The AMA Club Model is Failing. Here's Why.
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 12. 09. 2024
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Genuinely the only thing keeping AMA alive is the idea that you need their insurance, and that membership is required to join basically any club in america
It's secondary to homeowners insurance, ergo, useless for many.
& it SHOULDN'T be! As much as WE pay for ama, their insurance should resolve our problems for all the $$$ we GAVE over the yrs!
SHOULD be like a few companies; if u don't use it/have a claim in 5 yrs, they SHOULD reimburse ur money at least half, mostly ALL!
here in Sweden we need the insurance by law. we cannot do the hobby without our version of AMA. and if something happens and you dont have the insurance you are literally F:ed for life with BIG debt you get to pay for EVERYTHING in the accident and then the fine you get for not following the law.
@@mh53eflyguy Here in Sweden homeonwer insurance dont cover any kind of "issue" created due to the hobby. we need by law be members in Swedish version of AMA if we dont want to live our rest of our life bankrupt and every "dollar" being taken by the bailiff from you salary.
Like many insurance companies, it's just a scam.
The AMA lost me when they grabbed their ankles over remote ID. They saw this as a way to further monopolize flying via FRIAs and AMA Club fields. They serve their own interests only.
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Came here to say this but you said it better!
100% agree. The AMA sold out the hobby in hopes they would be exempted, and not understanding old retired dudes are not enough to stay alive anymore.
Exactly this. I joined AMA so I could go to MultiGP IO. Figured I might keep it so I would be able to join clubs and stuff but let it lapse as soon as the FAA started pushing remote id. The AMA's response to it was completely unacceptable. It's was very obvious they only cared about their interests. I think I even wrote in an email to them that I wanted my membership costs back due to their lack of lobbying for us.
As technology of R/C aircraft has advanced, especially with the proliferation of relatively quiet FPV electrics, the risks and/or threats of operation has grown. Remote ID is a way to ensure an aircraft and it's owner can be identified. FRIA is something AMA has worked to accomplish so that RID modules are not required if operated in a recognized area. So, go get your RID if you don't want to fly at a sanctioned site but you are not side-stepping the requirements.
After the remote id issue and the AMA not listening to the members At All, I refuse to join again. Iâll fly at the park or anywhere else
Thats OK if you only fly small foamies but bigger planes need more room. Also flying at a park is illegal without a RFID.;
Im under .55, still illegal?
â@@gmeisteraurora
Faa rules are overbearing and push people out. A 50 dollar airhog knock off from hobby lobby needs an rfid per faa.
If you think anyone needs that to be safe...
Real, actual piloted manned planes have crashed on runways because they don't have rfid correct on their planes. What makes you think people with less money will actively go out and screw themselves more?
Meanwhile the faa implemented the worst version of the 4 possibilities for RFID. Money is all the faa wanted from this, and that's what they got.
Now if you'll excuse the rest of the hobby pilots who don't care if they fly at a cemetery, Forrest, bando, or in an open field..
@@gmeisteraurora itâs a HOBBY. The government has absolutely No Businesses criminalizing it. You know how many issues there have been with RC airplanes in the 30 years Iâve been flying? NONE. You go ahead and bend over for the governmentâŠever heard of government overreach? This is a Prime example, if you canât see that Iâm truly sorry for you.đ€Šââïž
â @@gmeisteraurorayou are the reason itâs worse. Stop saying RFID good and comply. Thatâs why Iâm not going back into the hobby. They destroyed freedom I had in for no damn good reason.
@@gmeisteraurora Well let's be honest... there's a ton of stuff that's "technically" not legal. Do you honestly think that's stopping anyone?
Iâm almost 47, been flying since I was about 13-14, didnât fly at/join a club till about 8 years ago and itâs just not worth the hassle/cost. Just disappointing.
Iâm 48 ,started flying when is was 15đ,windser beach ,lake Havasu, Az
First year membership at AMPS Glendale AZ is $225 plus AMA fees. That more than twice what I paid for my whole setup starting out. $225 is the cost of 8 cases of foam board. That's a lot of planes I could build. Also it's a 40 minute drive one way and sadly they weren't very friendly either. I wish them the best, but No thank you. I'll fly at the park 5 minutes from my house. FliteTest is the way to go. Plenty of free online plans, foam board, BBQ skewers, popsicle sticks, hot glue, and creativitey keeps this hobby cheap and fun.
you mentioned a key point, if you want to keep a hobby alive, don't give a new face at the field the cold shoulder and not talk to them. I joined the AMA in 1975, and almost every club I have visited over the years has acted like I was trespassing.
@@kerrybassett4468 agreed. It is miserable but true. Model aviation clubs seem to wish they could be private entities, but the non-profit status makes them at least pretend new people are welcome. I am VERY lucky to have a local club that welcomed our whole family, including heli and drone pilots. It was a while before I realized this wasn't the norm.
@kerrybassett4468, Iâm sure you were SO helpful and useful too. Like when the club had events and needed volunteers, Iâm sure you were nowhere around.
@@donrichter3523 Actually I was SO helpful. The club I belonged to for many years was mostly WWII and Korean war vets, and a couple of younger guys. I did most of the mowing and field repairs and any time a new face showed up WE did greet them. Many of them got their first flying lesson right there on the spot. My experience with that club and it's members at that time are what makes me wonder what the future of the AMA might be. So donrichter3523 my suggestion to you is this, if you see an opportunity to introduce a new person to this hobby, step up, otherwise after us there will be no more.
@@donrichter3523 You are the problem.
When the AMA stood there next to Michael Huerta of the FAA and stood silently while we were criminalized, with our clean record of safety, while people are dying almost every day in GA, and 737âs full of people are making smokin holes đłïž in the ground, thatâs when they dug all our graves. Thanks đ AMA
Iâm a Part 91 pilot.I have significant experience with the FAA for that & also as an A&P/IA. I gave up the RC hobby when the FAA decided to control what I do with my toys.
I did to becauseI knew it was just a matter of time before our flying hobby wa s going to be either gone or very limited.
Aluminumized mylar balloons do millions in damage to the power grid every year, and thousands of aircraft are hit by birds each year, yet they go after model airplanes that cause almost no damage to anyone.
â@@MrCubflyersad to see these comments. I got back into flying qwads recently, I'm actuvly doing what I can to stay flying as long as possible without a 107.
Love this hobby. And hate to see people who know what they're doing, leave the hobby
@@magiofthoth I'd be back flying tomorrow and getting my kids involved, if it weren't for the MAAC and the FAA and what they did to us with the regulations.
1987 - I got my first job. Dreamed of flying RC. Joined AMA, bought 2 pay checks worth of gear got no help at the local field. Did it my self, killed my plane. 2015 - I discover Flite Test and I'm a better pilot than your mom. The AMA has never done anything for me. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
Exact same story here, only I started in 1980. The AMA membership fee is a tax you have to pay to join a club.
+1 for Flite Test
I don't understand no help at the local field. Every field I fly at is open to newbees
@@gmeisteraurora In my case there were two guys that acted like they were royalty. If you did what one said the other would chew your ass and vice versa. No help.
I remember having to tell some club members to piss up a rope when they would put me down for not flying foam or arf junk, I design and fly better fliers than is currently on the market and wont take their abuse without resistance. The AMA is too expensive, it's insurance is shaky and some of the people running it are horrible jerks.
Well guess what? I QUIT. No more time wasted dealing with bossy nothings. And I'm dumping the airplanes and equipment.
The FAA gave the AMA FRIAs and to legally fly without RID you have to join both the AMA and a club. Their "lobbying" is very self serving. I'd rather join one of the other CBOs.
OR not 'tell'. F em
I'd rather just give the middle finger to everyone and go out to enjoy my hobby. Which is exactly what I do
Which is bullshit. The AMA clubs gate keeping access to a FRIA should be reprimanded by the FAA. FRIAs should have some level of guaranteed access like airports, making them public use. After all they wouldnt approve FRIAs in peoples yards and private spaces.
