Maybe some clubs just give in too easily. Maybe we should remember that we’re the ones being kicked out and perhaps we should stop being so nice about it. It may be that the town has a curfew on noise between 10:00 pm and 8:00 am, for example, and no other ordinance that affects model planes. It may be that such an ordinance would take a long time to pass and result in legal fees that the complainers would not be willing to pay for. I think the ideal solution for us would be that a club member is the land owner and leases to the club. If anyone complains, he could just say “Hey, these are my friends and we’re flying – now get lost”.

We just lost a flying field because the new property owner was not happy about the noise but also had several other complaints that made him seem quite “territorial”. Fortunately, we live in a rural area and have our pick of several sites from land owners who want us there. I live in a newer development where each house has about an acre, yet I’m still known as the noisy neighbor. I don’t run model engines at my house. I wouldn’t do that to the neighbors, but yet I’ve had Cops come to the door for stuff I do inside my own home (mostly related to my other hobby of collecting guitars and amps). Generally, the Cop says “Look, you’re not breaking any laws but…..”. That’s when I stop him and say “well if I’m not breaking any laws…..”

Now a 100-watt vacuum tube amplifier pumps as much adrenalin as any of my model planes do but when the sound is just background noise off in the distance, I don’t think either one is any more annoying than the constant drone of a lawn mower running next door for the two hours or so that it takes to mow an acre. But I’ve got them beat there too – my garden tractor is a 1972 all-metal monster that’s a bit louder that most of the newer ones – and it’s going to stay that way. I guess I’m just getting sick of all the sniveling about noise.