I am not but I know several people who are into RC and AMA and a few private pilots too. I thought about joining but am not so sure I want/need to go to fields to fly and the insurance is supplemental to your homeowner's apparently anyway (that was a big selling point for me).
One AMA guy I know admits he doesn't really know much about drones at all. My fear is one day the FAA or states will regulate ALL places we can fly now (over open fields, parks, etc.)
I will need to read this article about FAA registration. Looks like their main beef is the double registration requirement (AMA & FAA).
BTW, just flipping through this mag from AMA I saw about 700-800 (avg of 5 per page) planes, about 10-20 helis and about 5-10 drones. That ought to tell you who their membership consists of.
When I get my AMA magazine, it makes me wonder if I should apply for my AARP card.... I am not disrespecting these people, it is just makes me wonder two things.
One,
Is this the group I really belong in? A bunch of over weight, older people, who don't look like they would ever walk anywhere to use a drone to take a picture of something pretty?
Two,
Although I am sure these people had the fight in them in their days to fight for their hobby, I am not sure if these older people are more into comfort these days rather than putting themselves in the uncomfortable position of fighting for the rights of people they really don't understand, or respect.
AMA needs to really make some changes if they want to survive in the future. Younger, more aggressive leadership, and more embracing of camera drones over airplanes and such.
As proof of this, I will talk about brick and mortar hobby shops. I have visted these places quite a bit in the past when I was into nitro airplanes, and race cars. These were places of cliques, statuses and strutting about. It was utter nonsense. What happened? They weren't drawing new customers, so they all started going out of business.
My point is just that things change, and if you aren't willing to adapt and change with them, than your company, organization, etc dissolves.
AMA better start making some real changes. Land is becoming more and more sparse, and less and less people care about airplanes, while more and more people are newly getting into camera drones.
We will need a group to push forth our interests, and will gravitate towards those organizations that meet our needs.
If AMA wants to be that group, they better change NOW, and largely people want them to fight the AMA.