AMA needs to have their hand slapped by the FAA for their broken policies.
@@drewski6974 Yeah, letâs give the FAA more power đ.
I agree that FRIAs should be open to the public though.
@@drewski6974 LOL good luck with that. ANYONE can create CBO and get a FRIA get off your ass and do it.
AMA intentionally threw multi-rotor pilots under the bus when they were given preferential treatment by the FAA. Being the only CBO for a while, their rule book literally became law, and they made sure to effectively make common racing events illegal by limiting battery sizes, limiting FPV use until you complete a series of training (which you have to pay the AMA for) which doesn't even make sense for multi-rotor, rolling over on the whole Remote ID thing because they saw FRIAs as a way to force people to be members... What have they ever done for me that I'd give them a cent? May they crash and burn, we don't need them.
đŻ
Agree. This is the only reason the other CBOs have been forced into existence.
Race events illegal by battery size? Limit fpv use until you complete training? And have to pay for said training? I donât know who is telling that but, absolutely not true. Have been to many ama fields and flown at them (and not fpv only fields). Also have had ama a long time. Worked in the hobby industry for 15 years. Spreading stuff like this is what also causes people not to join the hobby. Check your facts before spreading something you heard or were told by some 80 year old at a field gatekeeping told you. Check yourself. If this is stopping you from flying, good news then as they are lieing to you. Go fly, have fun, and dont stress. Look at ama rules not bitter old men at a glider clubs rules.
@@heycheckthatout Read it myself. At the time they limited race batteries to 4S, and no FPV without their certification. It was in their own documents on their own site.
The AMA killed the model airplane hobby too, they have made no effects to advocate for anyone. It is insane. They basically lost all the bones the FAA gave them under Obama under Biden.
Great video guys, for many years I was an AMA member and belonged to a local club and really enjoyed it but in the last ten years I have seen a change of attitude in a lot of our club members, they all seem to think that they are the safety officer of the day and have become real assholes. And I feel like the AMA abandoned their members when they started kissing the FAA's ass, so for me their membership was and still is useless. So did I quit flying, absolutely not, I went out and bought 40 acres of very flat land with very few trees on it and created my own private rc flying site. I do let a few of my close friends who fly have use of the field and they help maintain it. It's nice to get together with a few friends and just enjoy the hobby that we love so much. This property is 10 miles from town, about 100 miles from the closest airport and the closest neighbor is about a mile away. Life is good.... No AMA required and no yearly dues....
Wow I need friends like you that sounds awesome
Sounds like Heaven on earth.
@scable-eq
Wowsers! That is a r/c dream for me! I hope to buy lots of property with a house for me and family in Tennessee someday soon. I would definitely share the field with other local r/c flyers. Your doing the right thing. Keep living free!
That is how it should be đ
The truth is, most clubs donât want newcomers. They go through the motions and have an open house, or the young kids come out once a week. However, they are very happy to see them leave and not show up to the field regularly. There seems to be an attitude of âcome out, look, donât touch anything and go homeâ.
Most RC club guys, make the model train folks seem down right friendly.
Every club seems to have the one or two members that go out of their way to help someone new, but that guy is definitely the exception nowadays.
Combine that with the occasional pancake breakfast and the know it all flightline peanut gallery, whatâs not to loveâŠ
I have always been treated nice by train guys.
I have had that experience too but its been a long time since I have been in the hobby. I remember with so few fields around I would hear of a club field and show up but then get swarmed by a bunch of Karens who first ask for your proof of AMA in hopes you cant pass that barrier, they they ask who is the club member sponsoring you to which I would respond "nobody, but this field is on the AMA list (or I was sent by the local hobby shop)" to which they would say something like "well you cant fly here unless your a club member". It was honestly easier and better to just find your own open spaces to fly. I eventually changed to Heli's just so I no longer needed to go to a flying field at all since you can literally fly from your own driveway. The old guard codgers who were not helpful and often protective of their turf are what turned me off the hobby and the closure of nearly ever flying field in Orange County CA finished off the hobby.
The AMA has lost its way and traditions,
Bending over to the FAA didnât help
Word.
AMA is spineless. I started doing rocketry when the NAR/TRA sued the ATF and won. AMA never did anything for their pilots.
THIS!!, The AMA, EAA, and corporations actively colluded to bring down the FAA into a realm the FAA never belonged in. Then they tried to turn around and blame non members for the regulations. The FAA has really done a great job tough...... Completely giving away the drone industry to DJI and all the overseas outfits making Remote ID pods.
Hopefully with the overturning of the 40 year old Chevron deference case, someone will take the FAA to court and get them out of model hobby. Since them extending their paws into the hobby is not what congress put them there for.
Don't forget, Remote ID was an idea brought to the table by them as a "You can't ban us here, we are the good guys", look we have this nifty Idea called Remote ID, sends out a beacon that can be read and you can track drones. FAA goes "really, when can this be ready" DJI "Well, its already built into our drones, and we can even pre program rules on them".
The hobby as a whole was sold out by major clubs and overseas companies looking to corner a market while the FAA charges a $5 dollar extortion fee.
I would argue that part of the reason AMA did very little with the Remote ID and FRIA fiasco is to force people to join clubs again, instead of actually putting an effort in on their side to make it enjoyable and beneficial to join a club.
Then they grossly miscalculated
No, i've had several friends try to get their vehicle fixed after a plane crashed into it. They tell you that you have to use your home owners insurance.....
Yep! AMA insurance is secondary.
Then y have ama if they're that useless!
@@old-rcplane-phart Cause a car accident or major medical injury and your homeowner's/renters limit will be quickly reached, this is where 60$ a year for secondary insurance makes sense.
@@old-rcplane-phart AMA insurance largely protects the land owner. WIthout it there would be WAY fewer places to fly. Legally or not
@@captnjim. Keep eating the Goob you're fed!
They also didn't seem to do much when remote ID was being introduced, possibly because their terrains would remain exempt from the obligation to use Remote ID, so maybe they were hoping to get more members. But the modern RC flyer is more individual, either flies alone, or with a few friends, and look for info on the internet
& THAT there is y the ama is absolute đ© to me imo.
Oh, they did a lot to ensure it would happen and be as annoying as possible for everyone else. I'll never join the AMA because of that. I don't need runways to fly.
I quit AMA when they complied with remote ID.
There's 12 in the group I fly with bi-weekly. Of all of them that were the full members, I kept mine but I'm park pilot now. Just in case.
Hopefully, soon, 1 day, eventually, we'll have our own spot.
Me too. My nearest flying club would be a forty minute drive, and they have never welcomed electric planes, so I illegally fly at a local soccer field without remote ID. I don't really need a national organization that sold me out, and I don't need a local club that doesn't want to deal with electric planes.
Going along with registration was the real problem.
Iâll pay a ticket before I put a remote ID on a single plane. That being said, Iâve never had a single person complain or bother me. A little common sense and respect seems to go a long way when it comes to choosing places to fly.
â@@JN24185this! For every pilot, fixed wing to gas powered scale modules, qwads to DIY aircraft.
So long as we aren't Philly drone life with the 190k fine for flying whoops in a city.
Stop waiting for the AMA to grow your club. That's like waiting for the government to make you rich. Put your big boy pants on and get to work. Our club has grown over the past couple of years after a long downslide. We simply got to work. We began networking with the community. We have a booth at every air show, public event, hobby show, etc. We chose a charity to support for every event and invite charity representatives to every event. We also aggressively went after youth. We started a whole youth division and created their own events, instruction and budget. We also raised our dues...which is no problem when you're offering something worth while, just ask Apple. Now our problem is too many people at the field.
