Now You're Talking...: A Bit of Praise
The following is an excerpt from a letter addressed to AMA President Don Lowe, AMA Executive Vice President Dave Brown, AMA Executive Director Vince Mankowski, and all the staff at AMA.
A Bit of Praise
This letter is to thank you and all the individuals at AMA for everything you do for the modeler and, in particular, the RC flier. I know at times it must seem that we members are unappreciative of the effort you put in on our behalf. It really is a case of the silent, large majority not indicating to you the excellent job you have been doing for years while a dissatisfied minority speaks out.
Last winter several RC fliers became aware of a small, closed airport owned by the city of Lake Winnebago, Missouri. We organized ourselves to approach the city about using the airport for RC flying. We knew going in that the mayor and the chief of police were against the activity. We were not sure about the aldermen. The one we met with prior to approaching the city council would not commit to being in support or opposition.
To make a long story short, I called the AMA and obtained the information packet and videotape on how to go about obtaining a flying site. We reviewed it, picked out the pertinent information, discussed our approach, and met with the Lake Winnebago City Council on April 8, 1992.
Our request for use of the airport was approved that night on the condition that we form an AMA‑chartered club (we had explained the benefits of an AMA‑chartered club to the city), obtain the $1,000,000 site‑owner's protection extension, and provide a "hold harmless" letter.
There is simply no doubt—zero—that if it had not been for the help and umbrella presence of the AMA, we would not have received permission to use the airport. At the beginning of our discussion with the council, it was obvious they were against our request. But as we talked it through and were able to answer all their questions to their complete satisfaction, and possibly amazement, you could hear their opposition being removed. When the vote was taken, it was unanimously in our favor.
On a different subject, a belated thanks for the work that was done by the AMA and the association of manufacturers in obtaining all the new narrow‑band frequency channels. I believe that only the AMA, with its history of working with the FCC, could have accomplished that task. Along the way, some of the folks at the AMA took a lot of heat from some RC modelers, trade magazines, and manufacturers, but they truly believed in what needed to be done and set about to achieve it.
Once again, a sincere thanks for all that you do for us.
Bernard Dick Mid America RC Flyers Lee's Summit, Missouri
The field as fittingly portrayed on the cover of the April 1991 issue of Model Aviation magazine.
Jack Rosenberger, Secretary Alachua RC Flying Club Gainesville, Florida
Suggestions for the Future
I have put off writing this letter a long time, but the letter sent in by Mr. Hagerlin in the January 1991 issue of Model Aviation only confirmed some of my thoughts that, indeed, it is a model magazine—or supposed to be one.
I also feel the readers would be better served by seeing some three‑view drawings of planes, such as appeared in Model Airplane News circa 1955. Instead of the useless "Microhenrys," I treasure buying and looking through old issues of model magazines and find them far more interesting than much of the material presented today.
As a scratch builder of quarter scale aircraft, I see far too few articles supporting this area. With all the material that was published in the past, the work of Wylam, Nieto, Karlstrom, Roe, and a few others should be reprinted; they were classic drawings that I doubt many of your readers even know about, let alone have seen.
We don't need new things. We just have to rediscover the past.
Lawrence E. Klingberg, Jr. Canyon Lake, California
An Alternative Proposal for Site Acquisition
Two recent articles by the AMA Executive Director in Model Aviation magazine (January and February 1992 issues) on the acquisition of flying sites by AMA immediately raise questions regarding the judicious use of corporate assets.
The articles state that "The single most important thing to model fliers is, of course, flying sites." Most fliers, I believe, would agree with that statement. Equally apparent to the casual observer is that there ever will be funds sufficient to purchase enough flying sites to service every member.
On the surface, it would seem that only a small percentage of total membership will be able to use the Muncie, Indiana, facility.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
