Park flying
 

Hey everyone,

I hope this wasn't asked before, but I'm going out on a limb.

I remember reading vaguely that a lot of public parks don't allow glow engines. At this point in my R/C career, I am not going to switch to electric either. Is this true, or am I just making things up?

Medic

RE: Park flying
 

I dont think its forbidden in all public parks. Some soccer mom my feel its unsafe for her kids and request the city ban R/C aircraft. I think that the biggest factor in most cases is noise. Where i live i dont believe i would get much static from anyone so as long as i was not diving on someones picnic.

RE: Park flying
 

It's going to be different everywhere you go. Some public parks host RC flying sites that fly glow planes, while others around the country won't let them in. Your best bet is to check out the local laws and regulations for your parks and see if you can or can't.

Ken

RE: Park flying
 

What RCKen said...

Plus the most important thing to keep in mind is safety. Parks = kids, parents, dogs, etc. Hit one, and prepare yourself for a lawsuit.

RE: Park flying
 

it's not the noise it's the safety, a plane weighing 6 1/2 lbs to 20 lbs and flying 55 to 100 mph is not a toy, you can seriously injure or kill some one or damage property

RE: Park flying
 

A 7 pound 1200 watt electric plane doesn't belong flying in a schoolyard or unused soccer field any more than a glow plane does. If model planes are small, slow, and quiet, they are pretty much welcome in puplic parks until problems start. If other people are flying "park flyers" and nobody is running them off, you can pretty much assume it's OK.

RE: Park flying
 

Well, here's one place to see if it is or is not legal for you to fly in your home town

http://www.municode.com/resources/ga...d=10869&sid=22

HTH

RE: Park flying
 

A couple of phone calls will save you some trouble. Call the parks department, and call city hall.

I fly in a public park. It's a county park reserve, and we've had a flying field there for about 12 years. It's a nice facility on the opposite side of the park reserve from where the picnickers and hikers are. I've flown my Zagi in the city parks without problem, and I've practiced hovering my Raptor in a fenced-in ball park during the slow part of the day.

Even if you get the go-ahead from the folks who run the parks, you've got some things to consider. Glow engines make noise. Noise attracts people. Most of those people aren't going to have a clue when it comes to staying out of the way and safety. You could end up with a gaggle of kids on bikes right where you need to land, right when you need to land. What will you do? Are you willing to dump your model? You better be!

Electric park flyers don't make enough noise to attract crowds. Between that and their size/weight, that's why they're pretty safe to fly in a park. Take out a glow plane larger than a .10 size, however, and it's a different ball game. You'll absolutely need a spotter--more than one, ideally. Somebody has to do crowd control, and somebody needs to keep you informed about your surroundings.

If you're new at RC, all of this becomes that much more difficult. You may not have a good grasp of the size of a field you need, not just for a runway but for an overfly area. That's larger than most people imagine when they get started. You need to be 100% in control of your model--flying it, not giving it suggestions. You need to be able to land where you intend to, and under pressure. If the police show up and tell you to land (whether you have permission to fly or not), you better be able to put that plane down right then and there in a safe, controlled manner. Lastly, your equipment needs to be in perfect order. Does your engine dead stick now and then? If it does, think very carefully about flying it in a residential park--even if, legally, you can!