Originally Posted by
franklin_m
A couple years back, I flew my CL FliteStreak at the school, and a couple walking their dog came over to check it out. I had an 0.049 flat wing plane that I brought along, and put the husband on the handle for a bit. He said that he was always interested in trying it, and thanked me.
About three months ago, I flew a large EDF there, and although staff was around (after school hours, no school events or kids on field), nobody said a thing. There's two guys flying sailplanes here about once a month for the seven years I've lived here. I stopped by to talk with them one weekend not long after I moved here. They left the club because it was too expensive and they learned they didn't need it to fly. In fact, there's no altitude limit at the school, where there's a 600' cap at the AMA field.
They let people hit golf balls, walk dogs, etc. All of which is during non school hours / no athletic events. It seems people are generally being smart about it.
It's funny you mention the golf thing, some of the parks around here specifically list that as something that is not allowed. I get the reason why, nobody wants to get clocked by a ball, but for the most part I've only seen guys using foam or plastic balls.
I fly at a few fields around here when I don't feel like making the trek to my field, and I've met some great people that way. I usually have my clubs card on hand to give them, or other clubs info depending on where they live. I picked up a box of cheap gliders on Amazon a few years back and hand those out too, only if parents are around. People don't think they can fly something until they try, and the buddy box gives them a certain measure of confidence.