A Month Left at our Field...

[Shug Emery]

With only a month left at our current flying field and some warm weather a bunch of us ended up out flying Tuesday eve. It was not too windy and felt like some of those good Summer nights when the field was buzzing.
We flew and gabbed and had a new member Tom come by and John Christensen let him fly his Cardinal. Now the hook is truly set on Tom. He flew it smoothly and landed. He is a re-tread and coming back in with gusto.
Shug

[Peter Grabenstein]

sad to read , one month left.
"GOOD LUCK" to all Piston Poppers finding new Circles.

[john e. holliday]

Sorry to hear you are losing a great looking field.    Get Keith to take his real big plane up and the both of you start scoping out the area.   Or do a google or yahoo maps.   I think that is how Dave found the field we are using.  Reminds me, I need to go fly even if I'm alone.

[Randy Cuberly]

If you haven't yet done so...contact the local parks department and discuss the potentials with them.  Tucson has one of the best flying fields in the country through close association with the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department.

Sell it based on recreation potential and the ability for it to provide influx of tourists to the area.  Business like it when 50 to 100 people come into to town for things like Model Airplane Contests.

The AMA probably won't help much since it's a CL field you're looking for but contact them anyway.  That's one of the things we pay dues for, help with flying sites is supposed to be in their Charter!

Randy Cuberly

[Shug Emery]

sad to read , one month left.
"GOOD LUCK" to all Piston Poppers finding new Circles.

Great rendition. Me and my friends played that cut the other night just jammin'......
Thankee.
Shug

[Shug Emery]

Sorry to hear you are losing a great looking field.    Get Keith to take his real big plane up and the both of you start scoping out the area.   Or do a google or yahoo maps.   I think that is how Dave found the field we are using.  Reminds me, I need to go fly even if I'm alone.

Thanks Doc. We got places but the problem is getting approval. We'll keep at it.
Shug

If you haven't yet done so...contact the local parks department and discuss the potentials with them.  Tucson has one of the best flying fields in the country through close association with the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department.

Sell it based on recreation potential and the ability for it to provide influx of tourists to the area.  Business like it when 50 to 100 people come into to town for things like Model Airplane Contests.

The AMA probably won't help much since it's a CL field you're looking for but contact them anyway.  That's one of the things we pay dues for, help with flying sites is supposed to be in their Charter!

Randy Cuberly

Thanks Randy. They all want something in return but finding a park that wii forgo baseball and soccer space and away from houses has been tough as far as I have heard at meeting. We will continue on. May be a lonely park somewhere near a highway.
Shug

[Dave_Trible]

What we ended up with was property owned by the city parks department that has few plans and no current money for development.  We just have to take care of it on our own.  I expect other cities and towns have donated or abandoned areas like that you might find but would have to ask about because they may not show up on a list of parks.  It turns into a journey.

Dave

Kevin running the roller after we mowed and drug and seeded last weekend.

[Randy Cuberly]

The Tucson Flying Field after a lot of work and 35 years of association with the Tucson Parks Department.

Three paved circles and three grass circles.

Don't be afraid to use it as an example of what can be done to other park organizations.

Randy Cuberly

[John Rist]

We have been known to fly on city soccer fields.  AM when school is in session.  School soccer fields during the summer when school is out.  We never ask permeation.  They are public parks for use by all.  We are careful not to hack anybody off.  The big problem we have is people trying to tell us where the RC flying field is located.  Unfortunately control-line flying is NOT permitted at the local RC flying field.  But that's another story. Life is good!

Of course right now we have flying circles at the local city high school football stadium parking lot.  We have a contract with the city school board.

[Phil Krankowski]

The local RC club has managed to lease land that is managed by the local nature preserve.  It is part of the buffer space to farmland.  Just throwing it out as a thought.  Good luck.

Phil

[wwwarbird]

 Might be up there Saturday, if the weather looks to be in favor.

[Shug Emery]

What we ended up with was property owned by the city parks department that has few plans and no current money for development.  We just have to take care of it on our own.  I expect other cities and towns have donated or abandoned areas like that you might find but would have to ask about because they may not show up on a list of parks.  It turns into a journey.

Dave

Kevin running the roller after we mowed and drug and seeded last weekend.

It looks good. I thankee.
Shug

The Tucson Flying Field after a lot of work and 35 years of association with the Tucson Parks Department.

Three paved circles and three grass circles.

Don't be afraid to use it as an example of what can be done to other park organizations.

