EAA and AMA?

[dave siegler]

Can we expect a meager at some point?

http://www.eaa.org/news/2010/2010-05-27_ama.asp

[peabody]

From what I have seen, both should unite with AARP.....

[david beazley]

I checked the article out and it refers to the AMA link for more info.  I could not find any info on the AMA site.

[dave siegler]

Three days ago my wife and I decided to go to the EAA museum. HA.  Not for 56.00 each we weren't.  Decided to continue our trip home from Canada.  I have been to many, many aviation museums and none charged any where near that amount. I'll look at photos instead.

Gee I had some free passes I would have given you. 

The museum is great, and the EAA guys are a lot more welcoming as far as different intrests go.

[Chuck Feldman]

           Peabody;   what a perfect remark you made!!!!!!

Ty,  Thanks for the tip your right.  Obviously the EAA are well, snobs. We went to the show they hold in Lakeland Fl 12 years ago. We did not go inside the museum for the same reason. They wanted to much money. We walked around looked at all the stuff and finally found some entertainment. It was back in the Ultralight section. They flew one after another. Various designs and con trapions. That was fun. The rest was so so.

Chuck

[peabody]

The EAA is pretty much the child of Paul Poberezny....you could buy a bronze statue of him (WHILE HE WAS STILL ALIVE!) for $5000.00. They bought him ANOTHER Mustang after he wadded up the first...

They do have a lot of marketing skills....there are probably less real aeroplane owners that model aviators, but they play on people's dreams....and do it well.

Both organizations are about the same size, and the membership cost is about the same.....

I believe that the Academy could learn a lot from the EAA....

[john e. holliday]

The air museum at Liberal Kansas was the first museum that charged to go look at the planes they had.  I think it was a couple of dollars.  After a couple of hours we were ready to hit the road home.  The gift/book store is where they got me.  Had some books I just had to have.  Well I guess he Pima Air Museum in Tuscon charges a little fee to go in.  Thanks for the heads up on the EAA Museum.

[dave siegler]

Three days ago my wife and I decided to go to the EAA museum. HA.  Not for 56.00 each we weren't.  Decided to continue our trip home from Canada.  I have been to many, many aviation museums and none charged any where near that amount. I'll look at photos instead.

I think that is not right, 56$ sounds like the non member rate for the convention the EAA museum is inexpensive to see.  The $56 gets you a flight line pass out by the airplanes on the flight line.  Not cheap, but less than it was in the 80's

As far as politics of EAA, well there are some in any group, I will say EAA has been much more successful than the AMA.  I have been attending Oshkosh since 1977, every other year or so.  It is a good time if you like airplanes.  If you want to be negative, well I don't know what to say.  I would rather be up there than almost anywhere.  As far as EAA members being snobs, I find a lot more snobs out at the RC field.

  The AMA could not get that kind of turnout if they paid you to show up.

EAA museum fees
An adult is $12.50, senior is 10.50
Members are free and a membership is $40/yr.    

http://www.airventuremuseum.org/information/rates.asp

As a member I can go to EAA museum for free but AMA still costs $3.00.  

[Chuck Feldman]

 Dave,

Thanks for posting the facts

Chuck

[dave siegler]

Ty, Oshkosh is only about 60 miles from home and I am up there a few times a year.  It has never been that much.  When were you up here?

Sorry you missed it.  The craftsman in you would have loved it.


Dave

[BillLee]

The last paragraph of the EAA web page says:

"As part of the agreement, through December 31, 2010, EAA members receive free admission to AMA’s National Model Aviation Museum in Muncie, while AMA members get free admission to EAA’s Oshkosh museum. More reciprocal benefits will be announced."

(Bold is mine for emphasis.)

At least now the concern about how much it costs is moot.

Bill Lee

[Andrew Borgogna]

If you get to VSC by all means go to the air museum, if for nothing else but to see the B-36.  It is beautiful!
Andy

[Serge_Krauss]

I haven't been to the EAA convention since 1996, but I have been a member for 38 years and have attended at least six times. I have found members and staff to be extremely kind and helpful. EAA has to be facing the same two main problems we do now: age of membership and less willingness among members to design and or scratch build aircraft. Then there are the ignorant bureaucrats and desire among the corporations to have the rest pay their way - which doesn't sound that unusual. EAA seems still to be in the forefront in preserving general aviation against these challenges. I doubt that G.A. would be nearly as healthy without them. So, while theyve grown large and seemingly less "experimental" in their membership activities, they are still a valuable asset and pretty good bunch - from my perspective.

