Editorial

In recent Model Aviations the AMA president has spoken about the association's involvement with the FAA over possible legislation concerned with drones.

Model Aviation is a very diverse activity. We have people who like building, those that don't, people who like competing and those that don't, people with limited funds and those with seemingly unlimited, people who don't want to further than the park at the corner of the street and those who travel continents. That's to say nothing of Free Flighters, Control liner modelers and R/C flyers, indoor and outdoor . Rotary wing, fixed, gliders, rubber power, gas power model, electric power, from those who like old timer stuff, want to remember the good old days to those so far out on the bleeding edge they fall off. We all like model aviation and more or less use the same air space. From time to time some disruptive technology comes along that changes everything, this happened with the advent of Control Line flying, it probably happened twice with R/C, first the initial gear then the modern proportional sets. It has happened with the glow plug and with advances in electric flight. We have seen the advance of composite structure that increase the performance of all kinds of models. Now it had happened again, advances in electronics and sensors have made possible flying machines that were not possible only a few years ago. We all know people that tried to fly R/C helicopters, only a few years ago and ended up with lots of twisted metal and gave up, now we see a multi engined flying platform that would be uncontrollable without sophisticated electronic help. We see similar things with fixed wing air craft. We see people coming out of some other place to fly these devices, often young people, people with new ideas. Some AMA members complain. But on the other hand people complain that we don't have any new AMA members, if these people are not potential members , who is …. !

In the USA the Congress has instructed the FAA provide suitable regulation for unmanned aircraft. Clearly all of our model airplanes fall in that category, not just those that someone might categorize as a drone, what ever one of those might be. Part of the instruction to the FAA is to work with community based organizations wherever appropriate on these regulation. The AMA is the community based organization for model aviation in the USA and they have been working with FAA on defining hobby activities. With a common sense approach they have managed to exclude many types of model flying from potentially onerous regulation. You can read about it on the AMA Web site and the magazine Model Aviation. At the AMA Show last January in California they had meeting with FAA and AMA executive plus AMA membership, I attended that meeting and found it interesting and encouraging.

We need to support the AMA with their government relations programs and we need to encourage these new model flyers to be come part of our sport aviation organization. Only by doing this will we preserve model aviation.