Expanding Into Multi-Rotor And First-Person Flight View Aircraft

For the last several months, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) has been looking at how to provide additional benefits for members who are interested in first-person view flight (FPV) and multirotor semi-autonomous flight which are growing at a quick pace among model aviation enthusiasts.

AMA President Bob Brown posted a video on YouTube recently in which he says he plans to embrace this new and emerging community to support the AMA's current members and potentially attract new ones. Brown says every AMA member benefits when membership grows, because it increases the organization's voice when advocating for the entire membership.

"Embracing new technologies is something AMA has always done, and it illustrates the academy's core value of supporting scientific and technological development," Brown said in the video.

Of semi-autonomous multi-rotor aircraft, Brown says that he has been flying his own for the past year. "AMA already has many members that enjoy this facet of aeromodeling, and we expect many more to join these ranks in the near future. I've come to this conclusion: When flying safely and responsibly using AMA guidelines, these airframes are a tremendous amount of fun. They pose no more of a risk than any other form of modeling."

The video appears to be in response to dissatisfaction with the organization's previous stand on FPV and multi-rotor flying on the part of some members, if the comments are any indication. Several said that the organization is coming late to the genre, and one says "We've grown quite happily without any interference from the AMA."

FMI: Watch the Video