Ep 224: AMA’s Muncie Update and Where We Stand Now

00:10

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the RC Plane Lab podcast. I’m Ron. I’m Tom. And I’m Dave. I’m Daniel.

Special guest Daniel Taylor is with us this evening. We’ve got him joining us for a couple of episodes. We’re going to do this quick.

We want to talk a little bit about the new announcement that came out from the AMA. There’s really not much new in it compared to what we knew before, but they are officially saying a couple of things.

Just read it, Tommy.

I’ve not seen the new announcement, so I’m reading it for the first time.

00:45

Okay, so it starts off with:

“Many of you have questions about AMA’s future and what it could mean for our flying sites, clubs, and model aviation communities. These are important issues, and the decisions ahead will have a lasting impact on our organization and the hobby we serve.

“For decades, AMA has worked to protect, promote, and preserve model aviation. As we consider the organization’s future, that mission must remain central to the decisions that we make.

“There are three key priorities guiding our consideration of the options ahead.

“First, if AMA sells its property, we will secure another national flying site, or sites. Maintaining access to flying facilities is an important part of supporting our members and the future of model aviation.

“Second, we would identify a future location for the museum. Preserving our history is a top priority, and we would work with members to find a new home for the museum.

“Third, any agreement must put AMA in a stronger position for the future. This includes expanding programs and opportunities, reducing membership dues”—I like the sound of that—“and ensuring that the organization remains financially sustainable for generations to come.

“If a deal moves forward and AMA begins the process of identifying new national flying sites, members will be consulted as we evaluate potential locations. Their input will be an important consideration in identifying sites that best serve our members and the future of model aviation.

“Decisions about AMA’s future are still under consideration. As that process continues, our focus remains on the practical steps needed to sustain the organization, support our members, and protect opportunities for people to enjoy model aviation.

“Thank you for your continued involvement in AMA and your commitment to model aviation.

“Sincerely, Greg Stone, President, AMA.”

02:41

Thoughts?

It sounds to me like more of the same. More of an acknowledgment that they hear the ramblings of the AMA members: “We have to put something else out,” right?

There’s not a lot of information, but I do like that he says, “We will secure another national flying site or sites.”

Yeah, that’s interesting. You could put one toward the East Coast and one toward the West Coast, so more people could enjoy an AMA flying site. That’s kind of a neat option.

I think if they could go through with something like that, potentially both of those sites would move farther away from where we are. That would be unfortunate. But opening it up to more members to fly at an AMA national flying site is probably not a bad thing.

I agree.

Then where does the museum go? There’s only going to be one.

In the middle. East Coast, West Coast, right in the middle.

[Unclear exchange about replacement locations.]

There’s obviously a lot up in the air that we don’t know anything about.

Dave, you’re quiet. Thoughts?

If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Okay. Fair enough.

04:02

We’ve had more time to digest it since last time. Have your thoughts changed at all? And Daniel, we don’t even know what your original thoughts were.

We should start with Daniel.

I mean, I don’t know.

Good thoughts. That was nice.

I’ve seen so many different ways people are thinking about it. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, it’s going toward a data center. I don’t think that’s a good reason.

I don’t think that’s true. If it is going to a data center, I don’t think the reason you’re selling is because it’s going to a data center. If somebody is offering me a boatload of money for my house—which I’m sure is what’s happening—and it’s a number I can’t turn down, I don’t necessarily care what’s going in.

Maybe with the boatload of money, they figure they can make it better.

05:03

But is this a good thing for the Muncie area in general?

Okay, devil’s advocate: does that matter?

Absolutely, if you live in Muncie. What about the noise, power consumption, and all the other bad things data centers do to the environment and communities around them?

What if we get a better flying site to go to that is better taken care of, maybe not quite as big, maybe closer to us? Maybe you’ll negatively impact one community, but positively impact a different community.

Thank you. That was better than what I was trying to say.

I knew where you were going with that.

05:56

My thoughts are still kind of the same. I’m still cautiously optimistic. The vibe I’m getting from this second announcement is that it’s trending in the direction of them being offered a considerable amount of money for the property, and they’re considering the best ways to spend it. That’s what it feels like to me.

