President's Perspective - 2008/09

y the time this issue of MA reaches
you, AMA will have participated
in its first League of Cities (LoC)
convention in Tampa, Florida. The Florida
LoC is an organization comprising elected
officials from various municipalities within
the state. Roughly 99% of municipalities
and counties in Florida are members. As
does Florida, most states within the United
States have their own LoC.
Our purpose in attending this convention
is to make these elected representatives
aware of model aviation and its value as a
viable recreational activity. We want to
plant the idea that facilities such as local
parks, schoolyards, sports fields, etc. are
perfect venues for modeling activities. We
will also be promoting the use of
appropriate-sized vacant municipal land as
model airplane flying sites.
By making these officials aware of
model aviation and the value it can bring to
a community as a recreational and an
educational activity, we can help open the
door for local modelers who approach these
leaders to gain access to municipal
properties.
Our plan is to attend at least two LoC
conventions in 2008 and, if successful,
expand our involvement in 2009.
In October, AMA will be attending the
National Recreation and Park Association
(NRPA) Congress and Exposition in
Baltimore, Maryland. The NRPA represents
more than 22,000 members, many of whom
are park professionals and urban planners.
Our goal here is the same as our goal in
attending the LoC conventions. If we are
successful in laying the foundation that
model aviation is a good use of municipally
owned lands, then it should be easier for
President’s Perspective
AMA President Dave Mathewson
B
modelers to gain access to these lands. AMA
Executive Director Jim Cherry will be
providing updates on our participation at
these events in one of his future columns.
Last month I wrote briefly about our new
association with JWALCHER
Communications, a public and media
relations company in San Diego, California.
JWALCHER has successfully helped
organizations similar to AMA introduce and
promote their activities to the general public.
Our goal is to make as many people as
possible aware of model aviation. We
already have several projects on the board
that, by the time you read this, will have
resulted in magazine articles, a number of
newspaper articles, television news clips,
and hopefully a short segment highlighting
model aviation on national television.
The collateral effect of many of these
activities has already resulted in some
significant public exposure for a number of
our clubs.
On a smaller scale, another concept that
we’ve re-created from several years ago is
the drafting of a press release that will be
sent to the local media in the communities of
those who win events at this year’s AMA
Nats. Local news organizations are always
looking for human-interest material and we
think that by providing these releases, they
will eventually end up in print, on the radio,
or on television. This is a simple concept
that takes very little effort to implement, yet
has the potential to reach a large number of
nonmodelers.
All of these projects are intended to
introduce and attract as many people as
possible to model aviation. I truly believe
that if we are successful in growing model
aviation, our numbers will take care of
themselves.
In my July column I wrote about several
events that will be taking place at the
International Aeromodeling Center (IAC)
this summer. Since April when I wrote that
column, a number of additional events have
appeared on the IAC calendar. A couple of
these events will take place in late August
and mid-September, so this issue of MA
should reach you before they happen.
The Indiana Warbird Campaign Giant
Scale Warbird Fly-In will be on-site August
27-31. This event will feature some of the
best RC warbird pilots in the United States
and Canada. Models flown will be from the
World War II era up through modern jets.
For more information you can visit
www.indianawarbirdcampaign.com.
On September 18-21 the IAC will play
host to the World Soaring Masters (WSM).
Organized by the League of Silent Flight, an
AMA Special Interest Group, the WSM is a
competition Soaring event that will include
some of the best sailplane pilots from the
United States as well as several other
countries.
This is a great opportunity to see
competitive Soaring at its best. To learn
more you can visit the WSM Web site at
www.worldsoaringmasters.com.
In the next few weeks, ballots for this
year’s AMA officer elections will begin
arriving in your mailboxes. Up for election
this year are the vice president’s position in
districts III, VII, and XI. In addition, there
will be a national election for executive vice
president and a special election in District II
to fill the vacancy created when I was
elected president.
Candidate statements will appear in a
future issue of MA as well as being posted
on the AMA Web site. Please take a
moment to review the statements and
exercise your right to vote for the candidate
of your choice. MA
See you next time ...
September 2008 5
Our goal is to make as many people
as possible aware of model aviation.
Mission Statement
Dave Mathewson
AMA president
[email protected]
The Academy of Model Aeronautics is a world-class association of modelers organized for the purpose of
promotion, development, education, advancement, and safeguarding of modeling activities.
The Academy provides leadership, organization, competition, communication, protection, representation,
recognition, education and scientific/technical development to modelers.
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