Although I know our opinions differ on this particular subject, ignoring and abandoning the commercial multirotor sector was an area they failed miserably. Admittedly, the AMA focus was originally intended for amateur and model competition but the market was changing significantly between 2005 and 2008.
The FAA was, and still is, being leveraged to make regulatory changes to favor the mega aerospace, government/commercial UAV sector and to do that the aero modeling sector was going to be sacrificed to accomplish their desires. The first shots fired were directed at small commercial UAS operators to get them out of the air well before the regulations had been created giving the FAA authority over them. If you recall, the 333 process was not created until well after the FAA sent out threatening letters to sUAS operators and the companies contracting with them, using fear of possible future prosecution, which in turn caused cancellation of contracts and bankruptcy of established commercial drone operators. This in when, instead of recognizing what was happening to commercial operators could and would happen to them, they turned their backs on the commercial modeling sector pretty much stating it wasn’t their problem as they only dealt with the “amateur” sector. The opportunity to make changes for the long term benefit of aero modelers, and the AMA, was completely missed. Also missed was the opportunity to create a new separate organization where political lobbying would be permitted.
They refused to recognize that every competitive event where cash and goods were awarded were commercial enterprises. Manufacturer reps that were paid to fly to promote product were commercial operators. They made their living flying RC and if that doesn’t define “commercial” I don’t know what does. Sponsors providing prizes in cash and product as advertising were in effect encouraging commercial modeling activity. Events like the Tucson Aerobatic Shootout, Florida Jets, and earlier Circus Circus sponsored events were pure commercial endeavors. Sure, they had the outward appearance of advancing RC aero capabilities but the primary reason for holding those events was money. Yet the AMA supported them, and still do.
That point in time when it became evident the FAA was going to expand their control of airspace to provide better access for corporate aerospace is when the AMA should have had the foresight to recognize that what was being done to commercial operators could, and did, “trickle down” to the recreational level. At that point in time the AMA should have embraced the commercial sUAS sector as the AMA had been indirectly been supporting them for years by allowing, if not actually promoting, the commercial aspects of modeling through manufacturer sponsorships, contest awards that used cash and product instead of medals and trophies, while accepting a considerable flow of advertising dollars from manufacturers and distributors. Let’s face it, much of the AMA management was and is made up of RC manufacturers. They have been commercial for a long, long time, employing semantics to create and sustain a false image of recreational amateur.
Martin Neimoller once wrote about how the people of Germany allowed WWII to happen through their apathy. “First they came for the Socialists...”. The path he described is pretty much how the AMA reacted to government control of aero modeling. They didn’t even bother to lend support to the guy that single handedly took on the FAA over the registration of models and modelers.
