Flying site assistance volunteers attend conferences
This month, I want to tell you what the Flying Site Assistance Volunteers (FSAVs) have been doing on behalf of AMA members in their states.
The FSAVs were recruited to help me with the task of finding flying sites. Modelers have a much better handle on what is going on in their local areas than I could ever have! By working together, we can accomplish much.
The FSAV program currently tasks statewide FSAVs to organize and attend a convention of government officials in their state. Usually, these are county commissioners, mayors, the League of Cities, etc.
These conventions typically have expositions where companies sell their wares to these city representatives. Companies typically in attendance include fire hydrant manufacturers, traffic light manufacturers, playground equipment manufacturers, etc. People representing these companies seize this opportunity to speak directly with government officials and expose them to their products.
The AMA is represented through the FSAVs and can show these officials what we do. We ask if they have any facilities or land that is underutilized or unused, and if we could speak with them about developing a flying site on the land. Often, there is some type of facility available and its representatives are happy to speak with an AMA club or individual member about it.
The FSAVs educate the officials about aeromodeling. Most have never seen small electric models and are fascinated by them. Gyms are discussed as a great place for indoor models. Soccer fields that lay unused at times become part of the discussion as park flyer sites. Larger park lands and closed landfills have proven to be excellent flying fields.
The officials leave with a sense of what we do and are interested in helping us. We give them some documents and Model Aviation magazines to take with them, and we obtain contact information.
Much good comes from speaking with these officials! They are usually happy to hear about how they can better utilize available lands for their constituents. Their takeaway of model aviation is that we enjoy a fun, clean sport/hobby that can involve all ages and areas of society. In the future, when they hear about model airplanes, they have a positive opinion.
The FSAV groups follow up to try to connect a model club with an official. After the club has the information, its members can contact the official and see what facilities may be available.
Last year, the AMA Executive Council approved $5,000 to fund four FSAV groups to attend statewide conventions in California, Oregon, North Carolina, and Texas. Following is a synopsis of those four conventions.
Oregon
The League of Oregon Cities annual meeting was held in Salem, Oregon. The AMA FSAVs for Oregon are Ron Terry and Dave Dibble. Pete Melin, secretary of the Salem RC Pilots Association, also attended.
The AMA was well received. Councilors, mayors, and staffers wanted to know why we were there. They were receptive to our mission of acquiring
AMA in Action
Texas
The County Judges and Commissioners Annual Conference was held in San Marcos, Texas. The AMA FSAVs for Texas are Benny Behrens, Richard Frysringer, and Horace Cain.
Booths opened at 7:30 a.m. and the participants were already in the exhibitor area. During the second day, the participants spent much time with the exhibitors and this was when we made the largest number of contacts. The biggest attraction in our booth was the flight simulator.
During the conference we had a steady stream of people. When the participants were in classes or seminars, exhibitors would visit our booth to hear our story and play with the simulator. We developed much interest among the exhibitors and were able to tell them about aeromodeling. We also ran into many former modelers whom we may have enticed to come back to the sport.
Roughly 80% of the contacts heard our story and needs. These people indicated that they were agreeable to being contacted and would help where they could. We didn't receive any negative feedback or lack of interest. Several were aware of clubs and/or flying sites in their counties. Many good contacts were made, and follow-ups with them have been ongoing. Several clubs have used this information to contact their commissioners about a flying site.
—Benny Behrens FSAV Chairman
North Carolina
The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners conference was held in Raleigh. The AMA FSAV, Bob Wilson, was unable to attend, so the president of Raleigh-Durham RC (RDRC) club, Michael Hollowell, brought it to the attention of the club. Club members John Knoy, Josh Bunn, and Mark Loftgren pitched in to help at the show.
We obtained six contacts (three filled out the AMA forms and three left their business cards). Other people we spoke with were aware of the AMA or were actively working with a flying club about finding land.
Most of the other vendors we talked to thought we were the hit of the show with the simulator and flying the Blade and Vapor around the exhibit hall.
—Michael Hollowell RDRC President
California
The League of California Cities Expo was held in San Diego. The California FSAVs are Dave Gee, Don Goeschl, and Jon Wilson. Also helping in the booth were AMA members George Mansfield and John Hutchison.
The show was well attended, and the FSAV group obtained 43 contacts.
—Dave Gee FSAV Chairman
I want to thank these four groups for their outstanding efforts in attending these shows on behalf of AMA members in their states! They did a great job of representing AMA and helping local officials better understand what we do and what our needs are.
Now that these groups have made contact with these officials, it is time for you to get involved! If you live in one of these four states and your AMA club is in need of a flying site, please contact me. I can hopefully provide you with a name of an official who attended a show and came to one of our booths.
This could be the open door that gets you a new flying site! Please take the time to call or email me and put this information to work for you. I look forward to helping you.
In 2013, we plan to attend four more shows. If you would like to become a FSAV, contact me and I'll give you the details. We currently have 36 for the entire US! My goal is to have at least five per state. Please consider helping in this effort!
—Tony Stillman Flying Site Assistance Coordinator
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
