Dirtnaper

My Feedback: (11)

I was on my way to the field last weekend and noticed that the local soccer fields had more poeple flying than at my club. Im pretty sure it was 99% electric but had to have been no fewer than 12 cars there. I just realized that all the electric arfs are going somewhere and I have a good idea now. I just wonder how this is effecting membership at some of the club supported fields. I do have several friends that our 100% electric and just thought they were odd balls. (i guess not) Some of the electrics out there are getting pretty big. Nothing as big as 33% but one had to have qualified for 25%.

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

It is not so much the loss of club members at these feilds, it is the safety factor and radio frequency problems that can happen. All you need do is to drive around with a frequency checker and you will be surprized. Good Luck, Dave

Bob101

Well a guy a field I was flying at and went right across the road and flew his 42% Edge at a soccer field....

I don't need a club field anymore, I fly at home now.

Charlie P.

That's good. Means I probably wo't have to wait for the pin at the club.

SDR-Hammer

Dirtnaper, I’m willing to bet that practice will come to an end before you know it.

With that many guys using the field somebody will complain and whether they have legitimate gripe or not, the powers to be that control that land will ban R/C flying. Seen it happen.[&o]

Dr1Driver

I have to agree with Hammer. Soccer field flying may be great, but you won't get run off of a club field. DavidAgar is perfectly rigtht in his concerns about public/spectator safety and radio interference/frequency conflicts.

Dr.1

scottrc

Rocketeers have been at odds with having to use soccer fields for years and always tend to lose when told to yield the right of way. It is only a matter of time.

A 42% sized plane is a little big for any of the fileds where I am at. Too many structures, light and utility poles, and bystanders doing other things to be able to fly safely. Anyone flying a plane that big in a tight, uncontrolled area is asking for trouble.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

The recent advent of ARF's and electric airplanes has been a huge boon to this sport over the past few years. This is good for many of us in that it drives prices down, but this is a good example of how our future may be in jeopardy.

In that past, we modelers were pretty much self-regulating. We joined the AMA and we flew at safe, sanctioned fields. As more and more people start flying, and smaller electric planes make the sport "Safer" and less annoying to the people around them, more and more people will start shunning the local Flying field and go to the local soccer field (et al)

Now, as the local soccer field starts getting heavily populated, what's to stop people from bringing larger electric planes there? Or Nitro Planes? Gassers?

The next thing you know, there will be pandemonium due to noise complaints and damage reports, not to mention how many of these yahoos shot down a plane at the local flying field that they didn't know was just over the hill.

Meanwhile, these entrepreneurial individuals have a whole new mindset - that is, "We don't need no stinking AMA" and "We don't need no stinking rules" so when you try to regulate them (As they should be) they will fight against a cause that they had no business creating in the first place.

And you can bet that the AMA won't help you out.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for park flying. I do it often myself. But I also know the rules and I use a little common sense. If I saw 12 cars at a soccer field, I would say, "Hey guys, it's time we did something about this"

In fact, I would say it long before it got to the point of there being 12 cars there.

If you and your buddy want to go to the park and fly your foamies, have a ball. But if you're going to do it on a regular basis with a bunch of people and with airplanes that can harm property or people, get yer butt outta there and go to a proper club field.

Montague

Also note that the AMA right now is trying to push for the creating of small, electric-only park flyer fields in built up areas specifically to address these kinds of problems. I'm not sure their approach will work, and I'm not sure the AMA has enough clue, but they are trying to do something.

I agree with Minn that if you have 12+ guys at a local soccer field, you might want to form some kind of "club" (AMA or non-AMA, does't matter) and talk to the city or parks department or whatnot to see what arrangements can be made. If you can get some park area desginated "flying ok" then you can avoid having all model flying outlawed in all parks in your area. It could happen. It may not, but it could.

Dirtnaper

My Feedback: (11)

Ive been in this hobby for 23yrs now and sure have seen some HUGE changes in the last 6yrs or so.

MinnFlyer and others on here bring up some good points, I agree whole heartily with. Personaly I too park fly however I do it with "parkflyers". I couldnt do a whole lot of damage with my eflite cap profile for example. I mean you could swat it down like a big fly. If you were hit with it property or casualty damage would be little or none. Anything thing bigger gas or glow could hurt though. Next time Im going to stop and promote my field, too bad Ive always s###ed at sales and marketing

Kaoma

My Feedback: (4)

Yep, those electron poluters...

SDR-Hammer

You and I know that but unfortunately the guy that brings his kid to work out his soccer prodigy doesn't. That’s who's gonna bring down the whole operation. Good luck on selling the club to these guys.

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away people flew airplanes on strings. On any nice Sunday afternoon you would find CROWDS of them flying these things all over town in parks, ball fields and parking lots. There were so many people flying these things that even the local Walgreens had glow plugs and glow fuel.

Very few were AMA members.

Could it be happening again?

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

And then complaints came in about the noise and fears about safety. And more and more public places were banned from operating airplanes. See any parallels?

PLANE JIM

My Feedback: (109)

And with the new technology of Spektrum radios-who needs a frequency pin or a concern about radio interference

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

Yup, we have many that don't belong to clubs. The new age of get a cheap plane and fly it anywhere is here. It is going to hurt us in the long run. You have a bunch of idiots out there buzzing hiways, putting guns on planes, putting bombs on planes, doing uav flying not worriing about where they are going or what they will affect. It will all cause problems at some point, guarenteed. You can try to talk them into joining the field, but they won't. All they care is that they can play with their toys wherever they want, and noone can tell them what to do, but boy will they screem when they are flying too close to a normal RC field and they get shot down. It will be all someone elses fault.

Hope it doesn't take too big of a toll on the hobby. It has brought a lot of positives, but many negatives as well

Live Wire

FLYBOy
The people don't care and the industry could care less the bottom dollar is what every one is after No one is going to live for ever and who cares about tomarrow[&o]

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

I think you are being sarcastic, sometime I really would like to have you guys over so we could actually talk. My worries reflect the fact that being a minority it is all too easy for some civic minded individual to basically legislate our hobby to death in the name of safety or Home land security or simply because they feel we are making a nuisance of ourselves. Look what happened to skate boarders or people who enjoyed inline skating.
John

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Put the coffee on John, I'll be right over

Charlie P.

No frequency conflicts, but I do remember some wild tangles.

I don't remember EVER having or seeing a c/l plane take off and hit a tree, car, dog, meter maid, etc. Smaller pieces, yes. If you promise to fly within a 100 ft circle we may get back to those times. Maybe if we tie a safey strap from the plane to your wrist like we had on the control line models?

Same with model rockets. I launched in a tiny city park and NEVER had an irate citizen accost me. It was a less litigious time and people were allowed to enjoy freedoms because of the acknowledged responsibility that went with them. Now we want our freedoms to be free.

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

_I_ care about the future of my hobby; it will be one of the things keeping me going in my declining years. MinnFlyer and FlyBoy are right; the "new breed" of park flyers is putting the entire hobby in jeopardy, because many of the practitioners don't know and could not care less about the finer points of the game.

I don't begrudge anyone their fun time; but your right to do as you please ends with my right to not have to worry about some bonehead screwing the deal up. I worry about a major accident bringing unwanted scrutiny on our hobby; just like I am annoyed every time my insurance rates go up when some soccer mom with a cell phone in her ear and her head up her ***** makes a grease spot out of one of you "old Harley riders"...

.