Thatâs the only way to quick progress right now for sure - which we mention at 13:14. đ
Man, I wish I had a club like that nearby.
BUT thanks to your AMA sell out comrades , you will have to PAY to fly no matter where you are and have to have NETWOK ID equipment to do so...Yes it is coming and SOON
@@Catfoolyousame. My club president just embezzled over 9 grand and now the air field will probably get shut down. Im about to turn my 130 mph F-16 into a park flyer. Im tired of all this bullshit.
Ah, remember the days of long antennas with frequency flags, the smell of castor oil & balsa dust. I refuse to join a club just for the fact I don't need the FAA's nor the AMA's permission to fly R/C aircraft.
Having been an R/C pilot since 1975 I too remember the good âole days. This whole bullshit remote ID rule that the AMA gave into was a stab in the back. I donât need the f*****g government knowing when, where, how fast and how high I fly my airplanes. Us old timers are smart enough to know where it is safe to fly our planes. Does anyone really think a terrorist ( just like any other criminal) is gonna worry about some rule or regulation.
I only fly sub 250g aircraft now. Plenty of them out there, don't need to be a member of a club, the AMA, no FAA registration and can run to any number of schools or parks in the area.
â⊠and can run to any number of schools or parks in the area.â
If itâs legal where you live. It is not where I live.
I was part of a club for years. Owned and run by a bunch of geriatrics. Literally was run like a military facility. Had to lock and unlock the gate in and out. Only one person at a time was allowed to fly, and only allowed to fly in one pattern. I'm a 3D pilot. ONLY members were allowed. So when I wanted to show my wife the club, and my flying skills, She wasn't even allowed onto the property. Sometimes, I liked to just hang out, and watch others fly. They had a rule, that if you were there at all, you had to fly at least once an hour. Screw all of that. I just fly at the high school behind my neighborhood now. Best part, I don't need to participate in their stupid events, and no more expensive dues.
Sounds hard to believe. Name some names.....what club was this? What city?
@@sps3172 I agree exactly NOT how are club is.
The one that isn't getting his money.
@@sps3172Not hard to believe for me. I havenât seen rules for visitors as strict as what he described but I can easily image a club being like that. I was Ana AMA member for years and Iâve seen a couple clubs where the rules were close to what he described. Clubs can do whatever they want and have whatever rules they think they need. I choose not to be a member of the AMA or clubs anymore because the AMA doesnât represent me and a lot of clubs can be unwelcoming for newcomers. Thatâs my experience. If you love your club thatâs awesome, stick with it. Some of us are done with clubs and the AMA.
That club sounds like the exception rather than the rule. The first club I joined was very welcoming of new members. There was 2 or 3 members that taught me how to fly. Family members were encouraged to come out to the field. It was the best experience for someone new to the hobby.
FK AMA. We just lost our club because of an ill advised county tax accessor. Many members tried to contact AMA for help. Not one member received a response from AMA. I am now in a private club and they donât require AMA. Best days of my life.
You forgot the FAA closed a bunch of long-standing flying fields, too. Some clubs are no longer accessible due to the FAA as well as gatekeeping, not allowing fpv or drones
Idk why people would wanna fly fpv drones in a n empty field though that seems really boring
@tonyyimbo chasing rc planes is a lot of fun, actually plenty to do if you're creative. Yes open fields are definitely not our cup of tea but the reception I got 8yrs ago was not a warm one. I was told I had to fly in a little box next to the parking lot. I never went back
â@@tonyyimbobecause we aren't in an open field. đ
Also we "always have line of sight" and
"Always have a spotter"
Faa has no care for a hobbiest, treat the hobby like it's skateboarding.
Respect where you do it, be safe of you and those around you, leave the place nicer than when you came. And gtfo without being told to leave đ
â@@magiofthoth that's a great example! And before you go getting pissy, i'm a drone racer, and i enjoy freestyle flying too. But the influx of drone flyers act like the skateboarders in the 90's. they don't respect where to fly, they fly over people, They have a place they can go fly(like skaters have skateparks), but still choose to go all over the city, and into places they know damn well they aint suppose to be to flying. Whenever i show up i have to specifically tell them i am not the bad side of drone pilots. and see that is never like that with airplanes. The drone people went out and gained a negative stigma on themselves. So don't come complaining that the group is getting treated badly. the plane guys aren't out flying in random places. the plane guys aren't smashing into kids. the plane guys are not smashing into helicopters. the plane guys aren't flying near prisons or airports. So dont get mad at the FAA for having to treat us differently. WE did it to ourselves. I dont like it either, but the blame falls on the crappy fpv pilots. And the plane guys have a legit reason to be mad. until the drone ppl came around they were free to enjoy their hobby. everyone blames delivery drones, but where are they? if they created the laws wouldnt we of seen them by now?
My perspective is, the hobby is jeopardized over increasingly strict FAA regulations and Dwindling access to flying sites and parks, leaving dwindling farm land for sites. The parks don't want the insurance liability of planes mixing in spaces where little kids play, and the AMA insurance no longer impresses them, because insurance is for after something terrible has already happened. The FAA rules are creating no-fly zones all around and in town as well.
That farm land oasis for RC operations is shrinking due to developers, and so you have to drive farther and farther out to find an unplanted bean field you can rent. That field rental was relatively high back in my day, and I'm sure it costs even more now. If you can find enough members to create a club, their dues, just for the land to fly on, become untenable on a middle-class salary.
That was how my club died: the majority were good old boys with ugly sticks and introductory pattern trainers. Most of them made a middle class or lower wage, with a couple of doctors or car salesmen mixed-in who flew expensive scale and Pattern planes. Their first field cost members about 50 a year in rent per member. Life was good, the club was popular and tied to a local hobby shop with good synergy. I told the guys; "we need to do what the golfers did: own our land, before someone else takes it away from us."
To a man, none were interested in spending money on land, versus spending it on more planes. They kicked the can down the road. $25- $50 a year for field rent and the AMA membership was all they wanted to spend. Remember, they weren't rich guys; good radios and servos and motors and good engines and fuel were relative costly.
Then the Big mail-order houses like Tower Hobbies started running the local hobby shacks out of business. The internet came soon after, and not only exacerbated that decline, it added new distractions and attractions for youth to compete with our hobby. And you could do that at home, no driving out miles to a field, no needing your parents to drive you there and hang out and bring you home, we lost the youth market there and then. No hobby shops to drive new members, no kids wanting to get into it, the hobby became demographically top-heavy with ever-older guys with no new blood coming in.
Then the railroad right of way came through and chased us out of there. The next field they found was a half hour drive further out of town; "The developers will never come out this far!" they grinned. Member dues went to a hundred. We put in money and a lot of sweat equity to install a gravel drive and parking pad, add an access gate, Raise a hard-roofed sun shelter, emplace a shed for the field mower, set up an old scary porta-john over a trench in the corner of the lot, which the spiders and wasps enjoyed thoroughly... Our new club's land was bought out from under them barely two years later.
Field three was a barter situation with a farmer who also wanted to learn to fly, and who had conservation acreage he couldn't grow on, and was getting a stipend for from the government. So the land was "free", but his landlord needed a cut of the income so dues were still in place, some for the landlord, some for mowing the grass. Dues still a hundred per year, no amenities, like a gravel drive from the road to mud-free parking, no hard sun/rain shelter structure, no porta-potty, no electricity or water. And it was now 45 minutes drive time one-way. Even with long summer evenings, anybody with a job was hard pressed to get done with work and make the commute out to the field and have enough time to get some flights in before sunset. Without the gravel drive and parking pad, the field was impassable most of the spring and part of the fall due to seasonal rains.
Too far, too expensive, too limited and unreliable. Then the farmer got bored with RC and pissed off after the selfish pattern pros flew over his roof one time too many. We got the boot, and nobody could find another field, so the club folded, and some members joined another club what had bought their strip of land years ago.
