Newbie wondering about licensing costs...

Hello After many years away from the hobby I have decided to give it another shot. A guy at my local club informed me that club costs are $70 per year and I al so need a license at $75 per year from the 'AMA'. Does this sound correct to you guys? That would be $145 in costs before I even look at equipment. Any info or links to licensing details appreciated. Thanks...Alan

| After many years away from the hobby I have decided to give it another shot. | A guy at my local club informed me that club costs are $70 per year
Higher than most, but not that much so.
| and I also need a license at $75 per year from the 'AMA'.
AMA dues are $58/year. They do give you a discount next year if you join in the middle of the year and explicitly ask for it next year. (Not that this changes your initial outlay, of course.)
(Of course, I guess that the plan is that they get to keep your money if 1) you don't renew next year at all (perhaps you decided you didn't like R/C planes?) or 2) you forget to ask for the discount next year.)
It's also not a license, even though it says it has a `license number'. Basically the reason the club is making you join it is that the AMA provides insurance (they don't care if you have insurance from elsewhere, they want AMA insurance.)
You don't need to be an AMA member to fly R/C ... but if the club requires it, then that's what you've got to have. Without it, you can still fly, but you'll have to fly somewhere else.
| Does this sound correct to you guys? That would be $145 in costs | before I even look at equipment. Any info or links to licensing | details appreciated. Thanks...Alan
Quite a racket, eh? :)
Of course, you do get something for your money. You get $2.5 million dollars of insurance (assuming you follow the AMA rules (which are reasonable)), and you get use of the club field, and they'll probably teach you to fly for free. Less tangable benefits include knowing that you're helping the AMA promote the hobby, and you're helping the club continue doing all the things that the club does.

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NOT! An adult membership in the AMA is $58/year. Someone is lying or stupid...
The AMA site is www.modelaircraft.org.
Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

If you have AMA 'insurance', then why does the AMA tell you to seek resolution in insurance matters using your home owners policy first?
Ed
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AMA insurance is secondary insurance. If you have some kind of coverage that will cover damage caused by your model airplane, you need to tap that insurance first. If you exceed the amount from this primary insurance, or don't have any that covers model airplanes, then AMA insurance kicks in.

Ok, thanks. Secondary insurance eh? So, if you have insurance that covers model airplanes, and can prove it by way of a letter from the Insurance company, or some kind of card - why can't one fly anywhere - providing nsurance is the issue and not an attitude of "if you aren't a member, then go away". Basically talking about the times when a club holds a funfly and invites other pilots to join in the fun.
Ed
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One reason is that many clubs get free use of land if they can show some method of ensuring that all the members are insured. The EASIEST way is to require AMA membership because the fee is paid on an annual basis and due at the same time every year. It is very easy for clubs to verify that the person is covered, unlike homeowners which can be cancelled at any time.

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Plus the AMA requires ALL parties flying with a chartered AMA club to be individually insured through AMA membership. This includes guest visiting for any reason.

This is absolutely not true. Read the Club Renewal Kit on the AMA page thoroughly. If it were true, the situation where a governmental body, such as a city, owns the land and allows others to fly could not exist. The decision as to who flys at a clubs field is up to the club and/or the landlord. There are some very compelling reasons for a club and/or landlord not to allow anyone else to fly there.
JR
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JR,
We're talking within the realm of the club here. Try to allow those non-members to participate in an AMA sanctioned event? Fun Fly's are not not much better. And even then, the AMA is very explicit as to who they will cover and who they will not. Not that I blame them for that. But the bottom line is, the insurance is the hook for increased membership! And the AMA desires to monopolize that aspect as much as they can!
And this whole thing about letting non-members fly? That goes back to the origins of the SFA and the issues surrounding that whole fiasco.
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A sanctioned event is not within the realm of the club, although a club may sponsor a sanctioned event. When an AMA CD sanctions an AMA event, a different set of rules apply. One of those is, as you state, that only AMA members may participate.
When it comes to a club, let me ask you this. Why would I, as a club member who puts sweat, tears, and money into a club field, want to put that at risk, as well as myself financially, by letting a non-AMA member participate and creating a potential liability problem?
Let me give you an example. A non-club member who is flying at a non-sanctioned fly-in sets up a chair. One of the members wives trips over it and breaks her back. She sues the club for liability. The action of the non-club member is not covered. The members of the club are held responsible. Forget that it's not fair, the tort system has little to do with fairness. Are you willing to put everything you own on the line to let a non-member fly? That is the decision each club must make. The AMA does not make the decision for the club.
JR
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What verifiable form of insurance? A homeowners policy that may or may not be in force? Are yougoing to read every policy on event day to verify that it covers model aircraft activity? Are you going to hire the lawyer to do it for you? HELL NO. You will require AMA and let it go at that. This is a hobby for 99% of us and there is NO reason to make it harder or more complex than it is.

Let me add a couple of things.
The UMA policy does not cover the landlord with the same type of insurance that the AMA does. The UMA does not cover the club with the same type of insurance that the AMA does. There are three types of coverage with the AMA. UMA is limited to one. (Having UMA in addition to AMA is not a bad idea for someone with a lot of assets. It keeps the Homeowners policy out of it longer)
As far as the coverage limits, which is another issue, the UMA is capped at $1 million, the AMA at $2.5 million. If you are the landlord, which would you want?
Now, back to reality, how many people do you personally know that carry $2.5 million in homeowners insurance. How many insurance companies are open on the weekend so the policies could be verified if someone like you was found the be the CD and was willing to make the calls and do the extra work involved?
How many events would just not take place because no one was willing to do all the extra work necessary to allow a non-AMA members to fly?
Why do clubs, which have the final say, make the decison that they make. Why do they not take your position? Could it be that the vast majority of club members are concerned about the welfare of themselves, their families, other club members and their landlord? Could it be that they feel that if an individual does not want to be a member of the AMA, that he need not be, but they are unwilling to assume the risk he may present?
You keep throwing this back in the AMA's lap when the decision is that for the club to make. In the case of a CD sanctioned AMA event, it was the decision of the CD to make. The AMA did not force anyone to either become a CD or to sanction an event. Someone made a choice.
JR
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Why are yo arguing with me? I AGREE with you on this!

Wasn't talking about UMA or Home owners JR. Again! Given an insurance equal to what the AMA provides. And assume it can be verified as easily and equally as the AMA's can. The question is, would said insurance be acceptable? By you? By the AMA?
My bet is it won't be simply because it will upset your and the AMA's apple cart! Your and Paul's intentional efforts to confuse the issue are proof enough of that.
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By me? I have zero input. By the AMA? Except for sanctioned events, they have zero input. It is a club decision.
When it comes to sanctioned events, it's my opinion that the AMA should be able to dictate whatever terms it likes. It is there sanction, isn't it?
JR
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There is no intentional effort to confuse the issue. READ MY POST. There is no insurance system like you describe and even if there was, why would one insurer want to have to go to court every time a claim was made? The AMA agrees to provide a LOT of insurance for the money if everyone agrees to go along with it.

Paul,
The question wasn't how to verify it. The question was whether it would be acceptable were there another source of insurance equal to that provided by the AMA which could be verified as solidly as the AMA. Quit reading into the issue! Unless of course, your goal is confusion of said issue!
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If the hare had not stopped to take a nap, would he have won the race with the turtle?
JR
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