BYLAWS OF NATIONAL MINIATURE PYLON RACING ASSOCIATION

A California Corporation

ARTICLE 1

Section 1 NAME: The name of this association shall be the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association, (N.M.P.R.A.)

ARTICLE 2

Section 1 OBJECT: The object of this association shall be to promote the general interests and welfare of all persons engaged in the construction and flying of radio controlled model racing airplanes, and to aid insofar as possible the national program of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, or some other national model aircraft association or sanctioning body the N.M.P.R.A Board of Directors may designate, looking toward the continual advancement of model aircraft racing in all its phases in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Section 2 PURPOSE: In furtherance of this purpose and object but not in limitation thereof, the Association shall endeavor:

(a) To provide for the exchange of worthwhile ideas in regards to the construction and flying of radio controlled model racing aircraft.
(b) To provide contests, with all special or local enterprises of the N.M.P.R.A., conforming to the policies of the Academy of the Model Aeronautics, or some other national model aircraft association or sanctioning body the N.M.P.R.A Board of Directors may designate, and to the regulations of that organization governing model aircraft contests.
(c) To maintain standards of operation and safety procedure which will insure the continuance of radio controlled model racing and educate enthusiasts to carry on the hobby-sport in a safe manner with due regard to the rights of others.

ARTICLE 3

Section 1 MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY: Any person concurring with Article 2, of these By-Laws shall be eligible for membership in the Association, subject to the provisions of these By-Laws.

Section 2 This Association by vote of its Board of Directors, has become affiliated with the national association, known as the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) by qualifying under provisions of the By-Laws of the Academy of Model Aeronautics governing Special Interest Groups.

(a) When qualified under provisions of the foregoing subsection a member of the N.M.P.R.A., not already a member of the national association, (AMA) must become a member of a national association that would provide liability insurance for modeling activities. This does not apply to non-flying members.

Section 3 APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP: shall be made to the Secretary/Treasurer or through any association officer. Said application shall be accompanied by at least one year's dues and proof of membership, or application and fee for membership in the Academy of Model Aeronautics, or some other national model aircraft association or sanctioning body the N.M.P.R.A Board of Directors may designate. Upon approval of applicant's membership applicant shall be furnished an official racing number and receipt or other certificate of membership. Non flying members will not receive a racing number.  The racing number shall consist of an available number and a single letter. The letter is determined by the location of residence of the member when they join. If a member moves to a new location, they may retain their prior race number or may request a new race number. If not already taken, the new race number shall have the same available number with the new letter suffix.

Section 4 DURATION OF MEMBERSHIP: Membership in this Association may terminate by death, voluntary withdrawal or otherwise pursuant of these By-Laws. The right of a member to vote, and all other privileges and interest of a member in or to the Association or the property thereof, shall cease upon the termination of membership.

Section 5 SUSPENSION AND EXPULSION: For cause, any membership may be suspended or terminated. Sufficient cause for such suspension or termination of membership shall be the violation of the provisions of these By-Laws or any rule or agreement adopted by the Association, or any other conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Association.

Such suspension or expulsion shall be by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors; provided that a statement of the charges shall have been mailed by registered post to the last recorded address of the member or emailed to the last recorded email address of the member at least fifteen (15) days before final action is taken thereon.

Such statement shall be accompanied by a notice of the time at which the charges are to be considered, and the member shall have the opportunity to respond in writing and present any defense to such charges before action is taken thereon.

Section 6 HONORARY MEMBERSHIP: Honorary membership may be conferred upon a person who has rendered distinguished service to the Association or hobby. Proposals for Honorary Membership shall be made to the Board of Directors for their approval, acceptance and conferment. These positions shall be simply complimentary, carrying with them the right to attend meetings, and to speak, but not to make motions or vote.

ARTICLE 4

Section 1 FISCAL YEAR: The fiscal year of this Association shall be from January 1 to December 31.

Section 2 DUES: The annual dues of each member shall be in accordance with the schedule below.

(a) Honorary Members and past Presidents shall not be required to pay dues.
(b) The annual dues may be changed from time to time by the Board of Directors and different classes of membership may be altered or added by the Board of Directors.

Section 3 DELINQUENCIES: Dues for each calendar year shall be payable in advance, no later than the end of February. Any member who is delinquent in payment of dues or assessments will automatically have his membership terminated and his race number may become available to the next eligible applicant.

Section 4 ASSESSMENTS: The membership is not assessable.

Section 5 DISTRIUBTION OF ASSETS: Upon final dissolution of the Association and surrender of the organization and name, and after all debts of the Association are fully paid including the reimbursement of any allowable expenses incurred on behalf of the Association, and a final audit completed, all funds remaining in the Association treasury shall be divided equally among all of those who had been members during the last calender year.

ARTICLE 5

Section 1 ANNUAL MEETING: Any Annual Meeting (s) of the Association shall be held at the discretion of the Board of Directors, at such time and place as the Board of Directors may designate. Notice of time and place of such meeting shall be either emailed to the last recorded email address of each member or published on the NMPRA website.

