Mike2002

The club that I go to fly at right now is about 50 minutes away and it is really hard to find a way to make time to go and enjoy flying. Well, anyways, I have heard of some clubs in different states getting flying fields from the state and being called state parks. The field would help many local businesses around my area and get many more people interested in the hobby. So, if anyone out their is in a club that has come about that way or know about one could you tell me. Try to include how they got the park started if you know that information. I really want to get more involved in the hobby, but it is hard when the only time to do it is on a weekend 50 minutes away from your home. Thank you.

hiroboz

Hi,
I don't know the ins and outs of how it happened but, We have a gun/skeet club in our area. They were more than willing to let us fly there. Do as you say, see if your city owns any land that they would let you fly on. (get the permission in writing)
This is a good post, at least your not endangering anyone by flying at your local highschool. I'm spending more and more time flying my Heli. I am assuming (being the only one that flies heli's) that the field members won't really like the heli on our field. I too am looking for a safe place to fly it. I hope others will chime in on this one. Great post very responsible

KidVermin

My Feedback: (3)

Mike:

First contact the AMA and ask for an information packet to find
out the groundwork for starting a chapter. Look up some of the
officers in your District and ask for the best plan to approach your
local city planners. You can't just go out and create a park unless
you own & rezone at least one hundred acres in a remote area.
Contact your local county or state parks and recreation dept.and see if there is a part of an existing park that can be used for flying. Good luck in dealing with local city officials.

Let the AMA work with you on the safety regulations, field lay-out and other restrictions the city would be asking for. You have a
long uphill road ahead. Having a good lawyer on your team would help too.

glowplug

My Feedback: (1)

Our club field is located on a State Park....but the State Park was there way before the field. The club has to do all of the maintenence in the field area. Anybody that is an AMA member can fly there, and the combo to the gate can be had from the park office, if you have a valid AMA card.
Do you have any state parks around you Mike? Maybe you should try to get a field in a park that's already established.

dant-RCU

My Feedback: (3)

Mike:

State, county, etc parks and places are an option of course. Another option is to locate an old landfill. These areas are not built on so they are really not "gross revenue generators" for anyone and are usually in an area that gives a lot of flying space.

I talked with Dawn Ellzey (JPO Rep for District 8) two years ago at our jet meet and she said that her club in Ft. Worth, Texas was flying from an old landfill in the Ft. Worth area and she felt it was an excellent situation. I have also read some past articles in Model Mags (don't remember which or when) talking about the same thing.

If you could locate one nearby (don't know where you are located) and cut a deal it would seem to be a "win-win" for all parties.

Just my .02 on this subject.

I am very fortunate to belong to a club that owns our own field outright. Nice feeling.

Dan

Aladinbama

A former club I belonged to was basically given use of a retired runway at a smaller airport as long as they followed certain guidelines so as to not interfere with the new runway which paralelled it some 1000 yards away. The club I now belong to (I moved) uses a grass field ia a park donated by the city. It's a very nice field (we take care of the main runways and imediate areas, the city takes care of most of the surrounding areas) with two runways that intersect to limit crosswind landings.
Look around where you live for empty land that could possibly be used for a field, find out who owns it, and use the AMA guidelines to see if you can get it converted to a flying field.
Good Luck,
Tom

CAPtain232

My Feedback: (40)

I moved to this little town that I live in about year and a half ago. I started walking my dog at the park and for the longest time I hardly ever saw anyone out there. I went to a board meeting and got permission to fly there. I am the only one in town that flies RC so I have all the maintenance to do myself. I now have a 200' North/South runaway and a 300' West/East runway. It is working out really well for me as it is only a bolck and a half from home. There are crop fields to the South and East of the runways.

Good Luck,
Jeff

MAJSteve

My Feedback: (-1)

Coachella Valley R/C club spent the better part of two years on site acquisition. This finally resulted in obtaining Bureau of Reclamation land that had been designaged as a soil bank.

This piece of land is approximately 290 acres and we will footprint less than 10% of it. The process was coordinate with govt officials to locate their property, identify suitable sites, propose that the land be leased to the county as a park site, get the county to make us the conservators of our area (only). This took an additional year.

A BIG plus was that our club proposed that it was an educational area as well, and this got a couple of schools behind it. The more letters you get from your legislators, the more pull you get when it comes to negotiation.

We were lucky in that we had a club member who had the tenacity to stay with the process through thick and thin. If you have one of these type people, you'll do ok. If you don't, I doubt it'll ever happen.

Because of the foresight of our club president, we have a field. Our current landlord gave us 30 days to clear out of our old field because of complaints by a horse boarder a 1/4 away. Doesn't take much, that's for sure.