Ty, I have to believe that you misunderstood their admission policy; they would not shoot themselves in the foot like that, when their many activities are focused on recruitment of new enthusiasts, pilots, and members.

SK

[Dan McEntee]

  Wonder if we'll get the EAA discount at the gift shops this year with our AMA cards? That would be cool. I did get a packet in the mail a month or so inviting me to join the EAA. Just belong to too many organizations already.
   Got my KidVenture paperwork in the mail this past week also. Gotta get that filled out and sent in.
  The EAA Museum should be viewed when you know you have at least 4 or 5 hours to spend there. I think Ty must have misread a sign that on that one day as I think regular admission is 10 or 12 bucks, which is another reason to spend as much time as you can there. Admission is free during the convention with your wrist band. LOTS to see, plenty of little displays to look at and study, and they change things around every now and then like most museums do.
  One of my retirement desires, if I ever get there, is to travel to some of the major museums that I haven't seen yet.
  Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[mike hartung]

I am a member of both EAA and AMA. I think that both organizations have good people in them; but EAA seems to provide more bang for the buck than AMA. The cost of membership is very similar. Being control line oriented there is very little in the AMA magazine that interests me; thank goodness for Stunt Hanger and other websites that are dedicated to the control line hobby. I do agree that there are some in EAA that think very highly of themselves but that is to be found in both organizations. I do support both thru my membership and plan to continue as long as I can afford it because they both support my aviation interests against the unjust rule making that goes on at state and federal government levels. I am being slowly  priced out of general aviation and that is to be expected as I go into retirement mode. But my love of aviation continues and I am enjoying the control line model flying having done it years ago I am amazed at the level of interest that is out there and the products that are available at a reasonable cost from the cottage industries. Blue sky to all.

[Scott Jenkins]

Gentlemen,
Just what are the benefits from a merger of these two organizations if any.
This is something that needs to be asked and clarified hopefully, both orgs would benefit
but the how and why needs more exposure to the membership of both.

Scott

[Hoss Cain]

Gentlemen,
Just what are the benefits from a merger of these two organizations if any.
This is something that needs to be asked and clarified hopefully, both orgs would benefit
but the how and why needs more exposure to the membership of both.

Scott

In my opinion, a MERGER would be disastrous to AMA as we know it. OTOH, shared operations could be a saviour for AMA. AMA could, if strong politics are not too much in the way, learn a lot about aeromodeling programs, outside formal competition, which AMA was originally formed for. Times have changed and will continue to change. AMA needs to strongly observe EAA's organization and management techniques.

Several years ago, when researching some information for a project, I suggested that AMA needed to be reorganized to generally like EAA. Within EAA there are, I believe, two IRC 501 (c) (3) units, allowing donations to be deducted from adjusted gross income for federal tax purposes.
I believe the somewhat family owned portion of EAA is a regular C-Corp and is allowed full ability to converse and enhance political personalities to favor governmental positions which enhance the EAA -- that is -- DIRECT lobby!

AMA is simply just one IRC 501 (c) (3) and has no other organization for DIRECT lobby. Such additions could well be in the form of a Museum, Foundation/s, or even such as the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (ILA)

The opportunities are available when one realizes that the Academy of Model Aeronautics is a business and  represents the membership and the sport/hobby. The AMA cannot survive under the "just a big ol' toy airplane club" in today's world. 

[dave siegler]

In my opinion, a MERGER would be disastrous to AMA as we know it.

Don't know about that.  EAA seems to keep the groups with different intrests from eating each other internally.  Imagine, an organization that encourages interests as diverse from warbirds, acrobatics, home builder, ultralights.  They somehow get lots of participation.  They have regional gatherings were all disciplines participate.  Chapters do things for the fly in, like build buildings, park cars or mow grass for free as volunteers.  Does that happen at muncie? 

EAA has been able to control their members and avoid or change FAA rules (auto gas ACT, ultra light rules, sport pilot).  EAA has many divisions and they don't clash down at the chapter (club) level.  I suspect EAA could handle the large aircraft and frequency issues at least as well as AMA has.  AMA's clubs are divided by discipline, and clubs seem to be mono focused.   

I would be very happy to be a member of the model aviation division of EAA  if they had one.