this as a way to accommodate some
increase in the limits, or easing of the
restrictions on the more “advanced” forms
of aeromodeling. I’m sure that I will get
some people who will take exception to
the use of the term “advanced,” noting
that some of the traditional classes of
modeling are still developing advanced
technology, and are quite sophisticated,
but I think you all know what I mean in
this case.
It’s the “bigger, higher, faster” models
that create the concern, along with those
that have areas of danger that are unique
to that type of model. Please understand
that the vast majority of these types of
models are safe when operated by a
modeler with adequate experience. They
are in that instance, probably safer than
that “normal” model in the hands of an
inexperienced modeler, or certainly, that
“normal” model in the hands of someone
who “thinks” he is better than he really is.
We have all seen that type of case.
The reaction to my earlier suggestion
of such a program met with resistance on
the basis of many members feeling that
“every AMA member should be allowed
to fly any type of model, without
restriction,” and that is the crux of the
problem. It seems ironic that many clubs
have programs which limit who is
qualified to fly “solo,” yet so many do not
see any need for such a program to limit
the types of models to be flown by those
same people.
The bottom line is that we will have to
choose between ever-increasing
membership costs, for everyone in order
to allow the relative handful of people to
fly “bigger, higher, faster;” or we will
AHH, THE SMELL of spring is in the
air; the problem is that the air “contains”
some “pieces” it shouldn’t contain! Spring
always yields a little rough weather, but
this year the storms seem to be unusually
intense.
Ironically, some of the weekends have
had especially good weather, and the
weekend we held the spring Executive
Council (EC) meeting was no exception.
It’s hard to get the members of the EC to
keep their noses to the grindstone when
the weather outside is so beautiful, but we
persevered. The rush to the flying field at
AMA Headquarters was intense when the
meeting was over.
As has occurred in the past couple of
years, the event being flown at the
National Flying Site was for large, airtow,
Radio Control (RC) gliders, and with
the beautiful weather, it was a site to
behold. Something about those big,
majestic gliders—Sailplanes to the
purist—soaring in gaggles, for flights
about as long as the pilot’s neck can hold
up, is incredible.
Yours truly got in some stick time on
one of these models, and even I was able
to find as much “lift” as was necessary to
keep the model aloft. I found the lift off
the west side of the flying site, but the
rumors were that the lift earlier in the day
had been over the northwest corner of the
site—right over the Headquarters building
where the EC meeting was going on! I
think they were trying to tell us
something!
A few years ago, I put forth the idea that
we should consider a “multitiered” AMA
membership to accommodate the
advancing technology, and the inherent
risks associated with the higherperformance
categories, and at the same
time, keep the cost of AMA membership
down to an acceptable level for those who
limit their flying to the more “traditional”
type models.
To say that it was not a popular idea
would be an understatement, yet, I still
hear people suggesting some variation of
Dave Brown AMA president
President’s Perspective
have to create some system which limits
the flying of those advancing tech models
to those who are qualified to handle that
type of model; or we will have to put in
more restrictive limits on what type of
models are allowed.
Right now, we limit to 55 pounds, a
limit imposed when no one had the
technology to get any model approaching
that limit to perform at any high level of
performance. Now, we have power plants
that allow those large models to achieve
high-performance levels, with speeds
exceeding the performance of the fastest
models of any type from the era when the
55-pound limit was imposed, and now the
people flying models near the 55-pound
limit are asking for higher limits!
Making this task even more
complicated is the fact that the charter of
the organization calls for us to promote the
“advancement” of the arts and sciences of
model aircraft, and some would view any
such limitations as impeding such
advancement. This is one of those cases
where the need for modelers to provide
insurance for our activities, typically
through AMA, conflicts with the need to
see the activity “advance.”
As I write this, they are running
qualifications for the Indianapolis 500, and
the thought has occurred to me that the
sport of automobile racing has advanced in
so many ways, in spite of rules changes
that put more and more restrictions on the
hardware involved. They just happened to
mention that the Indianapolis Racing
League (IRL) permitted turbos in the early
days.
In automobile racing, they have been
wise enough to change the rules, as
technology allows higher and higher
performance with the “old” rules, to
contain the performance to a reasonable
level. Shouldn’t we be doing the same
thing? Are racecars of today less
“advanced” than those of years past,
because the rules are more restrictive?
Hmmmmnn ... MA
August 2003 5
... and with the
beautiful weather, it
was a site to behold.
Dave Brown
AMA president
[email protected]
08sig1.QXD 5.23.03 3:16 pm Page 5
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/08
Page Numbers: 5