View from HQ - 2004/05

200 MODEL AVIATION
Patience is the key.
Joyce Hager Executive Director
View from HQ
THIS YEAR has started off busy. It is the
end of the season for membership
renewals and we got a late start mailing
the club chartering kits. By the time you
read this column, all chartered clubs
should have received charter renewal
packages.
The AMA Convention was held at its
new location in the Ontario Convention
Center in Ontario, California. The January
event was a great success.
I attended the 50th anniversary of the
King Orange International held in
Jacksonville, Florida—at least the weather
was warmer than in Muncie, Indiana. John
Brodak and I presented the awards.
Afterward the club presented me with its
50th-year banner.
I wish I had taken a tape recorder
because I met a lot of great people, several
of whom had flown at the first King
Orange event and were still participating
or had a grandson flying in it.
In early February in Muncie, Indiana,
AMA had a Frequency Committee
meeting, a combined Contest Board
meeting, and the first Executive Council
meeting of the year.
I had a crew attend the Northwest
Model Expo in Puyallup, Washington, and
as I write this I am preparing to attend the
Westchester Radio Aeromodelers
(WRAM) show in White Plains, New
York. I am tired already and it is only
February!
If you have had a hard time reaching
individuals at AMA, all of this travel is the
reason. Most of my executive staff
members who travel frequently have
laptop computers and check their E-mail
on a regular basis. In the event of an
emergency, call AMA Headquarters. The
staff knows how to reach us.
On the Web: For information concerning
the Executive Council meeting, you can go
to our Web site: www.modelaircraft.org.
Under the heading “About AMA” you will
find a link to Executive Council
information. This is where all the motions,
agendas, and the minutes (when approved)
are listed.
If you are concerned about where AMA
spends its money, another good area to
check out is the “Members Only” area.
Each year the audit is posted there, and
Executive Vice President Doug Holland
prints it in his column in the “AMA News”
section.
There is no reason a member shouldn’t
know what AMA does; almost everything
that is printed can be found on the Web
site.
On the subject of the Web site, have
you checked out Sport Aviator—Model
Aviation’s new e-zine for the new model
pilot? The URL is www.masport
aviator.com.
Let me share this Web site’s goals.
“The mission of Model Aviation’s Sport
Aviator e-magazine is to help, inspire, and
entertain newcomers and potential
newcomers by providing a wide variety of
useful information in one location on the
AMA Web site, to create a ‘bridge’ or
transition point to more traditional forms
of aeromodeling, and to assist AMA to
gain and retain more new members.”
Check it out; there should be something
there for all types of flying. Let me know
what you think. Whether you feel the site
is great or it could do better, I would
appreciate the input.
If you are looking for a program that
your club can get involved in, check out
AMA’s Education Web site at
www.buildandfly.com. There is a lot of
good information there. Surf the site using
“Web talk”; I am sure you can find
something you didn’t know was going on!
Club charter kits are finally in the mail.
By the time you read this, most clubs will
have returned their charter kits with
updated information.
All club kits are mailed to the contact
people we have listed in our files. You
may want to check with one of the club
officers to see if a renewal has been
received and completed.
Club bylaws are required only for new
clubs and for clubs that have made changes
since last year; for all others, what you
submitted last year will be fine. Any
questions concerning club chartering or
additional insurance for clubs should be
addressed to Club Secretary Lois Pierce at
[email protected].
Lois is busy during February and March
processing clubs and getting the new
charters out, so she may not respond to
your E-mail as quickly as you would like,
but she does do a good job and handles as
many calls and E-mails as she can in a day.
Patience is the key!
Many people are confused about the types
of memberships AMA has to offer, so I
have been asked to explain them. We have
three types of members: Adult (Open)—
those older than 19; Youth—those younger
than 19; and Affiliates—individuals
regardless of age who do not live in the
United States and are not US citizens.
As an adult AMA member, there are
three classes: Open, which is for people
older than 19 but not yet 65 who receive
all AMA benefits including Model
Aviation; senior citizens, who can take a
$10 reduction in dues and receive the same
benefits; and an adult who resides in the
same household with another adult
member. This classification receives the
same benefits but does not receive a
magazine.
Youth membership has two types; he or
she can choose to obtain the basic
membership or include Model Aviation
magazine. For competition purposes, the
Youth membership is broken down into
two categories: Junior for those younger
than 15 and Senior for those who are older
than 15 but not yet 19.
When young people receive
membership cards that read “Senior” on
them, many are confused and think it is
intended for senior citizens. This is not so.
Continued on page 197
View From HQ
Continued from page 200
If you have ever competed in an event, the
categories are Open, Junior, and Senior. A
senior citizen’s license card will indicate
“Open” as the category.
Affiliate members must belong to their
own national aeromodeling clubs. If there is
no national aeromodeling club in their
country, they should state this on the
application. The price for an Affiliate
membership is the same regardless of age.
AMA membership only applies to an
Affiliate member when he or she is flying in
the US. The applicant may pay for the basic
membership or choose to purchase a
subscription to Model Aviation. The
membership card will list the category as
Affiliate and will state that the insurance
coverage is applicable only while the member
is in the US.
There is a separate application for Affiliate
US military or US residents temporarily living
abroad. If you fit in this category, our policy
has certain restrictions, or “limited worldwide
coverage,” for accidents occurring worldwide,
but the liability protection insures only the
AMA member whose permanent (normal)
residence is in the US, its territories,
possessions, or Canada. All applications are
posted on our Web site.
AMA has introduced a new type of
membership for the first-time member. Its
purpose is to introduce the new person to
AMA and what it has to offer. For 90 days
this individual will have full AMA
benefits. He or she will be able to enter
competitions, receive Model Aviation, and
be eligible for all other benefits available to
our membership.
After the 90-day introductory
membership, it is hoped that this person
will like AMA so much that he or she will
want to become a standard member. The
good news is that if the 90-day member
chooses to become a regular member
before the three months are up, all fees
from the introductory membership will
apply.
This is a one-time deal, and the price is
the same for all US residents. It is not
offered to Affiliate members or members in
Canada.
There is one catch to this new program;
to keep cost down, we are requiring that
individuals who take advantage of this
temporary membership do so by E-mail.
They will apply via E-mail, receive a
confirmation by E-mail, and then receive
an E-mail license card.
Election Year: Up for election this year
are the offices of AMA president and vice
presidents for Districts I, V, and IX. If you
are interested in what it takes to do these
jobs or to qualify for nomination, you can
locate this information in the AMA Bylaws
on our Web site at www.modelaircraft.org/
templates/ama/PDF-files/memanual04.pdf.
Happy flying,
Joyce Hager
Executive Director
[email protected]
You may also request that a copy be
mailed.
Because of some of the medical losses
reaching unacceptable levels in the past
several years, AMA’s medical insurance
provider asked for a significantly higher
premium to renew the coverage for 2004,
along with an increased deductible amount.
AMA’s insurance broker solicited
premium quotes from several different
insurance companies and presented them to
AMA. The best proposal was selected;
however, this still resulted in the deductible
amount being increased to $750 per claim.
The personal injury limit remains at $25,000
and the death benefit at $10,000.
Enough for this month. MA