Section 2 REGULAR MEETINGS: There are no regular meetings of the Association.

Section 3 VOTING: Whenever in the judgment of the President an email or telephone vote of the Board of Directors shall be necessary or expedient, he may direct that such vote be taken. Upon authorization of a majority of the members of the Board of Directors voting, the President may direct a mail vote of the membership, in which case a majority of the votes returned shall determine the question submitted.

ARTICLE 6

Section 1 ELECTIONS: The Board of Directors shall consist of the President and and three (3) Regional Vice Presidents and the the Secretary or Treasurer.

(a) Appointment of Additional Representatives: If the needs of any particular district within the N.M.P.R.A are not adequately addressed or represented by the existing Board of Directors, the affected district may petition for the appointment of an additional representative subject to the approval by the Board of Directors.

Section 2 The President shall be elected by simple majority of those voting who are active members. Term of office shall be for (1) year.  The Secretary/Treasurer shall be appointed by the President.

Section 3 The Vice President for each region shall be appointed by the President to a 1-year term. The appointment shall be approved by vote of the current Board members.

(a) Candidates for President must be a current member of the NMPRA in good standing for at least 4 full seasons prior to running for office or served at least 2 years as a District Vice President or held the position of Secretary or Treasurer for 1 full year

(b) Candidates for District Vice President must have benn a member of the NMPRA in good standing for at least 2 full seasons prior to running for office. Nominees for Vice President must reside in the District for which they are campaigning

Section 4 The Secretary/Treasurer shall be appointed by the President, and may be a Region Vice President or a member at large. The appointment shall be approved by the Board.

Section 5 Qualifications for President and Vice President

(a) Candidates for President must be a current member of the NMPRA in good standing for at least 4 full seasons prior to running for office or served at least 2 years as a Regional Vice President or held the position of Secretary or Treasurer for 1 full year

(b) Candidates for Regional Vice President must have been a member of the N.M.P.R.A in good standing for at least 2 full seasons prior to running for office. Nominees for Regional Vice President must reside in the Region for which they will represent.

Section 6 Immediately following the annual election, the Board shall establish or reaffirm the continuance of Region and National Committees as necessary to achieve association objectives.

Section 7 Vacancies on the Board of Directors shall be filled for the unexpired term by appointment of the President.

Section 8 The Secretary/Treasurer shall act on behalf of the President in the event of his death or incapacity.

ARTICLE 7

Section 1 GOVERNMENT: The management of the affairs and business of the Association shall be vested in the Board of Directors hereinabove provided, and the members of the Board shall, upon election, serve without compensation, and shall enter upon the performance of their duties in January, and shall continue in the office until their successors have duly been elected and installed.

Section 2 AUTHORITY: The Board of Directors are responsible for establishing/implementing N.M.P.R.A. national policy. Each Region Vice President shall have control and management of the affairs of his respective region pursuant to the provisions of these By-Laws.

Section 3 LIMITATIONS:The Region Vice Presidents are not empowered to incur expenses on behalf of, nor to obligate the national association for funds or material. 

ARTICLE 8

Section 1 COMPENSATION OF OFFICES: Officers shall serve without compensation.

Section 2 PRESIDENT:

(a) Duties. The President shall be the executive officer of the Association and shall preside at the annual meeting of the Association. He shall be a member exofficio of all committees. 
(b) The President is empowered as the executive officer of this Association and may delegate any or all of his powers to other officers from time to time as may in his judgment be to the best interests of the Association.

Section 3 VICE-PRESIDENTS:

(a) Duties. The Region Vice Presidents shall:
(1) Establish/coordinate the official race calendar for their respective region.
(2) Chair any region general membership meetings deemed necessary.
(3) Collect and forward region point data to the N.M.P.R.A. Secretary/Treasurer, or as otherwise directed by the President.

(b) Appointments. The Vice Presidents shall appoint any committees not otherwise provided for and shall have general supervision over regional officers.

(c) Finance. All donations to, or funds raised by the Region, or funds collected, on behalf of the, National Organization, N.M.P.R.A., are the property of the N.M.P.R.A., and may be returned to the Region upon authorization of a majority vote of the members of the Board of Directors voting. Funds collected to support Region activities remain the property of the Region.

Section 4 CONTEST DIRECTORS OR EVENT MANAGERS:

(a) Qualifications. Requirements are as specified in the Academy of Model Aeronautics Model Aircraft Regulations , or some other national model aircraft association or sanctioning body the N.M.P.R.A Board of Directors may designate.

(b) Sanctions. An AMA sanction, or some other national association or sanctioning body the N.M.P.R.A Board of Directors may designate is required for all official N.M.P.R.A. point races.

Section 5 OTHER OFFICERS: Vice Presidents may appoint area coordinators or other assistants as required to support district activities. Notice of such appointments shall be forwarded to the Secretary/Treasurer.