The first club I joined had purchased 40 acres of land a few years before I became a member. The field was close to town and the club was in control of their own destiny. I moved away a number of years ago but went back this summer for a weekend to do some flying. Had a great time visiting the field where I got my start in the hobby.
@@gregbrigden2909 since they own their own land, are they their own club or still make ppl be ama? My club owns the land and we aren't an ama club.
@@mirandakarr-paepke2362 The club is in Canada. They require membership in MAAC which is the AMA equivalent.
There's only one hobby store left in my area, and they only stock vehicles. When I was young, there were many.
Went to the local field one time and decided it wasn't for me pretty quickly. As a scratch builder who uses foam board I had a lot of people giving me weird looks. Taught myself to fly with zero help and enjoy my time flying alone.
@@JordanColeman-r8w That is the issue the AMA Clubs are for old guys flying giant RC planes, the average small balsa and foam planes are quite different. Their regulations were made for large and heavy planes.
Ditto. There is an AMA field 1 mile from my house. Visited 15 years ago and was turned off.
I learned on my own property with foam airplanes and never visited them again. They are still there with half the cars in the parking lot now.
I love that you used Hurricane Hobbies in Jacksonville, FL. It is a great shop.
The problem started when they didn't oppose registration of small model airplaines. Also the AMA did nothing to fight the unfair demonization of model airplanes over the last two decades.
they did oppose it, and the result is that small model aircraft do not require registration. Or RID if flown at a FRIA.
I have reverted to where it all started for me... stick & tissue.. rubber free flight. No club dues... no AMA dues.. no FAA nonsense.. no self important know it alls. Now I'm having fun again.
I'm one of the fortunate. I joined a great club, the Arizona Model Aviators in Mesa, AZ. They helped me get started with a great instructor (thank you Tim Dickey), and lots of support. I now live in WA and come across another excellent club, Mt. Rainier Radio Control Society (celebrating their 60th anniversary!!). These clubs offer great locations, tons of support, events, & outreach programs/events. I'm grateful for these groups and look forward to being a part of them for as long as I can. â
I've heard good things about the club in Mesa. It is just a long drive (50 miles) for me so I have never been there. I'm sure AMPS has good people in it too. It really was the membership fee and AMA fee that killed it for me.
Thanks for the kind words David, we put in a lot of work to keep the club functioning. We owe a lot to our founders and generations before us . We strive to make at least one capital improvement every year. Keep members interested in the club and coming to the meetings. We have lots of new faces this year. If anyone is in the Tacoma ,WA area and want to fly or just want to visit , contact us through the website , You are welcome here.
Love this video. This all needs to be talked about more. Or maybe just listened to more. I got into the RC hobby this year and everything said in this video is 100% accurate. The entire hobby feels like it's generations behind and there are simple things that can be done to update or at least make it not so intimidating to get into. Really appreciate this video and I hope the AMA gives it a watch. Would love to see this hobby get a breath of fresh air!
For people like myself, it's just the opposite- we ONLY feel comfortable flying at AMA clubs because we are tired of getting chased away from parks- including by groundskeepers who don't even know that electric models are actually allowed in their city! Are we gonna go argue with some fat guy in a golf cart on the soccer field? No. We're gonna take the coverage of an actual AMA sanctioned club.
A lot of parks in my area won't allow flying even with AMA. Tried to get permission from the county to fly at an abanded landfill in NC. Explained our club had AMA insurance. She still denied permission. Wouldn't even listen. Said someone "might" get hurt. Different story in SC. County allowed use of an old landfill, built a nice shelter and ran power.They even graded a nice runway. Club pays electric bill. Downside, some club members are assholes, but some aren't.
I never relied on someone else to teach me anything. I have always successfully taught myself!
I can't learn by reading or being taught. MisTtakess is the best teacher.
đ Me too!
I guess im a lucky one. I am a board member of my club and we work hard and pretty much non stop on being inviting to potential members, keeping the website updated, being visible to the community with flight training and events we have, participating in community events to try and inform the public of what we do. This year we have 15 new members because of all this hard work. It takes some special people to do all of this and it does take effort but it can be done!
As being a part of a large club , and a board member, we have worked hard to get new members . We signed up 6 new members in the last 2 weeks . Same stuff you are doing. Thanks for making the hobby great again.
Since none of you have touched on it.... "God forbid you be a Heli guy" They absolutely hate us. lol
I'm a heli guy, fly pretty hard, like to be over the runway down on the deck, and am blessed with a local club that puts up with me. I do self-police in terms of safety, and that goes a long way. When I go to a club I've never visited before, I always "fly the pattern" for a couple of flights and make sure the older members who have had bad experiences understand I'm in control and safe to be around. Even then, you're not wrong. Sad but true.
lol as a newer guy to the hobby, i dont see why ya'll go to the field anyway. planes need that open space, most chopper pilots dont. i only take planes to field myself. drones and choppers stay at home.
The problem is that you need to belong to a club to buy the insurance for aabout $80.00 per year here in So. CAl.
I never go to any meetings, I do not have the time nor interest
You really need ins??????
YOUR HOMEOWNERS INS PAYS!
This means the AMA ins will only cover the extra if your hmeowners ins comes up short, which most likely never happen!
If you live in an appartment or rent a place and do not have renters ins, you are screwed!
At the flying fields where we fly or on the slopes at the beach or hills, there are always people there and happy to help you, just ASK!
This is a great video, just go with your friends and have a good time
Many homeowners' policies expressly exempt aviation activities from coverage. The AMA does not require that someone belongs to a club to become an AMA member and have insurance coverage.
Local club near me also requires a fee and permit from the local parks and rec department in addition to all the barriers to entry you listed. Flying my paramotor is way less of a pain than flying my big planes, and guess what I never fly my big planes anymore.
I'm 13 years old, I'm from Italy and I am in a wonderful RC club but i never heard anything about the AMAđ đ
Flite Test has probably got more young people into this hobby than the AMA ever has.
You only touched on one subject. Iâm in the Chicago area, and the clubs only have old men that are assholes. I wonât back down from these old jagoffs, but what about the new people that get run off? I know there are days where I want to fly, but decided against it just because I donât feel like dealing with the old dogsâŠâŠ..
I'm 70 & feel the same way! Heh..Heh
I have a hayfield about 10 acres. So I use that when the grass is cut short a couple times a year.
And no one sees my mistakes ................
@@bradrock7731 Iâm jealous
Same to Minnesota .
I also live in the Chicago area and not all persons of the club where bad but had itâs share of arrogant a##holes and said enough when my father in law passed and my planes are hanging in the garage for almost 15 years.
Excellent video! I got into RC via Flite Test, building my own aircraft from their plans and buying a few of their kits. Iâve also been to every Ohio Flite Fest to date (ten years)⊠I love the atmosphere, seeing entire families embracing the hobby, kids building planes in the STEM Tent, the crazy experimental builds, and the simple joy of making things that fly. Flite Fest has become an annual pilgrimage where I can rekindle my enthusiasm for RC flight. I love the whole grassroots feeling. Even though Iâve kept up my membership in our local RC club, I havenât been to the field in over a year. Let me state up front that Iâm a bit of an introvert, and not the clubby type. That said, the atmosphere is so different at the club field that I just canât get that interested in going anymore. I can understand the good-natured razzing about my âcardboardâ FT models⊠I just tell them that I fly the boxes their store-bought planes came in đ⊠but the overall impression is that of a handful of older guys (and Iâm 68 myself) keeping up traditions. There are usually no kids or younger folks present, and I miss that a lot. Iâm just a big kid at heart.
Again, I feel bad saying this, but the club approach no longer appeals. Your video nailed many of my feelings, and I wanted to send you a big thumbs-up and a Thank You.
Great works guys, I know a lot of time & research went into this, so TY.
