skylark-flier
Posts: 111
Joined: 9/25/2002
From: Luray,
VA, USA
Status: offline
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Alright, I've been following this thread (and a few others that are semi-related) for awhile so I guess I'd like to finally chime in here with a bit of "IMHO". PLEASE! Nobody take this personal - it isn't intended to be anything other than my own opinion as relates to our own local situation.
First, SAFETY: I'm going to agree that there are places in the rules that are a bit confusing, maybe even approaching impossible, but those safety rules are there with the sole intention of keeping everybody (fliers and spectators) alive and in one piece. The biggest rule I've learned in my 53 years of flying (CL & RC) is simple common sense - "if it might be dangerous to ANYONE or ANYTHING, you don't do it". As far as the occasional field bully goes, security in numbers always works - he/she is one, the rest of the fliers are many. Enforce the local rules!!!!!!!!! That's how we keep our flying fields.
Living out here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, there aren't a whole lot of fliers around our local area. Hence, there aren't very many "official" flying fields around either, the closest being more than 40 miles away. We've got (here in Luray) about a dozen guys who fly - half fly electric (park-type), half fly glow (mostly .35-.45 planes). Our field consists of a fenced-in PUBLIC RECREATION PARK, with baseball, football & soccer fields, picnic areas, an exercise trail and a rather large (about 25 acres) open area - all surrounded by local farm fields. We fly in the open area. Because the park is owned by the town there's no way we can permanently set up any of the recommended (required) fencing, pits areas, etc - shoot, we're just now working with the town to have a section of the large field allocated to us officially as a "runway area" (about 150 feet square), and they're leaning in our direction rather nicely at the moment. We want to have it actually leveled and smoothed this fall, will actually pay for the work ourselves so we don't put any financial burden on the town - even though it's their territory in the first place.
Now, how does that relate to the thread? We're not even an AMA club, although we're working on it. We've adopted AND WE ENFORCE STRINGENTLY the general AMA safety codes in every way that we can, most especially in where the planes are parked, WHERE and HOW they can be flown, and the like. With the set-up of the park, our flying area is completely on one side of it. We fly with our backs to all the other activities areas and no plane is ever allowed to pass behind us (over the "populated" area). This is the UNBREAKABLE rule - no plane is ever to even approach the other side, for any reason.
Our set-up isn't "legal" as far as AMA is concerned, I'm sure, but it's what we have to work with. The town "fathers" are happy with the way we operate, they've actually seen us enforcing the rules as we have them posted. We've had our share of visiting "know it all's" who did as they pleased (for one flight) and were invited to fly elsewhere.
I'm sure our situation isn't unique, it's probably common to about 90% of fliers. The point is, we do everything we can to keep it as safe and fun as we can, on land we don't own - and I don't think AMA would criticize us for the effort.
I may be wrong.
Dave W.
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Dave W. - - "Old-school" R/C & C/L Flier & Instructor
AMA 767985 (originally 94881)
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RE: Confusion on AMA rules for flying field - 
RE: Confusion on AMA rules for flying field - 
