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IT MIGHT BE hard to determine, but wouldn’t it be interesting to know when the creation of the alphabet-soup world we live in actually began?
It’s difficult to imagine monks in an ancient monastery tracing a series of letters to denote the longer name of an organization or group.
Would King Arthur’s famed body of knights become ORT (Order of the Round Table)?
It becomes difficult to picture William Shakespeare’s beautiful, flowing prose suddenly interrupted with a string of letters designed to read as a word, but being the first letters of a longer phrase or name.
How would Abraham Lincoln have worked such things into his writing or speech?
Everything we hear — or write — in our communications today is heavily laced with acronyms and alphabet soup. It has become such a way of life that we actually create organizational titles for the sole purpose of having their initials read as a word!
Then we apply for a toll-free telephone number that will translate into that word. And let’s not forget the cryptic codes that permeate personal notices and E-mail; we won’t even try to go there.
Does the Academy of Model Aeronautics travel those trendy, torturous trails? Certainly it does; perhaps it has something to do with its heritage, having been born and raised in the Washington DC environs.
Have you ever mentioned to someone that you are a member of “AMA,” only to have that person cock his or her head and peer at you puzzled?
More than 12 national associations carry those letters. Depending upon the individual’s thinking at the time you utter the letters, he or she might place you in the American Motorcycle Association or the American Management Association. If they ask for medical advice, you know the thought process!
But when you mention aeromodeling, people think they have it all figured out and place you in the “American Model Association.”
Let’s spend some time detailing a few bowls of the soup and understanding what they mean and how they fit in nationally and internationally.
Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA): The organization carrying that name began in 1936.
Early on, it was heavily youth- and competition-oriented. That trend evolved into today’s activity, which reveals an increased average age and a focus — at least in the number of participants — on “sport” or recreational flying.
It should be noted that 2001 saw growth to a little less than 175,000 members. Most importantly, youth membership increased significantly to approximately 23,000.
The organization is democratically structured. A board of directors, called the Executive Council, is elected by the membership for three-year terms.
The EC is composed of 11 vice presidents, one from each of the 11 state subdivisions called districts. There is a president elected at large and an executive vice president who is also elected at large and oversees the Academy’s financial matters.
The 14th member of the EC is from the National Aeronautic Association, which will be discussed later in this column.
You receive the Membership Manual when you join or renew. Details of responsibilities, as well as the bylaws and related information, can be found in this document.
The EC normally meets four times a year to deliberate on association business. They oversee all elements of the Academy’s activity, prepare the budget, develop policy pertaining to the establishment of rules and regulations, and myriad other responsibilities.
They serve as the liaison between modelers, industry, and all other elements of aeromodeling activities, and they retain residual plenary power over all matters pertaining to the Academy.
This means they may act in whatever capacity might be necessary to protect the association and its membership in the event of a threat from any source.
Most general activities are carried out by committees or boards generated to attend to specific needs. These committees or boards are responsible to the EC.
Although there are exceptions, the committee or board members are appointed by the EC as a body acting as one or by individual EC members.
The competition/contest Board members are appointed, one per AMA district, by the district vice president. The AMA president appoints the chairperson of each board.
There is a host of other committees and boards. A small sampling includes the Frequency Committee, Safety Committee, Publication Committee, Education Committee, Scholarship Committee, Hall of Fame Committee, and so on.
The individuals involved in these groups, including the EC, are all volunteers.
There is also a cadre of qualified members known as Leader Members, who not only act as advisors, but are empowered to vote for bylaws changes.
Each district uses the associate vice presidents to provide input to the district vice presidents.
Relatively recently, recognition has been given to Special Interest Groups, or SIGs. Because the hobby/sport of aeromodeling is so diverse in nature, those organizations were developed to promote a specific interest.
There are 24 of these groups listed on 23 of the Membership Manual.
There is only one recognized group within each aeromodeling area. Not only are they involved in promoting that specific interest, but they act as advisors to the association as a whole.
In recent years, their sphere of influence has expanded to include the planning and execution of events for the National Aeromodeling Championships held in Muncie IN each July.
Each SIG is required to hold elections, maintain bylaws, and fulfill other mandated obligations.
