When ever I make comments about the AMA I always get scowled by some. But here goes anyway. The cutting of the contest calender was done to save money?
Thus that allowed them to not increase dues?? For years members have asked to belong to the AMA and forgo the magizine. This is not allowed. So every month the mag comes, I scan it and throw it away. Doesn't even take me 1/2 hour to do this. I don't recall ever looking at the contest calender. So I do not care about it going away. I get the contest information via email and it works quite well for me.
To each his own in that respect. The desire to get AMA members to become aware of the FAA dealings was the primary point of my original post in this thread. One point about that is the history of aeromodeling in this country. In the period of late '70s to early '80s the sport was about to go under. There was too little interest for the RC industry to change over to the new frequencies and modeling was going downhill to the end of the road.
Then came the RC Car craze and the industry again had capital. By 1985 the road was again stretched out as the industry had the financial input of RC Cars to sustain more capital into airplanes which reinvigorated the industry.
So back to what FAA is doing.
So now once again I will make my pitch about the AMA. They are not interested in CL flying at all. They are not interested in serving the members. They are interested in keeping there pockets full. They refuse to allow anyone from belonging without there magazine? So I am concluding that they get the majority of there funds from the advertising they sell in the magizine. ( I have no facts to support this) I draw my conclusion from the removal of the contest calendar as a savings? They can now support more advertising with the new space? Thus we are saved from a dues increase. OK I have said my piece so now you can bring on the argument against what I have said.
Here are some FACTS that you will probably NOT like. Simply go to the AMA web site, Members Only and study the annual Auditor's Reports. You will find that AMA makes ZERO yankee dollars from the advertising in MA.
You will find the "Loss" expense of producing MA (Defined in the IRC as an "Unrelated Business" ) exceeds the cost of the membership's liability insurance package. Therefore I dare say that dropping the Contest Calendar will save one red cent, probably even cost more as it - In My Opinion - may well be replaced with some more articles probably promoting the failed PPP.
Member dues pay for that magazine. You will find that the staff dedicated to periodicals far exceeds the staff assigned to membership services.
I can go on for pages. Hopefully you get some documented facts here that you can research for yourself. I have to be careful as I have been verbally threatened with removal from AMA, or (in writing) stripped from CD and Leader Member and refused to be allowed onto any AMA flying facility. So, while I do have some problems with the AMA Hierarchy, I still support AMA as an organization for ALL aeromodeling, including donations each year even though I am a Life member. Aeromodeling has been a lifestyle for over 65 of my 74 trips around the sun.
Now the threat of FAA is much more a current threat. Maybe not to CL, but as I spoke above about RC Cars saving the RC airplanes, when the RC airplane industry dries up, well the CL, & FF will soon follow. That happens, and the AMA dries up, then so will organized aeromodeling. You will not then need any Contest Listing because all will be long gone.
So, Mr. Feldman, et. al., I pray you will find that something big is happening in our little world. Aeromodeling does not contain many voters in ref. to the overall country. It is easy to shut us down, then preach how the world was saved by bureaucracy.
This also stems from 41 professional years closely connected to DOD, DOT, and FAA.
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