this ain't gonna happen overnight, and then having a lobbyist will take years to be recognized by our constituents,??? ohhh and lots of rubles!!! ?
Drone Pilot Associations?
- Thread starter Capt Binkley
- Start date
While I could join AMA or AOPA, the area and times for Drone flights vs other model aircraft is limited or non-existent in my area. Am waiting for more drone pilots to get involved - maybe then the membership will be for more than the newsletters.
Will look into FVPFC. Thanks for that info, g36pilot.
Will look into FVPFC. Thanks for that info, g36pilot.
I haven't been on the AOPA website in quite some time. I was very surprised to see how much AOPA seems to be committing to the drone community.
Far more than the AMA, who’s primary interests are winged RC and free flight airplanes, maintaining AMA insured flying sites that are not compatible with “drones”, and protecting AMA revenue input.
AOPA to FAA: Leave room for low-risk drone ops
Tracking drones will make the airspace safer, but the FAA does not need to sacrifice the freedom to fly in the interest of public safety when both can be achieved simultaneously, AOPA said in formal comments on a notice of proposed rulemaking that has drawn a huge response.
www.aopa.org
Dave Pitman
Well-Known Member
AOPA's comment on the NPRM. Notice that they do not distinguish between UAS user groups (commercial vs. recreational) which is a good thing. In fact, the general tone of the paper is from a position of supporting all "aviators", both manned and unmanned. It looks to me like they acknowledge the skies are changing (pun intended).
@PatR that's simply not true. While the amount of $$ they can send to a Lobbyist is limited that doesn't mean they/WE don't have representation. The AMA actually has a dedicated team of Lobbyists physically in DC working each and every day for our industry. The best part is they are devoted entirely to supporting the R/C industry and don't have any ties to Manned aircraft.
In addition to an active team of Lobbyists physically in DC each day, the AMA Government Affairs Team travels to DC every few weeks to meet face to face with Congressional Offices on behalf of the membership.
While it's true they are limited as to how much they can do financially etc through lobbying, they are heavily committed to doing everything in their power and they are there on OUR behalf every single working day.
This is an area where we disagree, Al. But that’s ok. Having been an AMA member for close to 40 years, no longer as of 2017, it quickly became evident the AMA was at best minimally supportive of drone users. Any support provided was, and still is, a byproduct of their efforts to assure the continuance of AMA flying fields primarily used for model airplane purposes and to maintain a membership revenue stream.
From the beginning of ARC committees they abandoned any concept of supporting commercial drone activities, and even stated that position. Their “commercial efforts” aren’t supportive at all. In effect, they finally saw the number of commercial operators and enlisted an insurance broker to serve their needs in another ploy to expand their revenue stream. They had to give something to get something, but commercial support still isn’t there.
If we look back to when the private attorney sued the FAA to overturn the first registration requirement we see the AMA did not support him at all even though the lawsuit aligned with the AMA’s position of non registration. Not even a Friend of the Court brief.
The AMA is not willing to rock the FAA boat. IMHO all they will do is try to nudge an FAA position to better favor the AMA’s pre-existing aero activities, which is still focused on model airplanes of one sort or another.
From the beginning of ARC committees they abandoned any concept of supporting commercial drone activities, and even stated that position. Their “commercial efforts” aren’t supportive at all. In effect, they finally saw the number of commercial operators and enlisted an insurance broker to serve their needs in another ploy to expand their revenue stream. They had to give something to get something, but commercial support still isn’t there.
If we look back to when the private attorney sued the FAA to overturn the first registration requirement we see the AMA did not support him at all even though the lawsuit aligned with the AMA’s position of non registration. Not even a Friend of the Court brief.
The AMA is not willing to rock the FAA boat. IMHO all they will do is try to nudge an FAA position to better favor the AMA’s pre-existing aero activities, which is still focused on model airplanes of one sort or another.
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dronecyclops
Well-Known Member
Nothing against AMA but from my perspective AOPA is best did you see all the negative comments from AMA members on RID rules they pretty much all was negative towards drones plus last time a few years ago at local AMA field sign said NO Quadcopters so if anything a lot of members are against drones they might have a legitimate beef against some of us but we're all in the same boat
We'll just have to agree to disagree.
For me the AMA is a viable option because I not only fly all MR over the country I also fly at an AMA field with my scale and aerobatic planes. I personally think it's a mistake on OUR part to continue to differentiate what we do with MR from Planks and Helo. We would be better served eating at the same table and pooling our resources. Also I think it's counter-productive to tote AOPA because many of their members are so anti-UAS. You can better the bigger portion of AOPA's pie is manned aircraft and those pockets are much deeper than ours if push comes to shove. Some might find it ironic that I no longer belong to AOPA because I am also a manned aircraft pilot. I just didn't get any benefit from AOPA.
Been an AMA member since 1980 so I'm there with you on that aspect. We just seem to have a different perspective but that's normal... I don't agree with lots of people LOL.
For me the AMA is a viable option because I not only fly all MR over the country I also fly at an AMA field with my scale and aerobatic planes. I personally think it's a mistake on OUR part to continue to differentiate what we do with MR from Planks and Helo. We would be better served eating at the same table and pooling our resources. Also I think it's counter-productive to tote AOPA because many of their members are so anti-UAS. You can better the bigger portion of AOPA's pie is manned aircraft and those pockets are much deeper than ours if push comes to shove. Some might find it ironic that I no longer belong to AOPA because I am also a manned aircraft pilot. I just didn't get any benefit from AOPA.
Been an AMA member since 1980 so I'm there with you on that aspect. We just seem to have a different perspective but that's normal... I don't agree with lots of people LOL.
