The
announcement of a new membership category—the
Park Pilot Program (PPP)—is in this issue of
MA. Rumors have been circulating about the
PPP; the Academy has been developing this
program for more than two years.
As with all
organizations and businesses, change is
ever-present in today's world. The development
of inexpensive, lightweight park flyers alone
has exposed millions to the experience of
flight. If we did not respond to this new
interest in model aviation, the Academy would
be negligent. This larger awareness of flight
brings opportunities and challenges.
I am
asking you to become familiar with the program
since there will be many questions about this
new membership effort. A visit to the AMA Web
site offers a description of the program and a
series of FAQs that will help you understand
how these new members fit into the AMA family.
Please see www.parkflyer.org for more
information.
In a few weeks the Executive
Council (EC) will be meeting. In October the
members agreed to start the meeting a day
early to allow time for the review and
adjustment of a five-year strategic plan that
has been under development.
This plan is based
on last year's membership survey and staff and
EC input as we worked through the planning
process. It is the first part of what we are
calling the "da Vinci Vision," named after one
of the world's earliest modelers.
Your input,
through your district vice president, is
welcome as we work to map out the future of
AMA. Call your representative if you have any
thoughts on this long-range planning process.
Next month
in MA we will publish what most
organizations would call an "annual report."
Staff members have informed me that the name
alone sounds boring and the membership will
not want to read it. They feel that all MA
articles need to be about modeling.
Under
staff pressure the piece will be a "what AMA
did with your dues in 2007" report. Still not
exciting, but maybe it's more enticing.
Responsible management to the membership calls
for some type of annual report. I hope to
start an annual tradition of informing the
membership of AMA actions that they would not
normally read about in MA.
On a much lighter
side, "You know you're a modeler when ...
"
has generated some great responses and here is
the second installment. Thanks to those who
have shared their thoughts about modeling.
Jim
Anderson of the Hernando Aero Modelers of
Spring Hill and Brooksville, Florida, starts
us off.
You know you're a modeler when:
• "Your wife asks where the pliers are and you
tell her to check your field box.
• "You know
what to do when you stick two fingers together
with instant CA glue.
• "You learn to tell the
clerk at the hobby store to throw the receipt
away so your wife won't know that fuel went up
a couple bucks (and so did props and covering
and glue and other goodies).
• "As a way to
show your everlasting love and commitment to
your wife, you name your new plane after her
on your wedding anniversary, and put her name
on the fuselage in big block letters.
• "You
'volunteer' to get the mail on the day your
model airplane magazine is due."
Retired
Lieutenant Colonel B.J. Kaufman of the United
States Air Force submitted two suggestions.
•
"You know which fast food restaurants' plastic
ketchup cups make the best epoxy mixing cups.
• "You have used your Dremel tool to trim your
toenails." (No comment on this one!)
From
Darrell Warren of the Michigan Signal Seekers
club:
• "Anytime someone asks for directions
and you use the nearest flying field as a
reference.
• "You stop at garage sales and ask
if they have any planes for sale.
• "Every
time you see a vacant lot you check for
overhead wires and a smooth landing area.
•
"Every time you hear a plane you think 'I got
it.'
• "You watch the weather channel and
can't wait to see the wind direction and
speed.
• "You use CA and epoxy to make
household repairs.
• "You use an incidence
meter to level furniture."
Finishing out this
month's installment is Rob Swider who offered:
• "You own more plans/kits than you'll ever
build in your lifetime.
• "You can't park your
car in the garage because it's the hangar.
•
"You have to eat in the living room because
the dining table is a building board.
• "The
dining room tablecloth is made of unrolled
airplane plans.
• "Your fingertips have a
perpetual skin made of CA."
As long as I keep
getting such good responses I'll keep putting
them in my column.
Jim Rice,
District VIII
vice president, invited me to the seventh
annual J.W. Rice Memorial Fly-In. More than
100 pilots came to the Kingsbury Aerodrome in
Texas to celebrate the love of flight.
Jim's
son, Gary, the acting CD, conducted one of the
most efficient and varied fly-ins in which I
have ever participated. From Giant Scale to foamies to CL Combat, there was something for
everyone.
Next September if you're near San
Antonio, Texas, plan to have fun at the eighth
annual J.W. Rice Memorial Fly-In.
MA
Jim Cherry takes a turn flying while Jim Rice,
District
VIII vice president, looks on.
In the spirit of flight.
Jim Cherry, Executive Director
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