ORIGINAL: archerry
What is the true reason we are quickly losing our flying fields? I was recently told buy a few individuals that it was the noise factor. I really think that is a lot of bunk....
You are both correct and incorrect. The case can well be argued either side. I am well aware of GLIDER Clubs having "Noise" problems. There are people that cannot tolerate seeing others enjoying themselves.
OTOH I used to wade-fish near a RC Club. As an active modeler, certainly I was, and still am, extremely biased to the modeler, yet I could understand how those constant buzzing pesty airplanes could spoil the serenity for the non-modeler. Piper chuck stated it very well. It is true.
I've been back into this hobby for several years now and one of the clubs I belong to has lost one of it's fields in favor of a housing development, (land value has gone up significantly here in California again). Another club that I belong to is being encroached on by dirt bike tracks (and I'm being told that model airplanes are noisy?) One large club at an old airport just closed down in the area and one of the largest fields in the area is being threatened now. WHY? How could these clubs (we) lose fields that are in remote canyons or in wide open areas were very little population exists and be the noise factor? I just get sick to hear that another golf course is going in somewhere when I live on one and only see maybe 10 to 15 people on average go by a day. I begin to wonder sometimes how they are able to keep and maintain their courses.
Is the light dawning? IT's MONEY. MONEY, and more money, is the answer. For many years the modeler has been a "hobbyist", and never considered himself a sportsman. Far too many still do. These hobbyists simply do not want to pay their just dues. Look at the cost of golf. People here don't think much of going out and paying a $100 for a couple to spend a couple hours chasing a white pill. They do it once or three times a week. That is big money overall.
Now take the average RCer. he thinks it is OK to invest hundreds of $$$ in a couple machines, but BALKS big time at spending several hundred $$$ a YEAR to have a place to operate those machines. Far too many 'hobbyists' are in layman's words simply pure cheap s--ts, uh I mean cheap skates.[>:]
If modelers want to keep fields, then they need to go out and BUY, DEVELOP, and maintain their fields. To depend on others to fund their recreation is pure folly. In this society which we live in, depending on others is going to be a thing of the past in the not too distant future. Get a 100 guys together, each pitch in 2-5 thousand, form a IRC 501 (c) (7) corporation and you have a start in setting up a facility. You may have some older types with a lot of money to invest long long term (recent retirees with big payouts into IRAs are good) and they can finance a sizable amount of land for your Club, Inc. (Sterling Trust, Waco TX is a specialist in IRA real estate investing.)
There are many techniques to maintain the property, such as leasing the over-fly to a farmer. Don't be greedy, as he is maintaining a lot of your land for you and probably keeping it in an Agriculture Tax Basis. However first GET the property, and expect to drive a bit if you live in an urban area.
What I really think is that it's all our fault because there is not enough of us trying to be friends with the community. All most of us want to do is go to the field and fly our planes and that's cool too. But I don't want to hear you pee and moan and complain when you lose your field........ I'm going to ask you what you could have done to prevent it.
I think the answer is that all of us that care about this hobby and are interested in keeping our air fields should be more active in the community by doing things for the public (outside of air shows) like after school programs and more things for charities, etc.
Do you think with AMA's help, that we would be able accomplish this?
Forget AMA. The current AMA leadership has all it can do to just pour the water out of a wet boot with directions on the heel.
Forget the 'community' until you are a taxpayer. They might then listen.
Agreed that it is your fault.