We had the issue for a while when we first started using the benches. We put big "No Parking" signs on them and 98% of the problem went away.

We have about 20 benches at my field and they do fill up. I always try to get their early though and am usually done flying by the time the last few are occupied. I dont think it is ever a "issue" though as their are some big 4x8 tables also and some guys like those better especially for the electrics or helis.

We do tend to stay at a bench until we are done though.

When I was club president, I put a notice in the newsletter that the benches were starting benches not storage benches. If you leave your plane on the bench, and it gets blown off it is your fault. Personally I prefer starting on the ground(At 64 I am still loose enough to do it.). Also I normally fly 33% planes. They are tough to lift off the bench after I get them running. Have to watch the uprights with a 27in prop. Normally our club is small enough that the benches don't get used up. However, I am not above building my own bench for others to use except when I am there.

It's kind of odd the way we do it at our club. We have four benches. Some get occupied, some do not. I've been there when the only bench activity was with someone breaking in an engine on a plane. The rest of the guys were on the ground.

As for me, I use a bench. I set up my plane(s) on the bench, then put them on the ground in behind my car next to my chair. Then, when I am ready to fly, I grab a vacant bench and go for it. No big deal.

But, often, someone will come to the field and occupy a bench until he/she leaves. No one complains. We don't normally have more than five or six folks there at any one time, except perhaps during a meet or something. When that happens, most use the ground. So, we don't really have a problem.

CGr.

The club I tag along too is really laid back, never seen anyone get all bent out of shape, half the time they are all like "here, use my starting gear" (if my model dies halfway to the runway for example).
There are personal boundaries like 'don't touch my stuff without asking', but other than that it's more like 'live and let live, and lets all enjoy all this hobby'
There was/is a local club I went along too that had that anal uptight manner ..... only went there once, rather prefer to enjoy than deal with that BS ..... that said, I'm like 6ft tall and 250+ pounds, so maybe that has something to do with the reason the don't say no to me at the local club?? (LOL)

Is that the reason they say yes to you??.. Ialways thought that the people were always simply being nice to me.. Strange

Well I read thru this old thread and must say I'm surprised by some of the problems some have faced over the issues and even more perplexed by some of the responses.

Always at the 3 clubs I've been priviledged to be a member at if you occupied a bench it was yours until you left for the day. Naturally you might let someone in on it while you took a break but they knew not to occupy it; just get started and then clear off. Once you are thru for the day you also will graciously clear the bench even if you then hang around for awhile longer.

If all benches are taken by the time you are ready to set up you just find a spot in the pit area and set up on the ground or wait around for a bench to possibly clear.

But I've never seen anyone cause a fuss over this and would be tempted to leave a club that had the problem since it means too many folks are in the air at the same time anyway. For me this would be no more than 3 at one time and preferably only 2 at one club and the other a max of 4 with still preferably only 2.

Regards,

Clay

In most cases the club "elders" or leaders tend to set the tone and treatment for everyone else.

We do not have run-up stations, merely five work tables.

If they are unused with no demand, we can camp on them all day...

However if someone shows up the tendancy is to invite them to share/use your table.

Such behaviour is demonstrated during training sessions, and tends to propegate to everyone.

Club officers make it a habit of "being nice".

Although the field that I fly at has two of these stands, I still prefer my loop of rope and stake. Just because I like the idea of working on the ground. Not the greatest for this 57 y/o knees, but I feel safer. I don't have to pickup the plane and set it on the ground. Just my opinion.

We have 3 starting stands and a separate row of picnic tables for working on planes and general socializing. Our club is big and it's rare that there are any conflicts. The stands/benches are for starting only so people may leave a starter there but nothing else. And we store our planes on the ground when not flying them so people can sit at the tables. The club is fairly big and the arrangement works well.

My "field" has no benches, chairs, shade, grass, asphalt, charging stations or fencing. If you need or want something, you bring it. That system works great. I bring shade, lawn chair, table, ice chest and my beagle.

With that said, if there was a problem, I would just bring my own fold out table.

Call me a tree hugging hippie if you want (you'd be majorly wrong though), but this idea that you stake a piece of your club or own it for the day just sounds drunk to me (I'm refraining from using the tone/exact words needed to describe the feeling).
For example, how many of you have belonged to a boating club with your trailer boat? .... when you use the club boat ramp, you use it to get your boat in or out of the water, then clear out to let the next guy in line have access, and if you don't make way often enough and hog the ramp all the time, it could cost you your membership. Don't know about you, but picking up your plane and letting the next guy in sounds a LOT easier than moving a couple of tonnes of car and boat!
All I can say is chill, get over yourselves, let others have their turn, and hey, at worst, you helped someone out, and at best you might get to know someone new! Paying your dues/fees at a club entitles you to belong to the group and share the facilities, paying your fees does not generally mean that the club hands over the ownership of the entire field to just you so you can sit around saying "mine mine mine"!
Live and let live I say.

