We don't have "Park Flyer" memberships in Canada (that I know of). I don't even know what that means. We pay full membership to belong to a "club" or we don't fly at all (legally). I belong to 2 fields at present but used to belong to a 3rd field till it was closed. The one that closed did not require MAAC (like your AMA) but we still had to pay annual fees. The other 2 required MAAC plus their individual fees. With MAAC, you can join as many clubs as you like for one annual fee. One of those fields, I may fly there once a week, if that. It was a matter of choice and variety to belong to so many. If you are getting back into the hobby and don't know you want to continue or if you equate things to price per flight, then dealing with all these fees and regulations may not be for you. To be active in this hobby isn't cheap and it doesn't always stay stay that way when you first start. But also remember that it's already been said that these new regs are in the planning stage and it may be some time before they become "written in stone" and when they are implemented, the regs may not look anything like what the fear mongers are saying they "will" be.
We had the same deal in Canada when the current rules were being "talked" about. Permits, licences, tests, registration, ID and much more. Then came "inauguration" day and the rules looked nothing like what they were planning or hoping for. There were exemptions if you belonged to MAAC and flew at a sanctioned field. The only thing that happened that was a noticeable changed from what we had to fly under when dealing with the "club rules" already, was that we had to have a little piece of paper (with our information) on or in each plane we flew. They didn't even have to be permanent, just as long as the flying plane had one. I printed up some laminated tags and just tape one to my battery when a plane goes up. All the fear mongers and rule pushers and worry warts settled down and said, "Oh, is that all there is!" Tests and permits only applied to those who were doing it for commercial reasons or those who did not fly at sanctioned fields. Those who flew outside of sanctioned fields were then subject to municipal, provincial and federal laws already in place. This meant you virtually could NOT fly ANYWHERE without being subject to fines and prosecution for breaking local ordinances or provincial/federal park regs - had little to do with (Transport Canada or FAA). Beyond those, you have to deal with private land owner rights and trespassing laws.
My suggestion to Mr. Fish ......................... "Fly at a sanctioned field for now and worry about it when you see what the new regs really will be and how it will affect you and your club".
We had the same deal in Canada when the current rules were being "talked" about. Permits, licences, tests, registration, ID and much more. Then came "inauguration" day and the rules looked nothing like what they were planning or hoping for. There were exemptions if you belonged to MAAC and flew at a sanctioned field. The only thing that happened that was a noticeable changed from what we had to fly under when dealing with the "club rules" already, was that we had to have a little piece of paper (with our information) on or in each plane we flew. They didn't even have to be permanent, just as long as the flying plane had one. I printed up some laminated tags and just tape one to my battery when a plane goes up. All the fear mongers and rule pushers and worry warts settled down and said, "Oh, is that all there is!" Tests and permits only applied to those who were doing it for commercial reasons or those who did not fly at sanctioned fields. Those who flew outside of sanctioned fields were then subject to municipal, provincial and federal laws already in place. This meant you virtually could NOT fly ANYWHERE without being subject to fines and prosecution for breaking local ordinances or provincial/federal park regs - had little to do with (Transport Canada or FAA). Beyond those, you have to deal with private land owner rights and trespassing laws.
My suggestion to Mr. Fish ......................... "Fly at a sanctioned field for now and worry about it when you see what the new regs really will be and how it will affect you and your club".
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