I have been piloting RC planes for 20 years now, and yet to have seen any club offered event to visit or fly at that would allow anything other than the traditional 1 pilot, 1 plane out flying at a time. I suppose this is why I envy watching your videos so much. I could imagine walking passed the imaginary line at my club and being screamed like I was 4 year old.
I can't even bring my kid to the field to see if they want fly, there is another rule, needs to go.
Sorry thats your experience. Most clubs have multiple flying stations and allow multiple people flying at once. Often they try to keep fixed wing with fixed wing and Helis with elis etc but Ive often seen 6 orr 8 people flying at once at clubs her. Sometimes the clubs know that some pilots are underskilled and they don't fly when those pilots are up but that becomes pretty clear pretty quick
The clubs the problem I have just returned from a event (non AMA) were a young teenager flying my Voltec Corsair and I flying my Voltec cub were chasing each other all over the sky and it was a blast. Did discover a new danger, trying to watch the other guy while all so flying your plane. No disasters but some thrilling saves.
Once again an excellent video. Thank you, and keep up the good work!
fuck the ama, fuck remote id, fuck clubs(for annual fee's to use the property that for the most part my taxes paid for anyways, our local club is on a state lake and is owned by the core off engineers.) fuck any kind of regulation that is aimed at any of our freedoms. I fly at home on my 5 acres and I fucking DARE the FAA to show up at my house. đ€·ââïž we already get taxed multiple times for single purchases, even small purchases. more and more regulation comes down on us every month. I'll fly my plane on my property whenever the fuck I want, if I hear a real plane or helicopter in the distance, I'll always get my plane on the ground, and give the right away even though all the flights over my house are at least at 3k ft. I understand the whole lobbying for us, but at the end of the day, it's hard to really see what they actually do with the money that they make off of members, I trust them as far as I can throw them. THE MAIN PROBLEM IS HUMANS. HUMANS ARE DISGUSTING AND WILL DO ANTTHING FOR POWER OR MONEY, EVEN IF ITS WRONG.
What shitfight it is in Australia. You can't even get model master paint.
Rc clubs have managed to turn people away more than they have created assistance.
Rules for thee but not for me... is absolutely the moto at my local field. Abysmal relationship building
I don't care what anyone says, Horizon, FliteTest, and all the other "newer" groups have immensely HELPED our community. Things changed, tech has evolved, and that's a good thing. It's easier than ever to get into RC because of companies like Horizon, FliteTest, etc.. That's exactly how it should be!
Horizon has sued or bought out all the companies that actually mattered to real RC people
@@16-BITFPV define âreal RC peopleâ
@@16-BITFPV if you fly RC planes, anywhere, under any circumstance, you are "real RC people." Having said that, I'm not a big fan of Horizon.
horizon hobby puts on an "rc fest" but wont let anyone who doesnt work for or advertise for horizon fly. That in itself is bad on horizon. They also take advantage of new pilots selling them overpriced crap just so they can fly fast. Then you get onto plane 2 or three and realize your stuck in this crappy horizon ecosystem. do you throw way that money trying to get out or just stay paying more and more to have lower quality products? Flitefest is the best thing to happen to the hobby though. Hands down the best group of guys out there supporting the hobby.
This isnt about those groups though so you just pulled your statement out of thin air. Thats like saying i dont care what anyone says china has helped the hobby immensely. I mean they are the number one producer of RC planes right? Also its arguable that anyone should just be able to get into the hobby. I am an FPV flyer, but a lot of the FPV guys jumped into this hobby with so much disrespect. They just go buy a drone and go do stupid shit. and they had no one gatekeeping if you want to call it to be like eh this aint right, your going to draw attention to us. And they did. and now we all have new rules. And fpv pilots are still out there doing dumb chit. I almost dont fly fpv at all anymore just because of the negative associations.
One aspect you are missing is many of us ENJOY being part of a club. Same with AMA. Maybe youâve had bad experiences with a club? I have and changed clubs for that reason.
The points you make with this video are good and specific. But kinda arm chair quarterback in many cases. Clubs are comprised of volunteers. As such they give back as they can.
When someone starts a sentence with, âYou know what you ought to doâŠâ I always ask if they are willing to help do it.
Weâve had good and bad experiences with clubs. Weâre sharing a viewpoint that many share in a way that allows us to also present counterpoints and solutions. We worked with many folks of varying backgrounds and experiences in clubs (volunteers and non-volunteering members) to put this video together. For reference, we have and continue to volunteer. Zach volunteered and eventually became president of his childhood club in Seattle and even created and added a youth board member position to the bylaws to expand the youth presence and give them a voice. We continue to volunteer at our local clubs in New Hampshire as well. Happy landings!
My local club is full of racist boomers,. they love being in a club of like minded people
I have not joined one because of the price to just get to the club.
I have an AMA membership and used to fly at Mar-c in Redmond, WA very regularly, and did training there, which was a good experience, and it seems like a well-run club (I have no experience with others). But, I more often fly small scratch built foamboard planes at parks much closer to me (Mar-C is a 30-40 min drive). But flying at any old park has a serious downside, and that's having to be even more careful about dog walkers and children when you want to take off and land. Not a huge deal with a 250g foamboard plane, but it means I don't fly my Timber X very often anymore. The other downside is no community around it at a regular park, where a club there will almost always be someone there that will probably talk your ear off.
The AMA honestly isn't a factor for me, as I have the money to not care about the fee, but it's a big deal to younger people that are cash strapped. Clubs really need IMO to have a day on weekends, every weekend, where anyone can come fly with club member supervision without the AMA membership (like a weekly fun fly). I know that's a lot of cost and potential risk, but that's what I think it would take to get new people into the hobby AND make them consider joining a club before just flying at any old park.
I completely agree about having "free fly" days for non-members and beginners to check out a field. But the thing I always hear club members mentioned is that without ama, there's too much liability. I personally don't believe this, because I have never met anybody, ever, who actually utilized the AMA Insurance when an incident occurred. It always took a hit on their own homeowners insurance.
So, I don't believe the AMA insurance excuse is valid, but it's what you'll hear repeated over and over again.
@@ShadowVFX yep, homeowners or I think renters insurance will generally always be what gets used first if at all possible. I think the AMA insurance aspect is a scam. I've never heard about them paying out.
Yeah I joined the ama just to try and get access to more flying information. I do large motor gliders, fpv quads, and small fpv planes.
I went and checked out 2 clubs in the Pnw and it was one of the least welcoming experiences in the rc hobby Iâve experienced. I race 1/10 buggy for fun after getting in to rc crawling in the late 00âs. Crawler scene everyone welcoming and helpful. Rc race buggy scene helpful and welcoming. Fpv quads and planes same as above. Show up at an ama club field to check out if it would be worth joining and at one club the first thing out of someoneâs mouth was this is a private club and I needed to be a member to be there. Also it was a Saturday afternoon and there wasnât a person under 60 in sight and knew it wasnât for me. Other club had so many rules and regulations to join and fly with an expensive membership and lost interest. Iâll continue to fly at gravel pits and locations in the middle of nowhere with people who are enjoyable to be around.
The AMA Screwed up when they failed to separate those who build and fly LOS at fields from those who fly wherever they feel like flying with their self flying drones. That is what is killing the hobby. Now in order to fly my hand built planes with hundreds of hours spent building it I have to spend extra money to add weight. The ARF are OK when you want something cheap and quick to fly, but there is no joy in them. For me the joy comes when something that arrived as a box of sticks and glue takes to the air looking like a miniature version of a real plane. The problem today is, no clubs anymore, they all shut down, so I no longer have a place I can fly my twin engine bomber, or my 1/4 scale Mustang. What I fly are not park fliers, but scale model aircraft, that which the AMA started from. They should have kept the scale model part separate from the multirotors that were causing all the issues with interfering with full size aircraft. AMA had its purpose, but not anymore. Not worth a few hours drive to fly, thats what it has become. That and those like me are passing away from old age, so that skill is also being lost to others.
