Any Body else see what I am seeing and Your future as an AMA Member?

[Cafguy]

Look at all the AMA FRIAs Folks!

Just for your future Budgeting Questions: AMA dues are 85 Dollars a year and you will need the membership to get to the FRIA. oh and you not only must you hold an AMA card you also need to be a member of the local club and that will cost you a bit -50 to 300 a year, depending. Also plan to be busy a few weekends out of the year helping with Maintenance and gardening etc...Looks like FRIAs ain't Free! Oh and a very warm welcome to all you FUTURE members out there.
P.S. I hope they use all this new membership money to fix up the museum a little and maybe a better magazine.....
Don't mind us grumpy fixed wing guys Much lol Besides when flying Drones We get thrown way out in the field with the Helicopter nuts.

 

[DougMcC]

I just joined for two reasons. I have been flying occasionally in our large municipal park in a large area for silent flight - electric and gliders. And yes I am pushed out to the edge and under trees and near power lines. I joined because there is a group that maintains an info kiosk and interacts with city government. The other is the liability insurance is in force wherever I fly. However I have never interacted with the distant “Big” flyers and I have to avoid the crazy stunt helicopters. So I have my insurance and my card if asked and I fly in silence far away from the crowd. I’m happy.

 

[Dale D]

View attachment 172880
Look at all the AMA FRIAs Folks!

Just for your future Budgeting Questions: AMA dues are 85 Dollars a year and you will need the membership to get to the FRIA. oh and you not only must you hold an AMA card you also need to be a member of the local club and that will cost you a bit -50 to 300 a year, depending. Also plan to be busy a few weekends out of the year helping with Maintenance and gardening etc...Looks like FRIAs ain't Free! Oh and a very warm welcome to all you FUTURE members out there.
P.S. I hope they use all this new membership money to fix up the museum a little and maybe a better magazine.....
Don't mind us grumpy fixed wing guys Much lol Besides when flying Drones We get thrown way out in the field with the Helicopter nuts.

For us dumb guys, what is AMA and FRIA? I am a retired M.D. and AMA means American Medical Association, a political group which I always disagreed with and never joined.
Dale
Miami

 

[Torque]

For us dumb guys, what is AMA and FRIA? I am a retired M.D. and AMA means American Medical Association, a political group which I always disagreed with and never joined.
Dale
Miami

AMA is the American Modelers Association - the group for fixed wing RC flyers. They sorta tolerate drone pilots.
FRIA = FAA Recognized Identification Area - a place where drone pilots can fly without RID. Most of these are private flying fields that require a membership and they must be sponsered by a CBO (Community Based Organization, like an AMA sanctioned flying field).


I pay my AMA dues every two years and belong to several local flying clubs since I still have a hanger full of fixed wing flyers. The most expensive club was $200 a year, but they have had to move their location so many times as warehouses buy out their leased land, that I no longer pay the dues or fly with them. Last I heard they were leasing a private air strip to use. Not sure why their dues were so high. I pay $45/year to the two flying fields I'm active with. Both are well worth the dues. I also fly at two free clubs. Flaming Geyser Flyers doesn't have dues, and we have a nice flying field etched out of part of Flaming Geyser State Park. Great place to fly fixed wings, not so much drones as the flight path is very limited (within a state park). And the last CBO/FRIA is Piano Ranch - a drone only flying field for FPV pilots. Complete with a barn to fly through.
Not sure how membership dues are in other parts of the world, but they are free to reasonable here in most of Washington State, with a few expensive exceptions. I think Red Apple Flyers in Wenatchee, WA has quite high yearly dues, but they have a beautiful field with RV hookups, 2 story club house, etc.

 

[Dale D]

AMA is the American Modelers Association - the group for fixed wing RC flyers. They sorta tolerate drone pilots.
FRIA = FAA Recognized Identification Area - a place where drone pilots can fly without RID. Most of these are private flying fields that require a membership and they must be sponsered by a CBO (Community Based Organization, like an AMA sanctioned flying field).


