I am the person who started the the "RC aircraft banned in Redondo Beach, CA" and I am afraid we may also loose Dockweiler State Beach. The site is about a 30 foot hill right on the beach with the bike trail right behind it and a parking lot just past that. It is also an officially recognized hang gliding site. We have always gotten along great with the hang glider guys. This site has a very minimal slope but a huge beach to land on if you have any problems. I use this site to test out my all of my new gliders. I see Jerry from Trick R/C (Zagi) there testing new plane designs from time to time.

I was taking hang gliding lessons this Sunday and was very disturbed by what I saw. A person was flying an electric powered foamy plane and buzzing people on the bike path. As soon as I saw this I quickly ran over to the slope and calmly asked him what he was doing. I told them that it was very dangerous and that even a 1 pound object going at 30-40 mph could knock someone over or seriously injure them. Even at a few miles per hour there are sharp pushrod ends and a sharp prop that could cut someone. His attitude was it was made out of foam and plastic and it would not hurt anyone. I replied with a small piece of foam is what damaged the space shuttle wing... and the discussion continued for quite some time.

I went back to my hang gliding lesson and about 10 minutes later he was back buzzing the bike path but this time he hit a cyclist. He was laughing out loud and did not even apologize to the person. As the cyclist approached the hang gliding area I made sure to talk to him. I tried to explain to him that the pilot was irresponsible and a rouge. I also explained to him about the AMA and the rules that the AMA follows and about AMA insurance even though this is not an AMA site. He was still furious and was going to file a complaint with the county.

What can I do in the situation? I was tempted to somehow confiscate the persons plane but I have no authority to do that. I could call the police but that could also cause us to loose the site. I plan to find out what it takes to setup an AMA club at this site but with the bike path so close I do not think it will be possible.