My concern in the last episode was: were they actively trying to sell the property without telling anyone, or did somebody come in and offer them a serious amount of capital for it? That’s what it feels like to me is happening. I don’t now think the AMA has been actively trying to sell the place for a while.

I agree. I think this was something brought to them that they had to react to.

The more I’ve internalized it, moved on with my life, and not thought about it every day, it’s not going to make a difference to me, honestly, whether they keep it or get rid of it.

07:12

Me either. It wasn’t a high priority of mine to go see the national flying site or the museum. If I’m in the area, that’s definitely a place I would go. It’s fairly close to us—Indiana is just the next state over. Three or four hours, I think we determined.

I think it’s closer to five.

Okay, close-ish. That’s a day trip considering some of the other places we’ve gone. But it’s not high on my priority list to go see.

At the end of the day, whatever they decide to do, as long as I still get the coverage I need, the protection I need, and a paper magazine.

That’s important too.

It’s important to me. I’m good.

07:58

The magazine is good, but I can’t imagine how much that costs.

To print it, and also to pay the people providing the content. I discovered recently, with the article I wrote, that they pay people to make these articles. That’s a cost also, but it’s not associated with the paper. I’m sure that’s a very low percentage of what it costs to do the magazine.

That’s true.

We’re talking completely out of our butts at this point. We don’t know numbers or anything like that, but I’m honestly surprised we still have the magazine.

Really?

I am.

I’ll be honest: if we didn’t have the paper magazine, if I didn’t get it mailed to my house, I probably wouldn’t read it.

Same. I wouldn’t read it online.

There are too many other distractions when I’m sitting on a computer. Besides that, I sit at a computer all day—when I go back to work eventually. I don’t want to do it when I get home for my entertainment.

I get it.

09:17

You asked me. Whatever trust I had for the AMA is gone. I can’t trust them. That’s it for me.

Even if it turns out to be a much better deal than what we have now?

Because of what an underhanded way they went and did it. It’s like, “Oh, here, we’re going to do this.”

[Unclear exchange.]

What I can hear Tommy doing as well—it is Halloween, and I’m eating Halloween candy.

Yes, it is.

Maybe they should have been more upfront: “This is what we’re thinking about doing. We’ve been contacted by XYZ. They’ve made an offer on the property. What do you guys think?”

I can see that. Maybe they thought they didn’t want to get everybody in a big uproar if it wasn’t even going to happen.

But they didn’t do anything until they kind of got caught. Somehow or another it leaked, and it’s like, “Well, we kind of have to address this now.”

I get your feeling on that. I can see that.

I have mixed emotions on the whole thing. The more time I’ve had with it, the less I’m bothered by it. I was where Dave was a while ago, but now I think I’m over that. We’ll see what happens, as long as we can still fly.

Exactly. At the end of the day, as long as I still have the protection I need and a magazine.

10:51

Didn’t they used to be closer to—I don’t know where they were before they moved to Muncie. I thought they were closer to D.C.

Was it Pennsylvania?

No, they were in the D.C. area, I believe. At one point, way back, they were in New York City. My history is bad, but it’s been East Coast most of the time.

They sold—did they grow? Is that—

They went bankrupt in, I think, ’75. [Editor’s note: This historical claim has not been verified.]

Oh, geez. Then they ended up buying this, I think, in the early ’90s.

[Unclear exchange about previous moves.]

The other thing is that they’re dealing with what we’ve all seen: aging membership, people aging out, less membership, less money coming in.

A different generation.

If you can’t make budget with what you have, sometimes the only thing you can do is sell what you have.

11:53

Off topic, but in the mid-to-late ’90s, remember that other insurance organization that was doing kind of what AMA does? What were they called?

Sport Flyers. Sport Flyers Association.

That’s right. I think they lasted a couple of years.

Not long.

AMA outlasted them, at least.

There’s that.

12:16

Anybody else want to say anything about this, or just take it for what it is and move on to the next one?

I’m cautiously optimistic, and I look forward to the next statement whenever that comes out. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Good.

If we have another update come out, we’ll do a separate episode on that too. That way it’s not all in with our fun episodes.

Take the fun out of our episode.

Until next time, I’m Ron. I’m Tom. I’m Dave. I’m Daniel.

Good night.

12:54

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