kid of only 15 who loves planes is interested in a sport like this? There really isnt a way for him/her to get involved unless his or her parents shell out a lot of money which is not very likely. There should be different levels of flying and different levels of membership. That way even people starting out dont have to loaded with cash. By the way I am 25. The only reason I cant afford a lot right now is because I am finishing up college right now and I live on my own with my fiance. I could have chosen r/c cars or something that would probably be cheaper, but I love a challenge and flying is a challenge to me. Besides, things that fly have always interested me. Well you gotta make due with what you have so I guess I will try to find somewhere fairly close that I can fly and not break the law. Anyone know where you can find that info out? Do I have to go to the courthouse or something to find out where the limits are? By the way, I dont plan on flying near any houses. I know there is the chance of crashing into something so I will look for a place in the country that has a lot of area and no buildings. Maybe in the future I will look into a club.

First off what kind of plane are we talking about here?..Did you buy a .40 size trainer and everything you need to fly it and not check into this before hand?
or did you get an electric parkflyer and are concerned about breaking the law?...more info...Rog

I bought an Firebird Scout electric RTF. I guess that would be considered a park flyer. Dont know. I just bought it to learn the 'basics' of flying. Not all the technical stuff. I figure later when I have gotten the hang of flying in general I will get more technical. And yes, I just dont want to break the law.

Your ok,,,that is one of those rear prop electrics,,you can fly at a school yard with it,,no AMA needed (it might be a good idea but not necessary) ,,you dont need a club,,if you bought it at a local hobby shop see if the owner or employees could give you a bit of training,, and perhaps where others fly them...when I got back ijn the hobby, I started with GWS park flyers ,probably even slower than your plane...but I could only fly at the school yard on sat/sun mornings before 09:00am (thats when the soccer players would come and take over)...also go to the parkflyer section/forum and do a search for your plane,,ask them ?'s and comments on the best way to ready your plane for flight...now I belong to a club that has 2 fields,,it is 25 to join 75/year and 60 for AMA,,so its about $10-12 a month to fly...I know you dont look at it like that when money is tight...hope all this helps you.....Rog

Actually that was a big help. That pretty much answered all my questions. I guess I will need to join a club when I get a plane that requires more skill and flying room. Thanks for the help.

My father-in -law and I both fly in a club that is 50 a year plus the AMA ,that is a 55 mile drive. We also have our own field at a friends place that is only 12 miles. We haul our mowers there to keep it mowed all summer. The 50 for the club site and not having to mow is a bargin,sure it is farther away but round trip to cut our field is about an hour and a half. The other benifit of the club is the help you get from the other guys plus sometimes good deals on engines,radios and planes.

TANSTAAFL

One good tip I would like to share if you have no flight experience is to find an open field that has high grass 12 inches or taller. Tall grass will save your Plane alot of wear and tear as you are trying to learn. Then once you have mastered the Plane, then a nice soccer field, or open football field at your local campus would be great. You shouldn't encounter to much trouble from anyone as long as you are not flying over people, over buildings, or over cars. Just keep it in an open area where risk of any damage to anything or anyone is low, and all should be fine.

One more note:
Wherever you decide to fly, it is considerate to make sure that there are no Clubs within a couple miles of where you plan to fly. Sometimes Planes go down at Clubs, and the Pilot swears that someone using the same frequency has turned on thier radio. Parkflyers who may have been seen flying nearby at some point in time often get the blame even though I believe that 99.999999999% of the time this is not the case. Especially since alot of park flyers don't even operate in the 72mhz FM band, let alone on the same channel. The ParkFlyers that do use a regular 72mhz FM Air radio usually have the same radio for both there electrics and their gas Planes, and I would say most, but not all belong to a club.

he has a good point. go to the local club(if its near you) and see what channels are lightly(or not)being used. that way if you happen to be on a 72mhz channel, it will be unlikely to cause issues.

Parkflyer planes are generally on the 27 mhz band.
I belong to two clubs. Both are $35 a year. The one club field is 2 miles from the house and the other is a 20 minute drive. I also
have a 50 acre horse farm where I fly my electrics. So I kinda have it good. Both of the clubs I belong to have less than 40 members and you usually don't have to wait all morning or afternoon to fly. I've never seen more than 4 or 5 members at any one time unless the club has a fly-in.

Dave...

Move up here.

Our club dues are only $25/yr with no startup fees - But AMA is still required

Wouldn't it be a long commute to school?

hi everyone,

i also belong to 2 clubs the closest one is $60 a year with a $40 startup fee. the second one is only $30 a year. both require AMA for insurance reasons. but joining the club was the best thing i could have done not only did i learn how to fly but was also taught how to tune, trouble shoot, set-up ETC... engines and planes and on top of all that I MADE A BUNCH OF NEW FRINENDS WHO LOVE FLYING AS MUCH AS I DO . cant beat a club IMHO.

bassman

My first club was GMAASC (Gas Model Airplane Association of Southern California) Joined when I got my first engine in 1936 but had been flying gummi bands a couple of years before that. Someone came to a meeting one night pushing the establishment of AMA. $0.50 for rubber flyers and $1.00 for gas powered. As I recall the dues for GMAASC were about $5.00 per year. We had a huge free flight field. The point is I had all the help I needed to learn about gas power modeling from some top names in the field. I made lifetime friends who are mostly gone to their reward now but I will never forget the experience of learning from some of the pioneers in the field.
Clubs are about more than just a place to fly and AMA is about more than just insurance. Clubs in general offer learning that has been gathered over years by the older members. Clubs are also the source
of acquiring and maintaining a place fly as well as flight instruction and help when you are stuck on building problems. There may be one or two people that rub the wrong way but in general the members become great friends whose company you can enjoy at the field and at club meetings. Remember these are people that have a common purpose that is probably the same as your own. Flying with other model pilots is much more enjoyable than doing it alone.

A critical piece of advice to you and to all two channel pilots. Respect the
wind! REALLY RESPECT THE WIND!!!!!

These planes either have throttle and rudder or throttle and differential
thrust, which does about the same thing.

If you fly on a windy day you have a very high probability of losing the
plane. Why, because you have no way to fight the wind. If the plane gets
down wind from you, and it will, here is what happens. You hit the power to
fight the wind, but these planes climb when you hit the power, so instead of
coming back to you, they climb and as they climb, the wind pushes the plane
further away.

A very very experience two channel pilot can work around this through a series
of maneuvers called the death spiral. However, this is a difficult thing to
control for a new pilot. There is a fellow in our club who has lost two
Firebird Commanders to the wind. We finally convinced him to get an Aerobird.

A three channel plane with elevator control can push the nose down and dive
into the wind to come back. This is how gliders can fly against the wind
without motors.

So, don't fly your rudder/elevator or diff thrust plane in wind over 3 MPH
until you are very good with the plane. Don't get over 5 MPH with the Scout, EVER.

TIP

I don't know if this works for that Outlaw or the Scout, but for the Firebird,
II, sT, XL,
Fighterbird and Commander, if you put a popsicle stick under the back of the
wing, it lowers the angle of attack of the wing and the plane will not climb
as much on power application. If you learn to manage the plane well, this can
give you better penetration into the wind, but it still will not let you put
the nose down into the wind.

Enjoy these planes but remember, they are best flown in little to now wind.