Letter to AMA HQ Praises Club Plan
September 1967 American Modeler

September 1967 American Modeler Table of Contents These pages from vintage modeling magazines like Flying Aces, Air Trails, American Modeler, American Aircraft Modeler, Young Men, Flying Models, Model Airplane News, R/C Modeler, captured the era. All copyrights acknowledged.

Mr. Jim Perdue, president of the Tennessee Model Airplane Association from 1966 to 1968, submitted this letter to the editor of American Modeler magazine in high praise of the club charter program instituted by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). The most important feature, at least in back in that day, was liability insurance provided by virtue of being officially chartered. The same applies today regarding insurance; however, the AMA has greatly expanded the benefits to chartering your model club. The current Club Charter Guide document list the following requirements for obtaining a charter:

Minimum requirements for chartering a club.
• You need five (5) or more current AMA members.
• Three or more of them must be 19 years or older.
• At least three (3) members 19 years or older need to be willing to serve as club officers, one (1) of them being the club Safety Coordinator 2.
• The majority of your club activities relate to recreational and/or competitive modeling, and its organizational operation is local ( e.g., city, town, county, etc .) as opposed to a regional or national level.
• Provide a current set of your club bylaws.
• Provide latitude/longitude information for your modeling site (s)

Letter to AMA HQ Praises Club Plan

"I just received the May monthly mailing (to AMA chartered clubs) and have read it all as usual.

"Personally, I couldn't compliment you and AMA enough for your actions of the past year. The deal with Model Aviation to American Modeler was certainly a boom to model aviation. (I must admit I had my doubts when it first came about) ... I'm so glad that it has worked out fine.

"I could kick all our Coffee- Air-Foilers fannies for not going along with the charter plan last year! As you may know, we were misinformed that we had insurance coverage which in reality did not exist. Personally, I think the obtaining of the club charter was the best thing that has happened to our clubs in some time. We have a larger membership than ever before and many more visitors who come to our meetings each month. We have added at least one new member each month this year. We have strictly enforced the rules set up by AMA which frankly wasn't done in the past. We have a much stronger and loyal club to show for it now.

"I don't know whether you read the newsletter which I edit each month or not (we do!). However, I try to use the monthly mail to supplement what little our members contribute each month. I usually wind up writing the whole newsletter and I don't know what I'd do without AMA mailings to have something to print! I always try to print the things from the monthly mailing which would interest our club members and the people I send the thing to.

"I'm the president of the Tennessee Model Airplane Association and I use our newsletter to inform my officers and board of directors what's going on around the state. All in all, I send out between 90 and 100 copies all over the country. It must get read some because I get mail from all over. I really appreciate the coverage American Modeler has given us. Mrs. VanZant has had something in her club column every month for the last four months.

"Please express my appreciation to all concerned and keep up the good work." Jim Perdue

Posted December , 2017