Phillip:

Sorry to hear about your loss of field and now flying off of what is literally a cow pasture.

Way back (well sort of) in 1988 we leased our field on a turf farm. We figured we had best start to figure out how to get our own land so we raised the dues from $25.00 to $100.00 and marked the increase for a "land fund". We averaged 100 members the next two years and finally were able to put together a deal to buy 10 acres in very rural Broken Arrow, Ok. for $2,500/acre in 1990. We made a down payment and the owner carried the balance on a "contract for deed" for 10 years at 9%. We ended up paying off the mortgage a year early. With monies left from the land fund and "members zero interest loans" we were able to put in a 400 ft asphalt runway the first year. Since then we have added covered areas, concrete taxi-ways and start-up pads, heli/turbine-start pads. a clubhouse with central heat and air, indoor plumbing (mens and womans restrooms), kitchen, etc. We also took ownership of the rural water line that serves our area two years ago. Our dues are still $100.00 and our average membership since 1991 has been 90.

We were fortunate in that we have members whose skills are in areas we needed for construction, members who gave zero-interest loans and members who just donated money and materials. We could not have accomplished this without the support of so many members. I would think you would need this type of support also.

As far as land, you need to get as much as you can get. Besides our 10 acres, we lease 5 acres at the North and South end of our field to allow for runway overruns and to keep fence lines from the ends of the runways. Eventually, we will need to relocate (development is slowly marching towards us) but we will should be able to get a fair price for our spot.

Currently, we figure that our club assets (including the land that was last appraised at $3,500/acre) at $75,000.

We just decided to bite the bullet and not try to lease land anymore. We figured we needed to control that side and when we needed to sell, we would get the profit to put towards another site.

I would have to think that you would need at least 10 acres for you base and probably 80 to 100 surrounding for a flyover zone. Obviously you probably can't purchase 100 acres but if you are careful in picking out your site you can have some assurances that you have amply fly-over area. Our closest structure is a church exactly 1 mile away.

Hope this gives a little insite. It is not an easy task and you absolutely must have a committed membership (at least the majority) that will not only support the effort but understand that it will take time to make it happen.

Good luck.

Dan

edit starts here:

you can visit our website at www.americanturfflyers.com if you want to look at what we have accomplished.