ARTICLE 9

Section 1 DISSOLUTION: This Association may be dissolved by a majority of those voting provided at least fifty percent of the total membership casts a ballot.

ARTICLE 10

Section 1 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS: The official publication of the Association shall be titled the N.M.P.R.A. High Performance. A minimum of four issues will be published annually.

Section 2 EMBLEM: The Association shall have an emblem of such design as the membership may adopt. This emblem shall not be changed unless so voted by two-thirds of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE 11

Section 1 ORDER OF BUSINESS: The Order of Business for the Annual Meeting shall be as decided by the presiding officer.

ARTICLE 12

Section 1 NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS: Any member may run for the office of President or Vice President by notifying the Secretary/Treasurer in writing by no later than September 15, provided they meet the qualifications identified in Article 6, Section 5. If multiple members request nomination to Vice President, the President may appoint one or may choose to hold an election within the Region

Section 2 VOTING: An official ballot shall be emailed to the last known address of each member at least 15 days prior to the closing date for ballot returns.

ARTICLE 13

Section 1 APPORTIONMENT: The three (3) Regions are defined as: 

(a) West Region: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, International other than North America
(b) Central Region: Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Canada, Mexico
(c) East Region: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, District of Columbia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina

Section 2 RE-APPORTIONMENT: Regions may be revised by written petition of agreement from the affected Region Vice Presidents. Such revisions require a two thirds majority vote of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE 14

Section 1 NATIONAL POINT RULES:

(a) The N.M.P.R.A. National Points season starts on January 1st and ends the following December 31st.
If January 1st falls on a Sunday, then any races held on that weekend will be counted for the previous year.
(b) Only the best 6 contests in each class of racing, for each pilot, will count toward the pilot's season point total.
(c) In order to accumulate points for the races attended, a pilot must be a current member of the N.M.P.R.A.
at the time of the contest. The Points Coordinator is responsible for validating the pilot's membership status.

  (1) Note: An NMPRA membership expires on December 31; however, the dues for the following year aren't
       considered delinquent until March 1st. Therefore, if a pilot's membership is fully paid and in good standing
       by March 1st, then all points earned by that pilot between January 1 and March 1 will be counted.
       Otherwise only contests occurring during the pilot's valid membership will be counted.

(d) It is the responsibility of the Contest Director to see that event results are reported to the National Points Coordinator for each class of racing in a timely manner. Any points not reported by January 15 of the following calendar year shall not be considered in the determination of National Points Standings.
(e) It has been the tradition of NMPRA to give awards to the “top pilots” in each class of racing. Awards may be in the form of cash, shirts, jackets or other items imprinted with the winner's placement information, and the entry of the pilots’ names in the record book. “Top pilots” is defined as the pilots with the highest season point totals each year in each class, representing up to 10% of the total current NMPRA membership registered in the class or 20, whichever is less. The Board will determine each season the number of placements awarded, which at a minimun will be 3 places. The awards for each class will be presented within two (2) months after the last contest of the season and will either be shipped to the pilot or presented to him or her in person at the next available contest the pilot attends.
(f) All races that follow and enforce published AMA or NMPRA rules; and at which there are at least 5 pilots who enter and actually compete in at least one heat, and at least 4 rounds are flown; will be counted for national points.
(g) Races that deviate from published AMA or NMPRA rules may be counted for national points but must receive approval from a majority vote of the NMPRA Board of Directors.
(h) Pilots can only be awarded points against the pilots in their matrix. Thus, if an event contains multiple matrices, then each matrix will be considered an individual event. (EX: AMA Nationals using an A & B matrix for qualifying followed by a “finals” matrix would be considered 3 separate events.) In addition, only those pilots who actually competed in at least one heat will count. (EX: If a pilot crashes in practice and does not compete in the event, he will not count as a competitor even though his name may still be in the matrix and listed in the final standings.)
(i) The formula used to determine the points awarded to the pilot is:
Points = (100/number of entries+0.2)*(number of entries – pilot’s finish position)+1.2.

A chart to assist with the calculation was developed and is available from the NMPRA website.

   a. USING THE CHART: The numbers across the top represent the number of contestants in the race.
      Remember that this is per matrix and not the total for the entire event; also, only pilots that actually compete
      in the race count. The left column of the chart represents the finish position of the pilot.
      The intersection of column with the number of racers and the row with the finish position will show the
      points awarded to that pilot for that contest.

In addition, the NMPRA website has a comprehensive spreadsheet that automatically calculates the points to be awarded to the pilot for each contest.
(j)The NMPRA Championship race and NATS point values will be given a 10% bonus.

CERTIFICATION OF BY-LAWS

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

The undersigned, being the Secretary of the Corporation known as : NATIONAL MINIATURE PYLON RACING ASSOCIATION does hereby certify that the above and foregoing By-Laws of said corporation were duly adopted as the By-Laws thereof on the 9th day of January, 2025, and that the same do now constitute the By-Laws of said corporation.

Secretary