Author: Jim Rice
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/02
Page Numbers: 166

District VIII - 2011/02

FAA/AMA Standards Effort

Rich Hanson and his seemingly tireless workgroup are steadily working the FAA/AMA standards issue on a weekly basis, with numerous trips to Washington, D.C., to meet with FAA representatives. Progress continues to be made, but that moving target is hard to pin down, hard to define, hard to hit, and hard to describe to the membership.

We have some very bright, talented volunteer workers putting in thousands of hours to develop these standards. We would not be able to pay these fine people what they are worth for their efforts.

By the time you read this, we will have had a two-day face-to-face meeting with FAA representatives at the AMA Expo in California. Let's hope the results of that effort are fruitful and positive.

Stay tuned to AMA Today, Insider, and the various columns in Model Aviation for updates. If you know or see any of these folks, let them know their efforts are appreciated: Rich Hanson, Greg Hahn, Bill Pritchett, Tom Kallavang, Mike Harrington, Gary Fogel, Bryan Hudson, and Andy Kane.

Elections

Elections are over, and Lawrence Tougas is the new vice president for District X. He comes with great enthusiasm and the confidence of his membership. I look forward to working with him and hearing his fresh ideas and approach.

Lawrence is an engineer with United Airlines who has a great appreciation for the direction and purpose of the AMA.

Unfortunately, with the arrival of the new member, we have to say farewell to a very intense, dedicated, and motivated AMA volunteer in Mike Brown. Mike brought his heart and soul to the effort and will be remembered for his enthusiasm and total immersion in the job.

I certainly hope there is a volunteer position somewhere for Mike to continue his service to our great organization.

Arkansas CL Contest

Ron Stanfield, the associate vice president for Arkansas, sent pictures and a report of a CL contest in El Dorado. They had 14 entries in four classes.

Ron entered and, although he had not flown his CL aircraft in more than a year, he took third place. Ron says the weather was nice and the club did a fine job of running the event.

Communications with Members

Following is a list of the ways we try to communicate with our membership. Many require a current e-mail address, so please verify the e-mail address that is on file with AMA. You could be missing out on information about the organization because of an old address or a typo in the one we have on file.

  1. Model Aviation, a membership benefit, is provided monthly.
  2. Sport Aviator is an online magazine available to members and nonmembers. This e-zine, geared toward newer RC pilots, can be found at www.masportaviator.com.
  3. Park Pilot is a quarterly publication for all Park Pilot members and is available by subscription.
  4. AMA Insider is posted bimonthly on the AMA web site and an e-mail notification is sent to club leaders, district officers, Leader Members (LMs), and subscribers. You can subscribe to the newsletter online at www.modelaircraft.org/subscribe.aspx.
  5. AMA Today is e-mailed monthly to all members with addresses on file with the organization. This is the quickest way of communicating updates of ongoing programs to members.
  6. NatsNews is published daily during the Nats. It contains pictures, scores, interviews, and coverage of the events. You can sign up to be notified when the issues are posted at www.modelaircraft.org/subscribe.aspx.
  7. AMA hosts General Membership Meeting(s). Bylaws require one annually, but generally two or three are held around the country.
  8. District vice presidents (VPs), associate vice presidents (AVPs), and LMs are available for discussions at club meetings or flying events, and roundtable discussions may be scheduled with the AMA Education Outreach Specialists.
  9. The AMA Forum is an online forum available for open discussion and provides a database of anything model aviation related. Monitored/reviewed by the AMA president, DVPs, AVPs, LMs, and AMA staff, it provides members the opportunity for discussion with other AMA members across the USA or to ask for official responses from the staff. Members can post questions and responses in the forum, but it is "read only" to nonmembers.
  10. AMA's Web Site contains all programs, documents, staff listings, EC meeting minutes, and a feature called "Ask AMA" which sends a member’s question directly to the executive director/staff for answers.
  11. Each of the 11 districts has its own web site to communicate directly with district members, but they are accessible by the public as well.

Have fun and fly safely. See you on the flightline!

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.