The AMA didn't just fail to separate drones from airplanes; they pushed for them to all be viewed the same by the FAA.
@@David-hm9ic Exactly and why I "failed" to renew my membership, because AMA failed to support me and others like me.
plane= $300+ on average then they go to the local field who wants you to be an AMA member.. AMA=$85/year.. then then the club wants dues anyware from $65-$200/year.. by then people are usually too discouraged to even fly.. people are struggeling to buy food much less dump $500 in an attempt to fly a plane.
Back in the 90s when i was a kid i was lucky to have a great group that would just throw a radio in your hands with a trainer cord.. there was no one standing there spectating, if you came there from curiosity, you flew.. no questions asked..
Forget the required remote ID as an attempt to put us in a small area to avoid enforcement
I put up with club antics until smaller electric planes began to outperform the big nitro stuff... in my back yard.
After that no more "safety officer" up my a$$ for flying anything but left circles (and who was usually the same guy who'd regularly crash his gas warbirds unto the pits, onto the street, etc...)
This is the part he left out. Even if you do get to fly at a popular club you have to be there for a social reason cause waiting an hour between flights sucks and even when you get in the air you have to fly within their rules . Besides being there to learn I donât see much benefit
@@tonyyimbo not all clubs are like that. i visit clubs regularly. Ive stayed away from some clubs hearing they are bad. But then ill find one thats the exact opposite. I know they exist but ive never came across a club that only let 1 person fly
There's a lot of comments about remote ID, and AMA did not do much about it. A subject that really made a lot of members upset. I chose this topic because my club had a similar regulatory fight, except it was the Tripoli High Power Rocket Club, different club, but the same issues. This club was around for years, and all was going well, we had some issues with it. membership, but when the ATF stepped in after 911 and out of nowhere, stamped rocket motors as explosives then started to regulate it. The main component of your hobby is the motor. Overnight, everyone who launched a model rocket was a terrorist. Talking about lighting a fire underneath members' back-ends. The club wasn't having it, nor was the public that had no membership, which included AMA, yes AMA insured model rockets as well. Well, the club members, the public, and educational sciences in public classrooms got involved. The biggest help was money, lots of money, and attorneys that would probono the fight. And that's what it turned into, a big fight. We, the members, and the free attorneys put our all into it. Our main question was Who gave ATF the power to rubber stamp our rocket motors and say their explosives ? It tuns out ... no one, ATF, broke the law because they had no business making laws and, in turn, destroy our hobby. No way we or Tripoli was going to take that sitting down and took ATF to court, and we won. It took 4 to 5 years, but we won ! In the case of RI, the club rolled over. Wth absolutely ridiculous rules, and who knows what else influenced what I call a takeover. WE, aircraft, drones, boats, anything that flies should have fought harder !
One other nasty, horrible change that drives me nuts...NO technical service, and I'll piont my finger at Herizon Hobby first. Have you tried to get help lately ? It makes me sick when it takes days to finally get a person on the phone, and they don't know squat. It was a joke. I had to inform her more than she helped me. Hay Herizon, I'll pay more MONEY to the small online owners I can call, and a person picks the phone up. Herizon used to have an OK service with people who knew something about their product. They are definitely making enough money... look at their ads. Move some of that money over to service. We know who you are.....
Clubs should have no rules other then send it !
Problem is greed. A lot of theese things starts with good intentions, then greed takes over... At least here in EU .
Explain?
â@@stejer211
AMA is in it only for the $$$ to line THEIR pockets. Not unlike any other million dollar businesses.
@@stejer211 Well I've seen in few hobbies I was interested in- Usually there is a group with same interests, then starts as a club and sooner or later someone joins who takes it over and tries to overprice things. So people slowly loose interests and go their own way. I've seen in modelling, shooting, few other things...Idk...
AMA died when it rejected the new era of pilots using technology to their advantage, seeming to ONLY provide support for "true" RC folks. God forbid if you have a Flight Controller in your aircraft, the major aversion to this along with the majority boomer crowd supporting it has pushed younger and newer pilots out of clubs and the traditional RC crowds. Theres a HUGE sigma against newer, tech-ier pilots because the older folks just don't understand it and its a real shame. Every flying club I've seen has either had abysmal accommodations for, or just outright bans anything with a flight controller, FPV, and multirotor flight. If its not a scale model direct PWM model, then you might as well be the devil. Its really funny being yelled at by an 80yo geezer that's had cataracts since he was 8 about my plane that's flying a perfect pattern on its own while he bombs over the pits at 90mph because he "just lost orientation for a second." Theres a real sigma in the RC hobby and it leads to a lot of gatekeeping and pointless rules that we would just rather not deal with. Instead of airfields being fun places to fly like they used to be, they now feel a lot like exclusive old folks club houses that I have to pay up to $200+ yearly to be in. NO THANKS.
On a separate note many people have been fooled into thinking that NEED to be an AMA member to fly anywhere in the USA, like its a federal agency that gives you permission to fly. This is mostly the fault of the members not understanding how FAA law and airspace works, but AMA hasn't done enough to disperse this as it helps them in the short term. Members that realize that they don't actually REQURE one to fly feel like they've been lied to and often end up leaving, and telling their friends to not fall for it, which snowballs the issue further. This issue has only gotten worse with the god awful Remote ID rules that were put in place, and now oftentimes the only places to fly without jumping through the FAA's hoops is AMA fields due to AMA's lobbying.
Ive been trying to break into the hobby for several years... I was put off by the few visits to the two Local clubs near my location by the poor interactions I felt like I was getting... So I built a FT style fomie and have had to do alot of research and building on my own, as well as trial and error...
Im working on learning to fly with the $40 foamie, but would like to get into more serious models and modeling, but gotta learn to not dirt nap it first.
buy a flight sim program. best $ you will ever spend
It is probably going to make the full circle back flying clubs. Most of the towns in my area have already made ordinances prohibiting flying models in public parks and people are not allowed on schoolyards at any time. If you don't have enough private property to fly over, its back to the club flying sites.
The overlap is real. I'm a basher that got into flying last year. Our local flying club used to have a couple basher ramps... but they stopped allowing cars/trucks "due to insurance" đđ
I think it also is relevant to give a little bit of that honorary praise to Flite Test and their annual Flite Fest for bringing in a lot of new people to the RC hobby as well as forming international bonds pre-2020. These guys certainly did make waves in the RC community because I heard a lot of random RC people, even well seasoned old farts with decades of experience you wouldn't normally expect to talk about them did to the point it even spread outside of USA. even if FT doesn't feel the same as it used to, I still have massive respect for Josh Bixler for what he managed to accomplish as a whole. I've made so many new IRL friends because of them.
Absolutely! We mention Flite Fest, FPVFC, and Flite Testâs CBO in the video.
man you remember the old FT too?! So weird how they changed so much, so fast. I remember waking up like i was a kid again to go see FT vids. It was like they were family for awhile.
I appreciate the thoughts offered in this video regarding WHY the hobby is shrinking but one of the MOST important factors not emphasized enough is the COST! I don't know of any hobby in today's world that's 'cheap' to engage in - if there is it's most obscure! In my humble view, it's difficult for most families to shell out hundreds if not thousands of dollars for hobby supplies, airplanes, club membership including AMA that is greatly overpriced, and whatever else might be needed to enjoy this hobby. RC airplanes are not cheap nor is the radio equipment needed to safely and/or efficiently operate them! When an RC vendor offers a holiday discount of 10%, or $50 off the cost of a $300-$500 airplane, I cringe thinking they need to keep their discount because they need the money more than a potential customer. Discounts aren't really discounts! They're sight reductions that generally don't amount to much savings at all. I think I've made my point so I'll get down off my soapbox. There's lots of reasons WHY things are as they are but COST ranks up there at close to the top of the scale!
