Leaving the AMA

After 36 years of being an AMA member(academy of model aeronautics) I will not renew this year. Between all the bad politics, letting us down with the drone invasion and more…I’m done. This hobby has been regulated to death. It now requires a basic knowledge of aviation test before you can buy an RC airplane from the local hobby shop. You have to join the FAA and place numbers on your planes.
Our airplanes have been classified as drones. That’s a big mistake. They are airplanes.We have altitude restrictions. No more sanctioned fields will be created after this year. And the list goes on. Oh and I fogot about our being required soon to have transponders in our model planes, report to the local tower through a phone app and get permission to fly from them.

For about 80 bucks a year I get insurance that only covers me at AMA sanctioned fields and events. Even then in an accident they only cover about a third of the costs. You need homeowners insurance for the rest. What if you don’t own a home?

You get a cheap paper card. An Ok magazine and a pat on the back for being a member.

Our beloved scale model airplanes are now drones and we are considered a nuisance by ever “Karen” out there. The AMA didn’t do much to protect us from that.

I fly at local parks, deserts, cliffs on the coast and other natural locations with my silent RC gliders. They don’t pollute or cause any harm to the environment. Same with the airplanes. They are electrically driven props planes. Rc jets? Also electric. so they are very quiet. No annoying gas engine noise that could be heard for miles anymore.

Their insurance doesn’t cover me in these locations. You just fly safe. If there’s a lot of public traffic at any of these locations I just don’t fly thinking only of their safety.
So why do I need the AMA? I don’t. Not anymore.

I’m joining the SCCA instead. The Sports Car Club of America. I’m saving for a bucket list old sports car. A Triumph Spitefire to be exact. An enjoy friendly vintage car races at the local tracks in CA. Like Luguna Sacca.

https://www.scca.com/

For my 85 bucks a year I can do this! It’s been on my bucket list for a very long time!

Lots of Stuff Monday 11-2-2021

Trying to pack it in as usual but there just aren’t enough hours in the day! With that said I go pretty far with the Imperial Star Destroyer. I got a lot of the main hull built and today I’ll get the rest of it framed up.

Once it’s all framed up I can paint the various sections of the model and drill 100’s of little holes to insert fiber optics for all those windows. This is all done before I can close up the hull permanently.

Engine lights also need to be installed but again this will happen after the parts are painted.

The aftermarket parts and engine bells are amazing. They are the first 3D printed parts I have ever had that are ripple free and ready to paint. Wonderful.

I got a little more done on the type 2 sub build too but by then it was time to close up. I got the keel for the bow built and two formers. The boe is tricky and I need more formers for the front but it narrows down quickly like a boat hull so I don’t need much.

I also recieved a package from my friend Marc Tyler who I have worked with in the past on movie effects. He’s also a car nut and slot brother who makes the most amazing driver figures I have ever seen. I got some new drivers from him for my car builds.

http://www.immenseminiatures.com/Immense_Miniatures/Immense_Miniatures_scale_motorsports_figures.html

Visit his website for some amazing sculpture!

Great day. Lots of fun. I’ll have another today!

A car

A is Greek for Alfa as in Alfa Romeo. 1967 was one of the best years for automotive design in this man’s humble opinion. And this Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen.

This is the car drawing itself. I am still playing around with different background ideas. It will also be submitted to a t-shirt company that only does cars. We’ll see if they take it or not.

If not it will be a poster soon for purchase on this site.

Sunday Slot Car fun 10-31-2021

Sunday Commentary-non political

I looked at the gaming section of FaceBook. It occurred to me that mostly it is all violence, war, fighting, and little enlightenment or constructive entertainment. There are some. And it is a great educational tool for teaching and allows young minds to experience wonders beyond our Earth. To look back and see that down here we are all one out here among the stars.

I’ve played video games with the best of them. I started way back in the late 70’s. It has been a long journey of everything from BattleField 1-2-3-4-5-and so on, to tank battles, submarine sims and more.
I’m up to my 4th set of VR headsets. HP Reverb is my current headset. Mary has an Oculus. We have tried many things. Alta Space was fun for a while before they screwed it all up. I built some nice worlds for Alta Space. One with Stonhenge at night. Another was a lovely art gallery for Mary. But when they did their updates they destroyed them. Never again.

What I find as I get older is experiences that engage my skills and my mind. There are many photoreal experiences that range from roller coaster rides with dinosaurs to deep sea dives with whales and life in the ocean. Then there’s the journey to space into our cosmos. Wonderful.

Lately my very favorite simulation is racing. I can go online, put on my headset and get in a race. I am in the cockpit and I can look all around. Feel the wheel and the car through my force feedback devices. I can race multimillion dollar cars of the past and present. It allows me to do something I’ve always wanted to do in the safety of my own home. And it can be exhausting just like in real races. I know. I’ve done plenty of it in the past and I’m lucky to be alive.
Then there’s flying. I have always been an aviator. Today the sims are so photoreal and physics real too you can fly an airplane or jet. It’s wonderful.

Lastly if you have the talent you can create worlds and immerse yourself and your loved ones into them. I’ve done that too. But you need to know your way around 3D software to make these worlds. I’m fortunate to be one of those people.
As I age I care less about shooting people or blowing things up. I have had enough of war. I want to do the things I may never get to do in my life. VR and gaming can be like the holodeck in Star Trek. This is their better purpose in my opinion.

Here’s a couple of my favorite simulations:
The racing sim is on sale today.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/244210/Assetto_Corsa/

And Flight Sim 2020 is excellent:

https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/14463?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_fiLBhDOARIsAF4khR1Mi1qPKbe2NRo40_HBJmiD1GW87Gf3yzM7cnMeJw4dpaW9dH5W1_YaAucvEALw_wcB