Randy Cuberly

Stunt Heaven))))) That looks like a great place.
Mucho Appreciato,
Shug

We have been known to fly on city soccer fields.  AM when school is in session.  School soccer fields during the summer when school is out.  We never ask permeation.  They are public parks for use by all.  We are careful not to hack anybody off.  The big problem we have is people trying to tell us where the RC flying field is located.  Unfortunately control-line flying is NOT permitted at the local RC flying field.  But that's another story. Life is good!

Of course right now we have flying circles at the local city high school football stadium parking lot.  We have a contract with the city school board.

Nice and resourcful. As honest tax payers we should be able to wrangle a site. Good deal on the parking lot.
Shug

The local RC club has managed to lease land that is managed by the local nature preserve.  It is part of the buffer space to farmland.  Just throwing it out as a thought.  Good luck.

Phil

Thanks for that.
Shug

Might be up there Saturday, if the weather looks to be in favor.

Saturaday is looking good up here.....
Shug

[Frank Imbriaco]

The future holds promise with a marriage of R/C fields and U/C flying. Weekdays and some eves at most R/C fields have limited flying going on anyway. The benefits to the R/C field are more than just financial. We just give them first rights and don't fly when they're up.
It's also a way of bringing some old Ukie pilots who for one reason or another, have had their jollies with R/C and want to go back. And , it also can bring new U/C pilots into the fold.

[bob jablonski]

More recreation land going away!
Bummer!
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
Grovertown, IN.
574-540-1123
countylinehobbies@yahoo.com
www.countylinehobbies.com

[Scott Richlen]

Shug:

In working with county or state government, refuse to take "no" for an answer.  What they want is for you to go away and not bother them.  If you take "no", well - that's the end of the trail.  If you out-persist them, they'll have to do something just to make you go away.  Just keep after them until you get what you want.  Just remember: if you really want a flying field, someone is going to have to do some serious work.  It means rolling up your sleeves and hanging in there until you get what you want.  Go for it!!!

By the way, what's your "wedge"?  What are doing with young kids, or old people, or whoever?  What is your public-service program? Obviously, you'll need a flying field to be successful with your program.  Right?  With a "wedge" you are not advocating for yourself, you're advocating for the kids/old people/whoever.  Now you can ask "Why won't you support the kids/old people/whoever?"  Seriously, too many people make this hobby something limited to self-amusement.  You are probably aware of the flyers that only show up at the contests but never judge or help out.  It's the frustration of many club officers.  They do all the work, others get the enjoyment.  We need to be service-oriented.

If we don't do a service activity, we need to find one.  Otherwise, why should the city/county/state provide a limited resource (parkland) to us?  How can we be an asset to the city/county/state?

Scott

[frank mccune]

       Great post Scott!

                                                             Frank McCune

[Shug Emery]

Shug:

In working with county or state government, refuse to take "no" for an answer.  What they want is for you to go away and not bother them.  If you take "no", well - that's the end of the trail.  If you out-persist them, they'll have to do something just to make you go away.  Just keep after them until you get what you want.  Just remember: if you really want a flying field, someone is going to have to do some serious work.  It means rolling up your sleeves and hanging in there until you get what you want.  Go for it!!!

By the way, what's your "wedge"?  What are doing with young kids, or old people, or whoever?  What is your public-service program? Obviously, you'll need a flying field to be successful with your program.  Right?  With a "wedge" you are not advocating for yourself, you're advocating for the kids/old people/whoever.  Now you can ask "Why won't you support the kids/old people/whoever?"  Seriously, too many people make this hobby something limited to self-amusement.  You are probably aware of the flyers that only show up at the contests but never judge or help out.  It's the frustration of many club officers.  They do all the work, others get the enjoyment.  We need to be service-oriented.

If we don't do a service activity, we need to find one.  Otherwise, why should the city/county/state provide a limited resource (parkland) to us?  How can we be an asset to the city/county/state?

Scott

Great info here. I am pretty new to the whole club and have heard some proposals at meetings and have also heard what has not worked in the past. Seems like a real effort to get youth involved as they need the parents to get them to the field and also the matter of learning to build and procure equipment. an on-going topic, I know.
I have offered up the "trade out" of my Show that I do for a living as a possible incentive......https://youtu.be/ueIZ0vg0S0o?list=PL80181D450579ED04
They could use me how-ever and I am willing to add an aero theme.
May help but we will wait and see.
Thanks again for your post.
Shug

[Scott Richlen]

Let me make a key point: getting them to the field for flying is not the main ingredient.  We did flight training for years and hundreds (maybe over a thousand) kids with little or no results.  For this generation, flight training is just one more entertainment.  And it is competing with all kinds of other entertainments.

