Voices From the Aeromodeling Community
by Rich Hanson
Within the first two weeks of launching our Congressional Awareness Campaign in March, tens of thousands of AMA members and model aviation supporters wrote more than 80,000 individual letters to members of Congress expressing their concern regarding the FAA’s intent to regulate model aircraft. Undoubtedly, thousands more will be written before this article goes to press.
The awareness campaign garnered supporters in the House and Senate, and scores of congressmen responded to their constituents with letters of understanding and support. On the next page are excerpts from a few of the letters sent from Capitol Hill.
As of this writing, the legislative process is running its course and the outcome is not yet clear. However, by the time you read this we should know whether we were successful in getting an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill protecting model aircraft from undue regulation.
Regardless of the outcome, the tremendous response to the campaign was highly successful in bringing our concerns to the attention of our elected officials and making it clear that the modeling community is closely watching this process.
One of the key questions from aeromodelers has been, Are the AMA’s actions in its efforts to seek an amendment to exempt model aviation from federal regulation an attempt to force modelers to join the AMA? The answer is absolutely not.
Our congressional campaign delivered the message
The AMA’s intent is not to create an environment that mandates membership, but rather to defend the hobby against unnecessary and onerous regulation. AMA believes and has always contended that aeromodeling should be conducted in a safe and responsible manner and in accordance with a reasonable set of safety guidelines.
This is what AMA offers its members
If the choice is between voluntary compliance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and mandatory compliance with a set of FAA regulations, the answer is clear. We hope that every aeromodeling enthusiast with a passion for this hobby and a desire to protect the future of model aviation for generations to come will join us in this effort.
Model aviation has operated safely and harmoniously in the National Airspace System since before manned flight. It has an impeccable and truly envious safety record — the best in all of aeronautics. This is largely because of AMA’s oversight, self-governance, and good ol’ common sense.
Our protest has been heard in the halls of power. We hope that, in turn, the FAA will consider more fully the potential negative impact that restrictions on model aviation will cause to hobbyists, sportsmen, and educators.
Please visit the AMA’s Government Relations web page regularly for timely updates and on Facebook at AMAGov. You can contact me and our Advocacy Team at the email address listed in the "Sources" section below.
If you are one of the tens of thousands of letter-writing advocates, we thank you. Please continue to inform others of our need for support. This voyage we’re taking together is far from over.
Rich Hanson AMA Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs Representative
Sources
- AMA Government Relations: www.modelaircraft.org/gov
- Advocacy Team: [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
