President's Perspective
... news and results are better communicated through the Internet.
AMA and aeromodeling lost one of its great people with the passing of Cliff Telford. Known to most for his part in the nearly invincible FAI Pylon Racing team of Telford and Bob Violett, he was more than a champion aeromodeler.
Cliff served in two important positions in AMA, both of which are nearly invisible to the average member, yet vitally important to AMA. As chairman of the combined Contest Boards, it was Cliff who was challenged to make those difficult rulings in cases of emergency or particularly challenging proposals. His years of diversity in aeromodeling pursuits, combined with the wisdom of Job and much patience, prepared him for this position.
While that position was certainly enough for any person to fill as a volunteer, it wasn't enough for Cliff. He was one of the original members of the AMA Scholarship Committee. Formed in 1970, Cliff served on the committee continuously for 35 years. Cliff's devotion to that purpose transcended his time on earth. He asked for donations to the AMA/Charles H. Grant Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers.
The AMA scholarship program is one that receives little notice among much of AMA's membership, yet it could be one of the most important. AMA is an academy, and the various educational programs we have are what make us an academy; those education programs are essential to our 501(c)(3) not-for-profit status. More importantly, they serve the membership and the very purpose for which the AMA was founded.
Evolved, refined, and grown throughout the years, the AMA scholarship program awards educational support to deserving young members who have excelled in aeromodeling, civic affairs, and scholastically while in high school.
Scholarship applicants are required to have been members of AMA for the previous 36 months. Unfortunately, this requirement trips up several candidates each year, usually because of late renewal, and this should be a lesson for potential applicants.
Financial support for the AMA scholarship program is based upon a formula which funds it at 30¢ per adult AMA member, plus any donations made to the fund. Those donations are becoming a larger part of the program. In addition to the AMA scholarships, AMA administers the Sig Memorial Scholarship established by Sig in memory of Glen Sigafose and the Weak Signals' scholarship.
As I write this, the Nats is in full swing and for the first time in many years, a dedicated Nats issue of MA will not be published. In its place we are providing a daily newsletter with results and stories covering the event. This is printed for those attending the Nats and is available on the AMA Web site for those who have indicated an interest in being notified when it is posted.
We are considering publishing a whole set of the newsletters on a DVD and making it available to members later in the year.
The Nats is spread over approximately five weeks, so that by the time the event is completed and a dedicated issue of MA is published, it's extremely old news, particularly for the events that were held early in the schedule.
The Internet has changed the face of magazine coverage of "news" by making most news articles in a monthly magazine obsolete. By the time you receive the magazine, the "news" from most major events is old. In the future, I hope to see the magazine coverage of the Nats focused on the technical details of the models and equipment rather than the results and "newsworthy" items.
It's a difficult balance, but it is becoming obvious that news and results are better communicated through the Internet, while the magazine is better suited to the technical details of the equipment used in the winning models and the techniques used by the top competitors. That information can be a resource for a much larger portion of the membership than only those interested in the Nats competition.
I'm off to Washington DC this week for National Aeronautic Association and Federal Aviation Association meetings. No rest for the wicked!
Til next month. MA
Dave Brown AMA president [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