I'm going to be honest.. ive built my own quadplane and have came into contact with a few of the clubs. I don't join because I don't need to, and they aren't doing anything that I'm interested in. I want to fly m quadplane and collect aerial footage, while they want to fly low powered gliders on the side of a hill. They have a few specific spots they can fly. I can fly anywhere because I have RID.
Anything I need to learn or figure out, I can look online and learn myself. I enjoy this process. If there were local clubs that did fun stuff related to what I wanted to do, I would.
Hey man, tell me about this quadplane you speak of. Never heard of one before.
@@mikebergman1817 it's a Heewing Ranger T1 VTOL with a bunch of customizations I've made and 3d printed.
@@mikebergman1817 quadplane references the ardupilot firmware.
I may eventually graduate from my little trainer airplane and join the local AMA club but when I was investigating the hobby at the big local AMA field (on county property) I rode up on my motorcycle and watched for a while but was given the evil eye as if I had leprosy. I guess that the time of the fellow retirees was precious. Others have told me they had similar experiences.
My experience going to the much closer park was that the aviation enthusiasts (ex airline and air force pilots) were very welcoming. They had nothing gain but were pretty friendly and gave me the advice I needed to get started. I could have gotten dual instruction and still could. Since then I've been to another popular local flying field and also had great experiences and acceptance.
People who belong to the first club told me that it takes a lot of time to break in there but also that I might just have gone on the wrong day; there isn't always a good vibe. Nice to know that they will be there when and if I need them but for now no way am I going anywhere near that place.
All great ideas. I've been an AMA member and have flown r/c airplanes for over 30 years. I've been flying drones for about 8 years. I've been to meetings where they discussed drones and they do not get it. They would rather protect their own interests and not branch out. They tried to sell people on dedicated drone parks and not push clubs to embrace drone pilots in to their clubs. They consider them the enemy and why government regulation is in place. They did it to themselves and they will either adapt or cease to exist.
Excellent commentary. Iâve experienced much of what is mentioned and your examples of what could help are right on. Oh-Iâm 67 years old and still feel this way.
In Germany we have allmost the same problems. IÂŽm happy that, after 6 years of me getting into the hobby, i finally found a nice club with nice people. They dont belong to the DMFV instead they are part of the DAEC ( yeah, we have two "AMA"s to choose from ). They got some rules, but not nearly as much as the others had. And the guys there are really great, they dont care what you fly as long as you have fun with it.
I joined ama just to be able to go to a club field. It was a cool experience. But not necessary. I fly my 1.7m pa 18 at a park no problem. My friend flies his 90mm viper at a park just fine. The ama is a secondary insurance ONLY if you fly at an ama field from what Ive seen. Any time ive seen anyone reach out to ama from a park crash theyve said theyre not covered. So whats even the point.
My local club was amazing to join, all you had to do is have an AMA membership and training was offered but not required.
My local AMA field has a beautiful location, great facilities, eleventy members only signs, and it seems like folks are only there 2 days a week. I have parked in front of their locked gate and flown over the lake across the road, though. Does that count as visiting an AMA field?
I don't do "Clubs" period! My experience is you ALWAYS have "That Guy" who needs to be Large and in Charge on a power trip! Had a friend come out to the club on a motorcycle and did 30 mph on the 25 mph little road. OMG! The COMMANDER of the club went out and berated the guy and just made a scene! Here a guy who was interested in getting into the hobby and he simply turned aroundand did 50 mph leaving! HA! The Commander did a snap roll on the ramp! Loved it! Also, he constantly snipped at guy's who did not fly an exact pattern as if he were an FAA Controller! The guy's were just having FUN, and this was a small club, no need for that kind of controlling behavior, they did nothing unsafe or dangerous! These type guy's tend to gravitate towards Clubs and ruin it for everyone! So I simply stay away, go out to school yards and fly if I want to and be in my Happy Place without being barked at!
66 years old and actively flew R/C since 16. Truly enjoyed it until 2003 when I was stationed at Nellis AFB. I was flying a really old Fokker DR1 and was the only one airborne at the field. Other pilots were sitting, talking, and just being friendly. One guy cranks up his $8000 plane taxis' to the hold point, then walks over to me and said I need to land that piece of shit so he can fly some type of pattern. I said I'll be down is a few minutes and he began accusing me of being rude, not a good pilot, etc. I ignored him, flew longer than planned, and finally landed. He chewed my ass out for not giving him the airspace while I cleaned up and broke the plane down for home. No one stepped up to defend me, but I did notice a few looking pissed at the pilot for his attitude. Guess because he had money to spend on the type of airplane he enjoyed compared to mine, he ran the field. Because it was the only field around I quit flying and then 911 caused more deployments and finally retired. Now I plan to get back into R/C but worried that I will run into that BS again and whatever new regulations and infringements on the hobby brings. Any upcoming pilots that go to flying fields do not get the treatment that I did starting and flying over the years. Many clubs I have stopped by to watch have members that tend to keep to themselves, don't fly any left or right patterns so while flying you have no idea where other aircraft are, fly 3D right over the runway when other aircraft are already airborne, don't announce high speed or low passes over the runway, etc. I have witnessed many mid airs at fields where simple rules and communication would have prevented. I hope to fly at our local filed some 40 miles away and enjoy the company of other pilots, but will probably fly at a local recreation field most of the time as it is seldom used. The AMA might want to address those issues too.
Thanks for caring. Thanks for the proding to get better. Thanks for your ideas. Hopefully clubs and the AMA are hearing this as well.
Zach and Ben, youâve put a lot of thought into the state of our hobby, how it got here and where it might go if we donât keep open minds and work for it. Judging from many of the comments, you hit some nerves. Youâve described the problems. Now to move forward. Working from the model youâve developed regarding the interdependence of clubs, manufacturers and CBOs like AMA, I look forward to stories of clubs or CBOs that are doing some things right. None of us do everything right, so we all need to learn from the successes of others. The problems have been described by many ad nauseam. Itâs time to roll up our sleeves, listen, and work for the success stories.
rc flying is suppose to be fun and relaxing clubs are a hassle.
It is. I just don't do it at clubs. I just have a few friends and family I fly with. I went to FliteFest with a family member this year.
I just got back into the hobby after 30 years. Didnât know my local club still existed (found out later they did); their website was down and no social media pages. After getting an email response back, found out they required FAA registration and AMA membership (+ club fee). I figured it was cheaper and easier to buy a plane with SAFE and fly solo at my nearby park. Iâll still join the club mainly to network, but flying at the park is better. I think the AMA is also struggling because most of the younger generation like Gen Z arenât interested in the hobby.
Been bootleg flying with my group of friends at empty parks, schools, and industrial areas for over 12 years. We have a blast. In that time Iâve been a member of 3 clubs, currently one of Californias largest, and every one of them have been elitist, hardly friendly, and not very fun. If I started at one of these heavy ruled clubs I would definitely not be as good a pilot as I am, and I probably would have moved onto some other hobby. Lighten up a little clubs!
Nice video. I'm just returning to the hobby now that I'm retired. My first purchase is a Carbon Cub SS, and my second purchase is a Carbon Cub S2. Man, these things are expensive. So, I'm getting reacquainted with the local club, and they've welcomed me back with open arms. There are NO young people involved with this club, it's just my old friends I used to fly with, but I think it fits into your narrative.
I no longer fly the S2 because it has manufacturing defects that make it very difficult to fly, so now it's just a shelf queen. I love the SS, its huge man, but every time I fly it parts fall off of it, so now it's just a shelf queen as well.
I started following Qromor on CZcams with his diy scratch built planes and bought his plans, man am I glad I stumbled across his channel, now I'm building his planes and having the time of my life. Thank you, David!
