President's Perspective - 2010/03

As we begin 2010, I will use this
month’s column to recap some of
the events that AMA has
undertaken in the past year in support of our
membership.
Flying site acquisition and retention
continues to be a serious concern. In 2009,
AMA continued—and in fact doubled—its
involvement with the League of Cities (LoC)
with good results. LoC is an organization
comprising elected officials from
municipalities and counties within a state.
Most states have their own LoC.
One of our continuing objectives in 2009
was to do more to promote the idea that public
and municipal lands are appropriate venues for
model aircraft flying sites, and this was the
message we took to the conventions.
This year we doubled the number of LoC
conventions we attended. Our booths were
staffed by a combination of the AMA district
vice presidents, associate vice presidents, and
member volunteers.
At each event we received a number of
positive responses from those attending the
conventions. Many visitors to our booth
indicated that they had open lands that they
felt would be appropriate for a model aircraft
flying site.
In each case we followed up that contact
with additional information and alerted clubs
in the area of the opportunity to meet with
local officials to discuss the possibility of
creating a new flying site in their community.
The program is working well and we will
be expanding it in 2010.
AMA has received a number of inquiries
from our members concerning the future of 72
MHz frequencies set aside for model aviation
use. Although the advent of spread spectrum
technology has opened up a whole new world
for RC modeling, we still have a significant
number of members who continue to fly on 72
MHz and are not inclined to stop using
perfectly good equipment.
The area in which these frequencies reside
is becoming a popular target for other interests
including the wireless industry. Although not
a large threat right now, as more modelers
move away from these frequencies, it will
become increasingly difficult to argue their
need and value for model aviation.
For decades AMA has retained a
Washington DC law firm to address any
issues we have as a result of legislation or
regulation that would impact the use of all
frequencies set aside for aeromodeling. In
mid-2009, we re-established our relationship
with the firm that represented AMA before the
FCC several years ago during the frequency
reallocation issue.
Our intent is to position ourselves to
advocate for our members on issues that come
before the FCC. We will work to retain the 72
MHz frequencies for the foreseeable future.
Our biggest challenge in 2009, and what will
likely continue to be our greatest challenge in
2010, is our work with the FAA and
impending regulation regarding the operation
of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs)
in the National Airspace System (NAS).
The FAA Aviation Rulemaking
Committee (ARC), which was empowered to
make recommendations that will be used to
create a regulatory basis for sUASs,
completed its work in March 2009 and
submitted the finished product to the FAA.
Those documents were released for public
review the following May. Since that time,
AMA has been drafting our response to the
ARC recommendations as well as developing
and refining a set of safety guidelines that will
eventually be presented to the FAA.
The FAA’s philosophy to its oversight of
the aeromodeling activity is to regulate model
aviation by exempting it from regulation, then
referring it to an accepted community-based
safety program. The guidelines currently
under development will serve as AMA’s
program.
When AMA’s internal process is
complete, which it is expected to be in the first
quarter of 2010, the draft of our proposed
program will then be presented to AMA’s
March 2010 5
Special Interest Groups, the hobby industry,
and the modeling community for review and
input. Then the draft will be finalized and
presented to the FAA.
AMA’s ultimate goal is to ensure that
model aviation enthusiasts can enjoy
aeromodeling much as we have for the last
seven or more decades.
On October 30, 2009, AMA held a
dedication ceremony and grand opening of the
new Claude McCullough Education Facility
at the International Aeromodeling Center
(IAC). The facility was built entirely through
member donations, including a significant one
from the estate of former AMA president,
Claude McCullough.
AMA believes that model aviation is a
stepping stone for young people to future
careers in aviation and aerospace. This facility
will present new opportunities for AMA to
expand its educational outreach efforts. It will
be used to introduce and educate school-age
children, college students, and adults through
model aviation.
AMA has a long history of advancing
education through aviation. This new facility
will allow us to further that tradition.
AMA’s leadership believes that building
relationships with other aviation-oriented
associations has the potential to benefit all of
us. In early November, AMA was invited to
participate in the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association’s (AOPA’s) Annual Summit held
in Tampa, Florida.
Taking part in the Summit allowed us to
meet and visit with a number of AMA
members who stopped by our booth while
attending the convention. We also spoke with
countless AOPA members and other aviation
enthusiasts.
This past month, at our invitation, the
AOPA participated in the annual AMA Expo
held in Ontario, California.
In early December AMA hosted an initial
meeting in Muncie with representatives from
the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).
The daylong meeting identified a number of
areas of common ground between our two
organizations. It is our intent to build on these
relationships.
A buzz phrase on the Internet last year
was “social networking.” Millions of
Americans, and tens of thousands of AMA
members, use the Internet and social
networking sites to communicate and stay
connected with each other.
In 2009, AMA created a presence on
several of these sites including Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Additionally we launched our first
Members Only Internet Discussion Forum
in June.
The forum is intended to be an online
resource to discuss AMA issues. While
AMA membership is required to post to
the forum, everyone is able to read posts.
AMA intends to take advantage of the
communication conduit to our members
that these sites provide; however, we will
not overlook more traditional means of
communicating that many of our members
still prefer.
The IAC was incredibly active this past
summer when AMA played host to several
major events that included the Extreme
Flight Championships, the IRCHA
Jamboree, the Indiana Warbird Campaign,
and the 83rd National Aeromodeling
Championships.
These events drew thousands of
modelers to the IAC as well as nearly
10,000 spectators combined. AMA was
also the host for the 2009 World Radio
Control Helicopter Championship. The 10-
day competition drew participants from 21
countries.
Events such as these give us the
opportunity to showcase model aviation as
a credible recreational activity. Building
this credibility has the potential to benefit
all of us as model aviation enthusiasts.
In 2009, we continued to build on
programs such as Take off And Grow
(TAG), the AMA Flying Site Assistance
Grant Program, and the Charles H. Grant
Scholarship Program. Each of these is
intended to support our members by
helping them conduct events in their
communities to attract new interest in
aeromodeling, providing financial
assistance to help with developing or
purchasing flying sites, or providing
financial assistance to some of our younger
members who are entering a level of
higher education.
Although AMA does much more, these
are a few of the 2009 highlights.
The coming year will provide a number
of new opportunities for the Academy.
Several initiatives will be implemented
throughout the year that will provide
additional benefits to our members as well
as position us to be stronger advocates for
model aviation and our membership.
While continuing to build on all of the
issues I’ve written about, we intend to
focus heavily on promoting model aviation
as a recreational and educational family
activity. We’re also building relationships
within the aerospace and education
communities that I’ll be writing more
about in future columns.
I want to thank each of you for being a
member. Membership in the AMA means
different things to each of us; however, the
common denominator is a love of model
aviation.
Part of being a member is the
camaraderie and friendships that are built
when we are with others who share a
common interest. As the saying goes—
priceless.
See you next time. MA
Dave Mathewson
AMA president
[email protected]