3D Flyer

My Feedback: (37)

Our club recently lost its flying field. Any suggestions on finding a new one?
How did your clubs find your existing site?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

dant-RCU

My Feedback: (3)

When we bought our current facility we had a 3 member committee ("land committee"). They spent some time driving around rural areas noting "acceptable" and "not acceptable" areas. Once they had noted the "acceptable" areas, then they worked with personal contacts and real estate agents to locate the land. The rest was just negotiations with the land owner. Took 3 months from the time the land committee started the search until we had located and finalized the deal.

Worked for us.

Another local club went the "Government use" way through the county and located a facility that is part of the county park system and obtained a long term (but somewhat restricted) lease.

Worked for them.

Dan

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

When you find a surefire method of acquiring flying sites please publish it for all to use. I'm sure we would be happy to pay a fee for use of the system. The way dant_RCU and his club went about it is very good if you have a club of the size necessary to actually purchase a site.
Another requirement is having a choice of available land. We are surrounded by the US Forest Service with a Head Ranger who is actively opposed to public use of HIS land. Stated once that he wouldn't give an acre of land to a camp for disabled inner city kids. If I thought he could read and understand it I would point to the dictiionary and have him look up the term Public Servant. Grrr !!!

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

From what I have found, contacting county governments and farmers is about the best way to find a place.

3D Flyer

My Feedback: (37)

I have done this and we have a meeting with the Director of Parks and Rec for our county. How do suggest we deal with the following issues:

1. Too much noise
2. Overflights
3. Multi use vs. single use (the county feels compelled to not give land to folks with specific needs as we are all county taxpayers)


Any suggestions would help greatly.

FHHuber

1) dirve around looking for places that would work.
2) contact the owner of the property and ask.

(sometimes... it is that simple)

Look at local parks and recreation areas. There's usually land near a resevoir, controlled by Army Corps of Engineers which will work. The Corps of Engineers is usually going to approve you if you know how to approch them. (contact the AMA for assist in preparing for that)

Some closed landfills can't be used for much other than model airfields.

Possibilities will be there... its a matter of finding and persuing them.

*****
had this up and got called away from the machine...

Noise...
1) you can limit the noise of the models used. Modern engines are much quieter than they were just 10 years ago. Just choosing a different propeller (getting tip speed below 0.6 mach) can reduce noise tremendously. There are ways to make the modern engines quieter with little to no power loss. (adding a secondary muffler, if designed right works and they are EASY to make.)
2) get some sound readings done on models in flight. A typical .40 size trainer almost can't be heard at 1/4 mile from the flying site with a stock muffler.

Overflights...
You need to pick the site such that there will be NO overflight of houses or busy roads. To commonly fly over houses and roads is asking to lose a field.
flying over a neighboring property... you need to be considerate of the neighbor.
Really if your site isn't big enough to keepthe models over the site at least 90%(meaning 90% of COMPLETED FLIGHTS didn't cross the boundary at all.) of the time.... your site is too small to not have an agreement with the neighbor.
If a plane goes down on a neighbors property you need to be courteous about retriving the model and minimizing any remains being left behind. (can't get every sliver of splintered wood... but if its 1 square inch it better get put in the bag.)
If anything is damaged by your model Report it to the damaged item's owner. Yes, they may be upset... but they will be less upset if you tell them rather than them finding a propellor shape dent in the car, and no one around to accept responsibility for the damage.

Multi-use. That would be a matter of scheduling use of the site. That would also mean you will probably have a limited number of years before the alternate use(s) take over and force you to find a new field.

There is a chance of a School's property being large enough that with the school's permision you can fly there when it does not interfere with the school's use of the property. The best way to find and get allowed to do this... have at least an anual demo with hands-on buddy box time for a science class. Give the school a bit of a bennefit from allowing you to be there on Saturdays and Sundays.

***

Lots of things CAN work... nothing works if you don't try.

Jim Messer

My Feedback: (2)

We lost our field due to development. So we went to the county commissioners, with a good recommendation from the previous owner, and asked where we could fly on county property. They listened, and within a month they took us to some virgin property, someday to be used for a landfill. It's georgeous. We submitted a set of rules, showed AMA insurance, and within another month the site was approved by a 100% vote of the commissioners. Within another month they went to work with their graders and rollers, and made a NS and EW runway that we seeded at club expense. Then they put us in a parking lot, and a paved road to the field. We installed a sprinkler system, drilled a well, and had electric installed at club expense. Within four months from the date of asking, we were flying off the new field. We fly on a 50 acre site with no trees or obstructions of any description, and this has turned out to be the finest flying field that I have ever seen. It turned out so good, in fact, that the county commissioners took it upon themselves to build a second field for a neighboring town about 20 miles away, at no expense to the modelers. We pay nothing for the use of this field. That's all there is to it. Go ask!