December 2010 5
f you received the September edition
of AMA Today, AMA’s monthly
electronic quick brief, you read a
short overview of a new initiative to be
launched in early 2011, designed to help
create student-run model aircraft clubs in
local schools. The response to this short
piece was better than anyone expected,
which tells me there is a huge interest in the
concept among our members and clubs.
A number of educators across the
country are already involved with model
aviation clubs in their schools. Scores of
them are modelers themselves. For many,
being club advisors is an extension of their
modeling activities and an attempt to share
aeromodeling with students in their schools.
In the interest of expanding youth
outreach, we are developing a specific
AMA chartered club for schools. The
concept includes a faculty advisor similar to
that of most extracurricular school activities.
The structure of an individual club will
be at the discretion of its student members
with the guidance of the advisor. The club’s
officers will be selected by the members. If
the club members prefer, or need additional
assistance, they may opt to affiliate with one
of AMA’s local chartered clubs that shows
an interest in participating in the program.
These new school-level clubs will be
designed so that activities are engaging,
educational, and not financially out of a
young person’s reach. AMA will provide
incentives and recognition to these clubs as
well as provide a special section of our
President’s Perspective
AMA President Dave Mathewson
I
newly revised Web site, where clubs across
the country can interact virtually with each
other.
Based on the response to the notice in
AMA Today, I am excited about this new
program’s potential. Model aviation is an
excellent recreational and educational
activity, and offering this club-level
program in local schools will be a great
way to introduce young members of our
communities to the excitement of model
aviation.
If you’d like to know more about this
endeavor, information will be included in
the 2011 Club Charter Kit, or you can
telephone AMA Education Director Bill
Pritchett at (765) 287-1256, extension 515,
or e-mail him at [email protected].
For those who may not be familiar with
AMA Today, it is an electronic publication
that was launched in March 2010 and is
sent once a month to all AMA members
who have provided us with their e-mail
addresses. AMA Today is intended to
provide our members and the modeling
community with a quick snapshot of
interesting items.
If you are not on the current subscription
list but would like to be, you can send an email
to [email protected].
In my last column, I indicated that in early
September we met with the FAA’s
Unmanned Aircraft Program Office (UAPO)
as we continue to work through the FAA’s
regulatory process for small unmanned
aircraft systems (sUAS). At the time, I wrote
that we had scheduled a follow-up meeting
to address some of our concerns that were
raised during that meeting.
The follow-up meeting took place in late
September and our concerns remain. The
FAA appears intent on going down the path
of trying to force-fit model aviation into
regulations that fail to consider the
complexity of our aeromodeling activities,
the diversity of the hobby, and the potential
detrimental impact they will have if
instituted.
This simply won’t work and will only
result in unnecessary harm to aeromodeling.
We certainly understand the challenges that
face the FAA and the tremendous pressure
it is under to get the regulatory process
completed that will allow commercial,
public-use sUAS to operate in the national
airspace. However, that needs to be done in
a way so as not to cause collateral damage
to what we do as model aviation enthusiasts.
Aeromodeling is a recreational activity.
We fly in a defined box, whether that box is
a model aircraft field, a local park, or a
schoolyard. Our models remain within
visual line of sight. We subscribe to seeand-
avoid practices and yield to anything
else in the airspace.
There’s a big difference between what
we fly and autonomous aircraft that intend
to fly from one point to another without
the ability to see and avoid others in that
airspace.
Although we are concerned over the
direction the process is taking, please don’t
interpret these comments to mean “the sky is
falling.” The sky may be a little cloudy, but
our intent is to continue to collaborate with
the FAA UAPO to help draft rules for model
aircraft that will address our concerns while
not being overly restrictive and onerous on
model aviation.
This is the time for our members to
become more familiar with the regulatory
effort. As the process becomes more defined,
we will begin to outline those areas that may
impact model aviation. There may come a
time when we will look to our membership to
react to the sUAS Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) when it is released—
most likely sometime in the middle of 2011.
We will update our membership on the
ongoing process monthly in MA, AMA Today,
the AMA Insider, as well as through e-mail.
More information will also be found on our
Web site at www.modelaircraft.org. 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.
… become more familiar with the regulatory
effort.
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Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/12
Page Numbers: 5