Not all the groups are competition-oriented. The largest group, IMAA (International Miniature Aircraft Association), is dedicated to the promotion of noncompetitive fly-ins of larger model aircraft.
NASA (National Association of Scale Aeromodelers) was founded in 1977. As is true for all SIGs, the group was recognized and accepted by the EC.
Throughout the years, NASA has provided a newsletter, help for obtaining Scale documentation, fund-raising for international teams, guidance in competition matters, assistance to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Scale Team Selection Committee, and more.
Now in its 25th year, NASA is working to develop additional events and incorporate fun-fly or entry-type Scale activities.
National Aeronautic Association (NAA): This air-sports control organization serves as the United States connection to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
The NAA is not limited to modeling activity but involves all manner of full-scale air sports as well, such as soaring, aerobatics, parachuting, hang-gliding, and general aviation.
Headquartered across the Potomac River from Washington DC, the NAA interfaces directly with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other government agencies. It is also responsible for processing all types of aviation world records for the United States.
International sporting licenses — necessary for world competitions — are issued through NAA.
The executive director of NAA, Don Konrad, currently sits as a voting representative on AMA’s Executive Council, and he serves as a member on the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Board of Directors.
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI): For many years, AMA has been an active participant in international competition. Each year it sends teams to the world championships held in various countries around the globe. These occur in Free Flight (FF), Control Line (CL), Radio Control (RC), and Space Modeling.
Each venue works on a two-year cycle with the various events split on an even-odd-year basis. In 2001, the United States hosted two world championships: FF and RC helicopters.
Originally headquartered in Paris, France, the FAI moved to Lausanne, Switzerland and presently has its offices there.
The various commissions, full-scale aircraft divisions and aeromodeling, hold two meetings a year to refine the various competition codes, plan the calendar of events, and address many issues, including safety and information. Up to 40 countries are represented at the Plenary Meeting.
The FAI/CIAM programs are strongly geared toward competition, focusing directly on the world championships.
However, in recent years, the FAI has attempted to develop media-friendly events designed to bring air sports to the attention of the general public.
This has been attempted through World Air Games (WAG). While meeting with some success, the project has languished somewhat—especially the aeromodeling aspect of it.
In the United States, AMA has developed a means of establishing teams for world-championships competition. Each venue listed earlier has a specific program to select the individuals permitted to represent the United States in the various classes.
These programs are managed by what is called a Team Selection Committee. The vice presidents select representatives from each of the 11 AMA districts. That committee is responsible for soliciting bids for selection events, overseeing the administration of the events, and, in general, determining the entire process.
Once the team is selected, the committee assists AMA Headquarters and the team manager in preparing for the competition. The specific selection procedure varies from venue to venue.
There is a manual called Competition Regulations available from AMA Headquarters that details the chain of command and overall guidelines.
The competition rules found in the FAI Sporting Code vary from those in the AMA Competition Regulations. However, many of the AMA competitions include FAI events.
In RC Helicopter, Pylon, and Aerobatics, you will find events that employ FAI rules integrated into the skill classes. The same is true for FF and CL.
There are times when care must be exercised because general AMA and FAI rules do not always dovetail cleanly. The use of a jury in FAI to adjudicate protests is an example. A different process exists in AMA competition.
There is an AMA/FAI Executive Committee consisting of the AMA president and two appointed representatives who oversee all of AMA’s FAI activity.
While the bylaws invest the AMA president with virtually unilateral authority in FAI matters, the last two presidents have created this committee to approve AMA/FAI matters. The EC still reserves the residual plenary power mentioned earlier.
You might wonder why I am providing this information
I have learned in eight years of writing this column that many “longtimers” tend to read it.
And I learned a long time ago that one reason many people stick with aeromodeling is because they learn the inner workings and aspire to advance beyond the first levels.
Ponder this: would the opportunity to represent the United States in an Olympic-style competition—in Sweden, in Australia, or France—sound inviting?
Would it sound inviting to your spouse?
Would it be great to be named the United States national champion?
If you’re going to be successful, remember Professor Harold Hill’s comments from the stage play “The Music Man”: “You’ve gotta learn the territory!” MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
