President's Perspective - 2010/11

November 2010 5
s many already know, Jim Cherry
left AMA at the end of August. We
wish him well as he rejoins his
wife, Lynn, in Panama City, Florida.
Jim was hired in 2006 and served as our
Executive Director (ED). During his tenure he
brought innovation to the Academy. His
League of Cities program has introduced
hundreds, if not thousands, of community
officials to model aviation.
The program spread the message that
model aviation is an ideal educational and
recreational family activity and is a viable use
of appropriate municipal properties. This
program has resulted in several new flying
sites throughout the country.
Jim’s Program of Work (POW) plan
brought accountability and direction to AMA
Headquarters’ operations. This document,
created annually, is a combined effort of the
staff, the ED, and the AMA Executive Council
(EC). It serves as the organization’s roadmap
for the coming year. The POW sets goals,
objectives, and timelines and helps guide the
organization.
Jim also played an important role in
helping to draft our recently released Strategic
Long Range Plan.
When Jim first came to AMA in 2006,
Lynn remained at their home in Florida to
manage family issues. Jim sacrificed being
with his wife and family in his effort to lead
AMA. He is now back in Florida, remodeling
a new home they bought there last year and
enjoying spending time with his twin
grandsons.
One thing I’m sure of is that Jim won’t
miss the Muncie, Indiana, winters!
President’s Perspective
AMA President Dave Mathewson
A
Joyce Hager will again serve as interim ED.
She has been with the organization for more
than four decades and served as ED from the
mid-1990s through the mid-2000s. Her most
recent position was Staff Administrator in
which she managed the AMA Headquarters’
staff.
AMA is developing a number of new
concepts and programs. We have an excellent
staff, and with Joyce’s leadership, the EC is
confident that the organization will continue to
make strides going forward.
FCC Rulemaking Update: In past columns
I’ve written about the FCC’s Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), intended to
“simplify, streamline, consolidate and update”
Part 95 of its rules. Frequencies set aside in the
72 MHz band for model aviation would be
regulated under Subpart D of the revised Part
95.
The deadline for filing comments to the
NPRM was September 3, 2010. AMA’s FCC
attorney and Electronic Technology Committee
reviewed the NPRM, identified no obvious
threats, but saw the need to address some minor
issues.
Although many model aviation enthusiasts
have switched to 2.4 GHz equipment, AMA
has thousands of members who are quite happy
using their current 72 MHz radios. They have
no desire or need to make obsolete their current
radio systems.
AMA will continue to work to maintain the
use of frequencies set aside for modeling in the
72 MHz band for the foreseeable future. Our
formal response to the NPRM, filed on behalf
of its membership, can be read on the AMA
Web site at www.modelaircraft.org/files/amacomments_
on_part_95.pdf.
FAA Ruling May Be Challenging to AMA:
Things continue to move forward, albeit
relatively slowly, with the FAA regulatory
process for small unmanned aircraft systems
(sUAS) that will have some collateral impact
on model aviation.
AMA’s internal workgroup, comprising
members with considerable experience
representing a number of modeling disciplines,
continues to draft an initial set of standards that
we will present to the FAA. The purpose of
these standards is to create a path in which
model aviation enthusiasts may operate outside
of the “default” set of regulations that were
propsed to the FAA by an Aviation
Rulemaking Committee (ARC) in March 2009.
Rich Hanson, AMA’s Government Affairs
Representative, and the Safety Committee
chairperson, Jim Rice, traveled to Washington
in early September to meet with representatives
from the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program
Office (UAPO). The purpose of that meeting
was to share with the UAPO the direction that
we are taking with our standards and to ask for
guidance to ensure that the form and format of
our work was moving in the right direction.
The results of that meeting have raised
some additional concerns for us. We have
scheduled a follow-up meeting with UAPO
manager Rick Prosek. This meeting will have
taken place by the time this issue of MA
reaches you. I will update you on the results of
this meeting next month.
Flight Restriction Discussions Continue: We
also continue to work to find some satisfactory
resolution to the FAA’s Temporary Flight
Restriction (TFR) policy that had some
negative impact on model aviation.
At AMA’s request, the National Aeronautic
Association brought together the various airsport
organizations in the US to meet in
Washington with a representative from the
FAA. That meeting was somewhat productive
and the door was left open for further
discussions. A follow-up meeting is planned.
Many of the TFRs issued, especially those
issued as a result of VIP travel, are most often
at the direction of the Secret Service or the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I’ve
written to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano,
explaining our concerns and offering to assist
in a review of the TFR policy to find a solution
that will maintain the level of security needed
in a TFR without being overly and
unnecessarily restrictive to recreational
modelers. MA
See you next time.
Dave Mathewson
AMA president
[email protected]
Mission Statement
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.
… Jim won’t miss the Muncie, Indiana, winters!
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