As far as the local hobby shop goes, WOW. This is my experience from today alone; after flying my scratch-built plane, I headed to the local hobby shop. After arriving I noticed a customer that was about to beat me to the door, and by the time I got to the door this gentleman was already leaving, I just assumed he forgot his wallet and was heading back to his vehicle after it. But much to my surprise when I opened the door the shop owner said, did you just see that guy leaving pissed off? Well, I replied, sure I saw him leaving but he didn't seem to be pissed off. So long story short, this shop owner is VERY confrontational, and combative, personally I have no idea how he stays in businesses. I no longer make any large purchases from him and order most things online, it's rather sad that people have to behave like this, and I really understand why he is still in business.
But anyhow thanks for the tips, now I'm happy I only took on a temporary membership with the AMA which will expire in September.
This club has no young people, and I find this sad.
I'm with you, there are so many factors that go into why this hobby is failing, and the government is not going to fix it.
Don
I tried to search for this Qromor person on CZcams that you mention. No luck. Is it spelled right?
@@dwahnaslowdown8887 my apologies, it's Qromer
When youâre right. Youâre right!
Lobbying??? LoL! Yeah, funny how the majority of R/C pilots absolutely hate RID yet the AMA did absolutely nothing to speak against it. Far as I'm concerned, when we really needed them to be our voice, they were silent. Either speak for the interests of the hobby or simply disappear. AMA has a long uphill battle if they want to earn the trust of enthusiasts again.
Our club has been very successful over the years, we used to have a airshow that would draw thousands of people over a weekend, we had lots of events in the show such as racing, jets, flying dog houses and lawn mowers, and at lunch we would have 6 pilots to buddy box anyone who wanted to give it a try, it was a blast, unfortunately we had a storm that overflowed a dam near our site, and washed the road out. Since it is county land, it has been difficult if not impossible to get that road / bridge rebuilt. Instead we got an alternate gravel road to come in on, but it is only for club members, which severely limits the visitors we get. Even so we have several hundred members and it is a good club.
I learned on my own with a little Hobbyzone Sport Cub, then moved onto the larger Carbon Cub 1.3, with minimal and repairable crashes on my own. I joined the local club, only buddy-boxed once, where I only showed my current knowledge, didn't learn anything new. Oh, that was also the youth discount for $15. Now, if i want to renew either my AMA and club membership, it would be $85 EACH. No thanks. Especially with the cost of airplanes and new parts, I cannot afford a $200 annual fee for "insurance coverage".
My relationship with model flying clubs came to an end when they banned drones after some jackass was hovering right next to the backyard fences of the surrounding subdivision. Never mind the fact that I had flown planes and drones there for years, and never caused a problem. They started to kick me out when I would bring out the fpv goggles. The issue had come from a Phantom/Mavic pilot who had never been to the field before, and everyone knew that. They were basically waiting for a reason to "other" the small handful of us fpv guys who would come and fly both fixed wing and drones. They were not interested in using some FREE WILL, and recognizing the difference between an AP drone flyer with no history, or the rest of us guys who build everything and were all on a first name basis with the rest of the fixed wing boomers at the field. The RC flying club reminds me of how Ham Radio operators/clubs interacted with new people.
I've was a member of the AMA in 1971... while building my first "Ugly Stick" using a HeathKit RC controller you had to put together...
FUN TIMES. Goobermint gets into the mix, and it all turns to CRAP.!!! and a lot of these clubs today are just like HOA's... I just want to fly.
One of the biggest things that my club does wrong is banning FPV.
200 % nailed the truth!
Fly free or don't fly. I don't need a FRIA. I just need about 10 KM from where I am standing.
Daily use fees wouldn't work for the NH Concord Skyhawks since it's a sod farm. That is why they move the pits every few years, so the field isn't damaged permanently. I remember when the pits were right at the first bend. If the field gets excessively damaged, it would require an insurance claim that none of the daily use fees could cover.
That said, at least you are thinking about solutions. I have been rogue for almost 30 years.
Rc car tires on the bushmaster?! Thats geniusđź wich ones did you use?
The exact same perfect storm derailed Model Railways. With model planes the re emergence of Microsoft Flight Sim is going to have many people just sit at a screen and fly.
One issue you did not discuss was finding a location to fly rc airplanes. Most cities do not allow rc airplane flying in parks or school grounds. So many flying sites have been lost that many flyers have just given up on the hobby.
I have been an AMA member for over 40 years. The biggest issue that I have seen is that clubs became way too large "elaborate". By this I mean large buildings and other structures, lots of paved surfaces, etc. They then either have to raise dues or hold lots of "events" to pay for it. The "events" ruin the entire weekend they are held on, if you are a member who wants to fly on those days. Further, there is usually a group of very unpleasant people, in every large club, who make life unpleasant for anyone who isn't flying the type of aircraft they approve of. The best clubs I have flown at only have a grass or crude paved grass strip and 20 or so memebers. The bigger they are, they less pleasant these clubs tend to be.
Was a member as a kid in the late 80s. Was able to learn to fly from a veteran at the local AMA club. The way I knew about the AMA was from the hobby store where I bought my first trainer. Good memories of all of it.
Back in 08/09 we had an indoor RC expo in the University of Phoenix stadium. Those events were my steroids for aviation
34 years old been flying RC in one form or another for about 20 years. Was a AMA member up to about 4 years ago. They have lost the youth and have failed at evolving with the hobby. In my opinion the AMA is beyond saving at this point, hopefully some other organization will step up to represent RC hobbyist in an all encompassing way. Would be nice to see FPVFC take a broader stance in the hobby to represent those not interested in the FPV side of things.
Paying money to play with a toy!! đđđ I trail mostly! No clubs with grumpy old ppl!
Anyone else find out the hard way you have to buy individual Remote ID modules for EVERY AIRPLANE if you got a commercial drone license because there ARE NO FRIAS ANYWHERE NEAR YOU and you would like to continue flying an entire barn full of airplanes you've been building over 45 years in the hobby off your 80 acre farm in the middle of nowhere?!
The biggest problem with the AMA is that they COMPLETELY FORGOT about the people who built them with 4 decades of membership dues.
One reason a lot of dues are so high is a lot of clubs rent their flying fields and also pay someone to mow it too. The club Iâm in has an annual swap meet that pays for the rent and upkeep of our field otherwise we would have to pay 400+ in dues (ours is around 40$)
When I started flying in the late 80's, there was a 25 yr old club 5 minutes from my house. But as a ~26 yr old I couldn't penetrate the clique of "old timers" who'd been there 10, 15, 20 yrs and I felt like an outsider. Got out of the hobby for about 10 yrs, returned to the club in the late 90's flying nitro helis and bigger nitro planes. The same old-timers were still there and I still felt like an outsider (esp. flying helis), so I stayed a couple of years and then got out of the hobby. I still follow the hobby as if I'll get back into it some day but it'll probably be on my own.
Iâve been a self taught micro slow/park flyer for 25 years and Iâm happy to keep it that wayâŠ
First AMA needs new blood. Younger and more open minded leadership. Im 55 and it needs this to draw in a new generation.
Last but not least fpv and drone pilots which i did in the beginning. The bad actors shot that group in the foot. Posting videos of drones flying 5k ft in the air. Or rotor riot trespassing and flying like idiots. Lastly keep in mind airspace is valuable. Corporate America wants to fly delivery drones without henderance. With that all being said the AMA needs younger leadership with a diverse group of leaders, drone,plane and surface vehicles.
Has anyone transitioned an AMA club to a "non-ama" field/club? Obviously the FRIA status is all that matters in today's world so if we could be assured the other CBOs would continue to be respected.. its a no brainer. I would much rather give my $100 a year to FliteTest... who has given so much to me and the hobby vs ama. If there was a path to transition our club... I would lead the charge and perhaps document the process so its easy for other clubs to do...