Many thanks BoeingBoy and TheOddOne in particular for sharing your experience regarding RAeS membership.
My concern really wasn't so much about cost, I just found that RAeS host many events etc that I am rather interested in, whereas the benefits of AOPA UK membership were less clear to me (I had mixed feedback also from the instructors at my school sadly).
Your responses make the situation clearer, and I will definitely contact them with respect to GA in the Americas.

I'm not an AOPA member; I think it does some good work, there are also aspects of the way it does business that don't gel well with me. Mostly however, there are only so many organisations I can afford to join.

Above all else however, I think that it's important that within the alphabet soup of British (or wherever you live) organisations we should all belong to at least one of the major representative organisations, as we very much need them - not least right now with the continuing and increasing over-complexity where we really need representatives to help get this all right on our behalf.

Me? I belong to BMAA, LAA and RAeS - there's little overlap between them, and they all represent significant parts of my interests.

I don't belong to HCAP as I simply don't have the time to do justice to it, AOPA as I see LAA and BMAA closer to my interests, RAeC as I don't do competition flying, BGA as I rarely fly gliders.

I do also belong to two international bodies that are aviation oriented and close to my professional interests, and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, as it serves me professionally although I don't approve of everything about the way that does business either. Most years I agonise over whether or not to renew my IMechE membership and instead join HCAP, but as yet, I haven't.


Belong to something, don't try to belong to everything.

G