Question about AMA membership

[timmer]

Thanks all!

I just received a response from the AMA club treasurer and I'll have everything worked out by this time next month.

Cheers!

 

[GoodnNuff]

Thanks all for your replies, I still have not seen an AMA letter yet but I still have to go through a stack of mail. I do have my Temp. AMA number.

Looking at the sanctioned AMA fields around me, the nearest one to me wants $80.00 to access the field per year.

Is this normal? Is it high?

I live within the 5 mile radius of New Orleans International airport so everything I want to do in my neighborhood is restricted, naturally. I got away with a lot of things with my P1, but I didn't realize there were rules regarding them until I got my P3P.

Here is the AMA sanctioned club I'm thinking about: Spillway R/C.

$80 is not bad. There are two here in the Seattle area that charge $200/year. I don't belong to either one. I belong to one club that charges $40/year and they include flight lessons for new (fixed wing) pilots. Well worth the cost IMO. The other club I belong to charges $35 in annual dues and the third one I belong to doesn't charge a thing, but loves donations. This last flying club is inside of one of our State Parks, so it costs me $35 year for a Washington State Park pass to access the state park (good for any of our State's parks though). I fly fixed wings as well as quadcopters, so that is why I belong to several parks.

It gets boring flying at an RC park after a few times. But it gets boring flying over my house after a few times, or flying from the soccer field or the park down the street - all get boring after a bit.
But, when you need a safe place free of interruption to hone your flying skills or make some maiden flights on a new drone - I can't think of a better place than an actual flying field. And the social aspects are nice too - I've learned a lot hanging out at the flying field and talking to other members. Here in Seattle we have a lot of Boeing pilots and engineers, retired military pilots, copter pilots, Micro Soft programmers, a couple of FAA inspectors, etc., that all fly at the 3 clubs I fly at.

And I have not encountered one single negative comment or attitude when flying my drone at any AMA park. I sometimes see people here post that the AMA is anti-drone. Couldn't be farther from the truth - in fact the AMA's monthly publication has a drone column and at least one quadcopter centric article per issue.
There are a lot of RC toys available that are not "modeled" after anything but an imagination. Because your quadcopter isn't a "model" of a real aircraft is neither here nor there.
Very few people are building balsa wood flying models from scratch anymore. Most people flying nowadays at RC parks have bought their rig ready to fly off the shelf. The AMA wants to survive, and they want to remain relevant. I am quite certain that the AMA realizes that drones are the future of their organization, the Hobby, and the survival of both. So if anyone tells you that the AMA is anti drone - stop listening to them at that point.

 

[pomonabill220]

I've been an AMA member for.... I don't know how many years and it paid off for our club about 12 years ago. We had been flying at the same location for several years and this lady moved into a house about 1/4 mile from the runway. Suddenly she started having mental problems and it was determined (by her and her Doctor) that her problems were from the "engine sounds of our aircraft". Our club operated well below the max sound levels and we went out of our ways to accommodate her (shorter flying periods, no flying after a certain hour in the evening etc) but she went and hired a big $$ attorney from out of town.

We contacted the AMA and they sent some legal guidance to help us. In a few months not only had we won the lawsuit but she had to pay our attorney fees. She still lives in that same house to this day and as far as I know she's still just as crazy. Our club moved to a different field a few years ago and that one turned into a solar farm. Last time I heard she was complaining that the solar collectors were lighting up her house and she was having vision problems.

Anyway AMA is very inexpensive insurance and it's much better to be a part of the group that has the resources and desire to support our hobby than just out on your own. Strength in #'s.

Well I am getting the twitches from NOT being able to fly!!! Maybe I can hire an attorney to sue the weather that is prohibiting me from flying???
WOW, you guys went out of your way to help this looney, and now she is getting on the solar installation? GEEZ there are TONS of crazies out there, huh?!