New Information For Cds And Ems

Written by Tony Stillman Flying Site Assistance Column As seen in the June 2019 issue of Model Aviation. It looks like spring has finally arrived here in Indiana! As I am writing this, it is early April, but temperatures have steadily moved up out of the freezing range! I am ready for some flying time for sure! With the new year, there have been some changes in the organizational chart at AMA Headquarters. My role has changed somewhat. I am now the AMA Safety & Technical Director, along with Flying Site Assistance Coordinator. The added task of Safety means that I now am more involved with our Safety Committee and the safety programs of AMA. That includes more involvement in our Government Relations team and I now sit on some additional committees, including work on several FAA committees. In digging into some of these duties, I felt it was time to review some of the documents we use at AMA sanctioned events. We have had more conversations recently about our Large Model Airplane (LMA) programs, as well as our Turbine program. It occurred to me that AMA has not provided guidance directly to our Contest Directors (CDs) and Event Managers (EMs) on what their duties are regarding these types of aircraft. In addition to CDs and EMs, all AMA clubs should be aware of these programs so that they can make sure that everyone flying at their field is operating these types of aircraft under the requirements of the programs. I have updated the Event Report form along with the Flight Safety Declaration so that CDs and EMs can now report LMA and Turbine activity to AMA Headquarters. The updated forms are now on the AMA website and they supersede AMA forms 10A-D. The new Contest and Event Package is simply Form 10, located at www.modelaircraft.org/system/files?file=documents/ContestAndEventPackage_Form10.pdf, and it includes the following items:

• Final Report form
• AMA Flight Safety Declaration/Event Participation list
• LMA Report form
• Turbine Report form

The Final Report form is more streamlined and simplified. There were some additional items added to the Flight Safety/Event Participation list. These included adding a box where a pilot can indicate if he or she is flying an airplane that weighs more than 55 pounds or is powered by a turbine engine. This will alert the CD or EM to have that pilot also fill out the LMA Report form or the Turbine Report form and then verify that the pilot has the proper accreditation/documentation to fly these models. The completed forms from the contest or event can be scanned into your computer and emailed to [email protected] just as in the past. Why did we do this? We have programs to allow the operation of these models, but the pilots must follow the requirements. This documentation will help to verify that these models are being operated with the program requirements and under the safety guidelines of AMA, which is part of our commitment to the FAA. Making sure that everyone understands and follows the rules concerning these models is important to continue to be able to protect future aeromodeling activity. It also helps AMA gather additional data on the operations of these aircraft. On April 8, 2019, an email went out from AMA Headquarters to all AMA CDs and EMs concerning these new documents and how they are to be used at an event. If you are a CD or EM and you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I am also happy to discuss this with any club officers or AMA members as well! Now, time to do some flying!