I sort of prefer the stands myself, but it really depends on what I am flying that day. My smaller planes I like having on a stand. One field I fly at does not even have stands the other has lots of them. The one without stands only has two tables for assembly and such.

I do notice that it is easier on the old body to use the stands [X(] A well designed stand is very nice and accommodating especially for refueling, working with small screws, changing props, radio placement, engine settings, etc. Sometimes it seems a bit safer using the stands, although with larger prop planes you do have to watch taking the plane off the stand and sitting it on the ground.

I suppose there is an argument for both sides of this coin. Having the opportunity to fly with and without stands has allowed me to see the pros and cons of both.

Hey 1320Fastback , the person in the photo that has the SeaGull Harrier 3D. Blue with the red rudder. What size engine does he have on that. I am finishing mine and was wondering what to put on it. Looking at a ASP 108 at present. He is the first person on the right.

Hat's off the the posters. I can't believe that no one took the bait in my post about starting a 33% on a bench. Must be a pretty mannerly bunch of folks. Or MAYBE they have club members who actually do it. Usually someone would call me a moron and flame me for doing it. It would take some kind of bench and cojones to really do it.

I have hada fewrequests to scale up my bench plans to hold really large planes. After some feedback from some of the club members, I did make the tail piece 6" longer from the original design and made the wing support uprights wider to accommodate wide gear planes and provide more prop clearance. Right now I think the bench is large enough as is and should not be made any larger.It will hold something like a 15 lb,82" Wingspan, Giant Super Sportsterwith no problem.Planes larger than that are usually put on the ground.

I think there is a federal law that each club has to havea certain percentage ofjerks. Sometimes they can be trained to play well with others, if not, maybe they can beforced to go to a club that needs to meet their federalquota.

I do really like them for working on a plane to analyze a problem.

To be honest I can see different habits and cultures developing at a field largely dependent on how well the members know one another, how many members it has and what other R/C fields are available.

As a kid a buddy and I spent many days at an open park at the end of our street with .049 C/L planes. No benches nor flight boxes then; just a shoe box or cigar box with "stuff" in it, a starting battery and a jug of fuel. It was always a 2-man proposition and the length of your control lines established "your space".

In Houston, TX at Jetero where I really started R/C we had many members, limited usable weekends due to weather and crowding was a problem. But demanding inconsiderate types were soon told to fly elsewhere and the rest of the folks were considerate, thoughtful and to me generous and helpful. It was a great indoctination and probably why I still am drawn to the hobby.

Who wants to surround themselves with inconsiderate folks?

If a club has officers that aren't willing to aggressively confront and eliminate undesirables you best seek another place to fly because bickering clicks are soon to destroy any harmonious activity.

A "starting bench war" would be symptomatic of a greater problem.

My thoughts,

Clay

Succinctly put.

I trained at a club with 160 members and 7 starting benches. It was just to far from home so now I belong to this club with no starting benches and no tables.
I really dont know how to start an airplane from the ground, plus it looks uncofortable. With the help of this forums I got plans and build a starting bench. I left it at the club for everybody to use. Although I build it, painted it and took it to the club I do not expect it to be 100% mine.
If Im not starting anyone can use it to start and then clear it.
If you leave a starter in there dont get mad if anybody else use it. After all you left it there.

Believe it or not, one of the clubs I am in has a large bench at the end for the larger planes and what is amazing is that guys use it. One guy puts his 50cc gasser on there religiously. I have heard him say and sweet having that stand for his larger planes is. He straps the back of the plane down and does all sort of work and it makes it much easier than bending down. After his initial pre-flight and other checks he usually starts from the ground and flies.

We put these "No Parking" signs on our benches to help with the problem. They worked pretty well for 90% of the club members, but we forgot about the 10% who can't read and/or follow directions. Training for them is ongoing.

Claim a spot on the ground. Get a large and heavy door mat for start-up purposes. You kneel one one end and the prop is just over the other. This helps keep crap from being sucked up into the prop. It helps you to keep track of stuff that gets lost in the grass. I personally feel it is safer than having an airplane up on a bench. For me it's a personal choice and not a subject for argument. If this sounds like something you'd like, great! If this sounds like baloney, great!

This has to be one of the weakest threads I've read, change your maxi-pad and fly-