I pay my AMA dues every two years and belong to several local flying clubs since I still have a hanger full of fixed wing flyers. The most expensive club was $200 a year, but they have had to move their location so many times as warehouses buy out their leased land, that I no longer pay the dues or fly with them. Last I heard they were leasing a private air strip to use. Not sure why their dues were so high. I pay $45/year to the two flying fields I'm active with. Both are well worth the dues. I also fly at two free clubs. Flaming Geyser Flyers doesn't have dues, and we have a nice flying field etched out of part of Flaming Geyser State Park. Great place to fly fixed wings, not so much drones as the flight path is very limited (within a state park). And the last CBO/FRIA is Piano Ranch - a drone only flying field for FPV pilots. Complete with a barn to fly through.
Not sure how membership dues are in other parts of the world, but they are free to reasonable here in most of Washington State, with a few expensive exceptions. I think Red Apple Flyers in Wenatchee, WA has quite high yearly dues, but they have a beautiful field with RV hookups, 2 story club house, etc.

Thank you for your rapid, and very thorough reply. I had no idea that these type of clubs even existed.

Dale
Miami

 

[PHZ]

Thank you for your rapid, and very thorough reply. I had no idea that these type of clubs even existed.

Dale
Miami

It is the Academy of Model Aeronautics, correct name. Modelaircraft.org
They are the organization that went toe-to-toe with the FAA on requirements for RID. Do you remember the original proposed RID requirements? They were totally egregious. AMA fought for reasonable requirements and helped us get them. That is part of what member’s dues go for; lobbying. They got the FAA to agree to establishing FRIAS for model aircraft (aka drones), which allows “drone” flyers to be free of RID requirements whilst flying there.
The membership fee is a reasonable number, and so are club dues. Compare it to other hobbies, boating, travel, mountaineering, anything…. And it will seem like a bargain.

 

[Torque]

It is the Academy of Model Aeronautics, correct name. Modelaircraft.org
They are the organization that went toe-to-toe with the FAA on requirements for RID. Do you remember the original proposed RID requirements? They were totally egregious. AMA fought for reasonable requirements and helped us get them. That is part of what member’s dues go for; lobbying. They got the FAA to agree to establishing FRIAS for model aircraft (aka drones), which allows “drone” flyers to be free of RID requirements whilst flying there.
The membership fee is a reasonable number, and so are club dues. Compare it to other hobbies, boating, travel, mountaineering, anything…. And it will seem like a bargain.

Thank you for the correct AMA title, I am confusing it with one of the local AMA clubs - "RAMS - Radio Aero Modelers of Seattle."
I fully support the AMA and I appreciated the lobbying they did, but they did it to save themselves and recreational fixed wing flights. In my opinion they tolerate drones, but I've yet to find an AMA flying field for fixed wing that actually welcomes drones. We are regulated to either a small corner of the field reserved for helicopters (and now drones), or fly the fixed wing's path either clockwise or counter clockwise around the perimeter of the flying field at a speed that is not disruptive or endangers the slower flying fixed wings.
I hope to see more FRIAs like Piano Ranch that are designed for FPV drones and not fixed wing planes.

 

[Cafguy]

the group for fixed wing RC flyers. They sorta tolerate drone pilots.

YEP lol- that about sums up the local flying fields attitude. its SLOWLY changing. I have been a member since the 80's I became a member for the nice and safe flying fields. You see back then you could get away with "pirate flying" out in the country ( flying on farmland or large spaces ) It was crazy Dangerous with half the guys flying and guzzling their beers! Try flying on private land today and you are liable to get yourself arrested for some made up infraction (just kidding but you may get hassled. Also Noones Homeowners or landowners insurance allows for flying RC (It is actually stated in most companies terms). NOW you can sure walk out onto your farmland and invite your friends over to fly BUT one of those dummies hospital bills will change your mind. Plus most states have safety laws in place that makes this next to impossible. I do not always agree with what the AMA does but I have no HUGE complaints about it. Except maybe the long drive past Miles and miles of uninhabited land that I have to make to fly my large Airplanes.

 

[Cafguy]

And the last CBO/FRIA is Piano Ranch - a drone only flying field for FPV pilots. Complete with a barn to fly through.

We need one of those here in Bakersfield! We have an huge old building the police let us FPV at but its not really sanctioned by anyone. Its just popular.

 

[MARK (LI)]

AMA does not allow drones at their fields here on Long Island...I am not a supporter, just is not any benefit to being a member...around here, anyway.

 

[Cafguy]

Having the pilots "vetted" before they take to the field is a great benefit for fixed wing flyers. For each new "class" of airplane or heli you want to fly on the field, You must show the field safety person that you can actually fly it without killing someone! That's a great thing if you don't know who is flying around you. A ducted fan in the face would be a bad day for anyone.