[RCSE] Re: Some thoughts on AMA-it's about LAND
While the Internet has changed a lot of things about clubs and getting together and etc. it can't give you land to fly on. For the next decade, this is the largest challenge our hobby faces. Even park flyers will feel the Pinch as more and more people cram onto smaller and smaller park spaces for more and more of the day's flyable hours. Already I have to forget trying to fly at most of the flyable park land in my area because team sports are using it continually for one sport or the other, and the darn games overlap each other. Yes, you can fly in a driveway or cul-de-sac, the planes getting smaller and smaller... but that's not the only kind of flying I want to do. And as glider folk, I don't think most of you do either. Access is the real problem looming, with land prices going ever-upward, and developers grabbing up farm land everywhere you look, and a more litigious and over-careful society that more and more, looks at our hobby as either an annoyance or national security threat... How much flying will you be able to get in when you will have to drive an hour each way to the field or slope? It's going to happen, just a question of time. This to my mind is the number one goal AMA should have now: getting, and keeping flying sites with a long-term view. And that's a worthy goal no matter WHAT you fly. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] Re: Some thoughts on AMA-it's about LAND
Agreed, but that's a hard one to solve. Mr. Beshar tries very hard, and clearly has great intentions. However, in the recent past when I tried to get help from AMA for that sort of thing, I was very sorely disappointed in the quality of the program. It (then - I don't know about now) consisted primarily of a packet of info and testimonials from lesser known astronauts that clearly linked their involvement in model planes to their success as astronauts. Great, but how the hell does that get me a flying field or ride on a rocketship for that matter? Again, this is a very noble goal, that the AMA be involved and be a TRUE resource for lobbying and securing long term solutions to flying sites in the respective areas. I don't think that the staff (or the budget) are presently up to that task. I also think that the AMA better come up with some REAL solution to the Parkflyer / renegade flier (vs. or nearby) traditional fields issue. Seems to me a long time ago the AMA could have simply huddled with the 3 or 4 RC TX manufacturers and gotten them to voluntarily put the parkie (4 channel and under) radios on a select few channels and warned the rest of us to stay clear (like driving on New Year's Eve). Bottom line for me is that the AMA has a lot of dedicated volunteers who mean well, but either aren't informed as to the AMA's goals, policies and issues, or are clueless due to time constraints, age-related technophobia (VCRs are blinking 12?), or are simply in over their heads. AMA's primary goal seems to be gaining membership. Their answer to the where's the beef? question is rather lame. The solution to all of those is LEADERSHIP. I haven't seen much of that. Yes, I have looked for it. I don't think we are talking about soaring here... Lee - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Soaring@airage.com Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 2:55 PM Subject: [RCSE] Re: Some thoughts on AMA-it's about LAND While the Internet has changed a lot of things about clubs and getting together and etc. it can't give you land to fly on. For the next decade, this is the largest challenge our hobby faces. Even park flyers will feel the Pinch as more and more people cram onto smaller and smaller park spaces for more and more of the day's flyable hours. Already I have to forget trying to fly at most of the flyable park land in my area because team sports are using it continually for one sport or the other, and the darn games overlap each other. Yes, you can fly in a driveway or cul-de-sac, the planes getting smaller and smaller... but that's not the only kind of flying I want to do. And as glider folk, I don't think most of you do either. Access is the real problem looming, with land prices going ever-upward, and developers grabbing up farm land everywhere you look, and a more litigious and over-careful society that more and more, looks at our hobby as either an annoyance or national security threat... How much flying will you be able to get in when you will have to drive an hour each way to the field or slope? It's going to happen, just a question of time. This to my mind is the number one goal AMA should have now: getting, and keeping flying sites with a long-term view. And that's a worthy goal no matter WHAT you fly. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] Re: Some thoughts on AMA-it's about LAND
So here is a question sure to draw some comments... Why not set up a program (details of which will be exhaustively long) that sets out to secure properties for RC flight operations? Buy, or lease long term, land in various regions to provide permanent securable flying sites. Members could pay into the program based on the field location, and price. The plusses here are way too many to enumerate, but the negatives...yeah I knowthis is just a little hobby, and there won't be any support for land acquisitions. Seems to me though that the right person with the right mind set could put together a program that would provide flying sites and security for the future of our little hobby that I like to refer to as a sport. Frankly, I think if we treat it more like a sport, we might get more support, and be taken more seriously... There you go... How's that for 2 cents. Mike (maybe a bit naive) Smith At 12:55 PM 11/2/2005, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: While the Internet has changed a lot of things about clubs and getting together and etc. it can't give you land to fly on. For the next decade, this is the largest challenge our hobby faces. Even park flyers will feel the Pinch as more and more people cram onto smaller and smaller park spaces for more and more of the day's flyable hours. Already I have to forget trying to fly at most of the flyable park land in my area because team sports are using it continually for one sport or the other, and the darn games overlap each other. Yes, you can fly in a driveway or cul-de-sac, the planes getting smaller and smaller... but that's not the only kind of flying I want to do. And as glider folk, I don't think most of you do either. Access is the real problem looming, with land prices going ever-upward, and developers grabbing up farm land everywhere you look, and a more litigious and over-careful society that more and more, looks at our hobby as either an annoyance or national security threat... How much flying will you be able to get in when you will have to drive an hour each way to the field or slope? It's going to happen, just a question of time. This to my mind is the number one goal AMA should have now: getting, and keeping flying sites with a long-term view. And that's a worthy goal no matter WHAT you fly. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] Re: Some thoughts on AMA-it's about LAND
Wow, you have slope and thermal sites in less than an hours drive. That's pretty good. A better description for NJ is it takes an hour to get anywhere for anything. I will admit I'm lucky in that I do have a field 10 minutes away and I can fly the small stuff out of my back yard. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: How much flying will you be able to get in when you will have to drive an hour each way to the field or slope? It's going to happen, just a question of time. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
