ldb757

I just had the experience of being told by a sheirif that it is against the law to fly my foam electric park flyer in any ingham county park in Michigan. I looked up the rules and they prohibit all rockets,balloons and model aircraft. I wondered if it is just my luck to live in a communist state or is this the norm everywhere??

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

sadly it is more and more common........

Dr.Watson

My Feedback: (10)

what a crock of ****!!!!!!! thats no fair! why would they ban them? their quiet! if its for safety reasons, look at school football and other regular functions! sorry bout that!

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Another reason to support your model aircraft support group of choice. So far AMA has done me right.

pcsketch

Been flying (small electric) in the city parks for 12 years. Mayor said, "Don't ask. You will get a automatic NO. It is your park use it." Several times police has stopped and watch us fly then drive on. If you call the parks dept the answer is NO. Figure it out for your self. Being retired I'll give you my 92 year old friends advice: No body gives a damn as long as you don't annoy them.

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Facts and perception are usually two different things. Model aircraft are generally perceived as dangerous, disruptive nusiances regardless of how large they are or how they are powered.

Yes, sports like soccer and football are more likely to cause injury, but they're POPULAR. R/C flying is not by comparison. Guess who gets priority say in what the parks are used for? Yep, the screaming soccer moms...

That law is probably the result of someone trying to fly a large glow-powered plane in the park some time ago, and may be ripe for change if you can show the county government that there are enough voters out there that fly small electric airplanes.

whitegrizzley

It is a confusing thing here in Ohio also. I went to 2 different metro parks with the family. Flew my new cub 4 times at one and 6 times at the other. If the park had any people around, I wouldn't fly. On several occasions the park rangers drove by and watched it fly. In fact , at the first park. The rangers were laughing at us ( me ) when I landed in the tree and was trying to get the thing down by throwing an ice scraper up at it to knock it down. The second park was a haven for flying. No trees and 3 foot high grass surrounding about 6 + acres of lawn. Once again, on several occasions the park rangers drove by and watched it fly, waved and continued on. My "last" time there, I didn't even get the plane up in the air before the ranger truck come flying up through. This time it was a "rangerette". She told me any radio controlled devices are forbiden in the parks. I told her about the other rangers watching me fly. She just said hmmm, well these thing are not allowed here. Well so much for a nice place to fly.

aflipz

My Feedback: (10)

As i mentionned in another thread. Download google earth to look at your neighbourhood from the sky close up, i guarantee you you'll find some vacant spaces where you can fly without being annoyed by anyone... I have several really close by, in a city located on a relatively small island populated by about 2 000 000 people...

sprintdawg007

I know model rockets are illegal here..The police showed up and told us that someone had complained we were being disruptive...
No one's stopped me from flying though...yet...

caliber305

I'm in Oregon, you know, tree's and tree's and rain. I looked around and saw all these large fields of cut hay, so, I asked a farmer if i could fly my Electric Battery Powered planes in his field? "Electric", he said, " Why sure, there's a road in on the end of that field so you can get out to the center. Just stay out of the clover!". Now I can fly anytime in a 40 acre field in the middle of nowhere with the farmers blessings. I just make sure that I stay out of the CLOVER, and that I take out ANY TRash i see, even if it isn't mine.

If you got any farmers in your area, (and who doesn't?) Just ask, tell what you got, SHOW 'em. Most think our planes are pretty cool. Worst case ---- They say NO, then ask another.

ridietz

My Feedback: (7)

Here is one reason to limit where park flyers fly.

My club field is within hundreds of yards of a public park. The town has an ordinance against flying in the park so that we don't shoot each other down. We have been unsuccessful in convincing park flyers to fly with us and we cannot afford a accident on our field on a state correctional facility property.

This problem will increaseas the number of park flyers increases. A lot of park flyers don't want AMA membership, insurance, and our dues.

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Being driven out of public parks and off school fields is nothing new. R/Cers have had to deal with this problem since the beginning of practical R/C flight. That's why we have the AMA, clubs, dues, etc.. We've had to band together and create our own places to fly, and that's what the people with electric park flyers are going to have to do if they want to continue flying. Soccer moms, dog walkers, neighbors, and other "concerned citizens" are going to keep driving "these hooligans and their dangerous toy planes" out of public areas.

This is usually the first exposure many people have to the "real world" and how it works. It's quite a shock to see how some people react to something we know is a rather worthwhile and relatively safe activity.

erauskydiver

I just read on our local government's Parks and Recreation website that a park very close to me has a field that was built and set aside specifically for RC Airplanes, and it's not owned/ ruled by any RC clubs! I'm so excited. See ya latter Jr. High School athletic fields, hello park!

GWR

My Feedback: (31)

The law was probably enacted before these small, electric park flyers were available. They were banned when all you had were people bringing the kids and trying to fly those loud Cox CL planes that were uncontrolable. If you really want to try, go to a council meeting with a video and show them how small and quiet we've gotten.