Hello, AMA club officers!
AMA is pleased to announce a new initiative to make city and town officials aware of AMA clubs and members in their communities. The program will show community leaders how partnering with an AMA club can help resolve concerns that they might have about model aircraft and drones.
With all of the publicity about drones invading airspace and threatening air travel safety, cities and towns are looking to create local laws and ordinances that could restrict or outlaw model aircraft activity. Although local government may be trying to ensure the safety of its constituents, poorly written laws often create unintended problems for modelers.
AMA feels that a better approach is to advise local cities and towns to work with AMA clubs to create model flying sites, or “drone zones.” We use the word drone because it is the buzzword that is being used by government officials.
By creating an AMA flying site, local leaders can point to a safe place for model activity, including the flying of multirotors. As most of us know, if someone is flying a model aircraft (especially a multirotor) and is asked by a police officer to stop, he or she will likely find another place to fly. It would be better if the police officer could point him or her to a flying site where the activity is allowed.
This is much like what happened with skateboarding. Skate parks were created in communities so that the activity could be done safely, in dedicated locations. Creating drone zones can be the answer to a similar concern with multirotors, especially when AMA clubs work with cities and towns to create such spaces and help teach safe flying.
AMA Headquarters will be sending information in the next few days to thousands of cities and towns across the country. In this information, municipalities will be asked to contact AMA Headquarters. AMA will assist these community officials and we may contact you about this happening in your area. We hope that you will be willing to help. If you are already working with your local city or town government officials, they might contact you directly.
Check out the postcard we are mailing below.
We will also follow up with the municipalities through email.
If you have any questions, please contact Tony Stillman at AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262, ext. 230, or by email at: FSAC@modelaircraft.org.
Thank you for supporting AMA and model aviation in this effort!
Sincerely,
Tony Stillman
Flying Site Assistance Coordinator