Instead, start at the beginning.

We have started our own Flying Aces Club at a local Junior High.  We teach building simple free-flight planes once a week for 2 hours after school.  We work them up through progressively more challenging builds.  We teach them how to fly free flight.  At the end of the school year, we invite them to the flying field and put them up on a control line trainer.  Now it starts to click.  We are now in our second year of doing this.  We did this last year.  Did any kids join?   Nope.  But the teacher sponsor did!  He went from building a Delta Dart in the fall to flying control line last June for the first time.  He is currently building 2 CL planes!   In the meantime we have 10 kids (3 from last year) currently building with us.

We don't have all the answers, but we're getting it figured out.

There's a bunch more to this, but it won't fit here.  I'm going to write it up for Stunt News and Control Line World.

And if they don't ever take up the handle?  Well, we've still created a bunch of FFers and the more modelers, the better.

Scott

[Steve Scott]

If you haven't yet done so...contact the local parks department and discuss the potentials with them.  Tucson has one of the best flying fields in the country through close association with the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department.

Sell it based on recreation potential and the ability for it to provide influx of tourists to the area.  Business like it when 50 to 100 people come into to town for things like Model Airplane Contests.

The AMA probably won't help much since it's a CL field you're looking for but contact them anyway.  That's one of the things we pay dues for, help with flying sites is supposed to be in their Charter!

Randy Cuberly

One of us is actually a member of the Parks 'n Rec advisory committee.   Been working on this for a couple of years but the area in question won't be ready for anything for at least another 2 years.

http://ricecreekcommons.com/the-vision/master-plan/

[Shug Emery]

One of us is actually a member of the Parks 'n Rec advisory committee.   Been working on this for a couple of years but the area in question won't be ready for anything for at least another 2 years.

http://ricecreekcommons.com/the-vision/master-plan/

Wish they would let us in if even for a year or so........that would be a dream
Shug

[Steve Helmick]

Landfills and Hazardous rehab sites seem like they have good potential to be used for flying sites. They can't be used for a lot. Meanwhile, municipal airports seem to have a lot of vacant tie-down areas...lucky for us. They're already zoned for some noise.  Steve     

[Scott Richlen]

Well, I see the baseball diamonds in the drawings.  Where are the flying circles?

[Steve Scott]

Yes, this area has lots of outdoor baseball fields, soccer fields and the plan for this Rice Creek Commons calls for an outdoor hockey rink which, of course, wouldn't be used for hockey 8 months out of the year.

Politics in this development are pretty complex.  It was the site owned by the US Army and they produced ammunition during WWII, Korea and Vietnam.  Has lots of residual contamination.  All manufacturing was halted in the mid-90s and the Army declared the western portion of the site (427 acres) as surplus.  After several failed attempts to auction it off, the county purchased the land and are developing a master plan for corporate offices, light industry, retail, family housing and open space.  The parcel resides within city limits and they get considerable say in how the site is redeveloped.  There is a joint planning commission made up of city and county officials but chaired by a private citizen.

I've been involved for years with the city government as a volunteer and also do elections which is handled by the county.  I know personally all the city council and mayor and the 2 county execs know who I am by now.  The county wants a maximum return on their investment so they are looking for revenue density.  The city favors more open space so there is a lot of contention between the two.

Another member of our 12 person Parks and Rec committee is an AMA member (flies free flight) but passed away last winter.  One of the 4 city council was very supportive of our requests but he did not run for reelection.

With the price of this land (which sits squarely in the Minneapolis/St Paul metropolitan area) there is no possibility of an RC site and the committee refused to place a dedicated CL field in as part of their official recommendation.  Still being pursued is a joint-use are such as the hockey rink in the winter and CL during the non-hockey season.  Problem is the proposed hockey rink will be adjacent to private homes so there is the potential of noise issues right off the bat.

It will take another 1.5 years to clean up the contamination on the site before any development begins.  By that time we'll have an different makeup of city council and county commissioners.  It could fall back into our favor or go the other way.  The Army still owns the 1,700 remaining acres of the site.  They were at one time looking at building a community center available to the public.  Budgets have gotten trimmed since then.

And yes, AMA (Flying Site Coorindator Tony Stillman) has been involved from the beginning.  AMA did a presentation 6 years ago to area Parks 'n Rec officials.  One of my city council friends gave me the literature she got from AMA.

[wwwarbird]

 Thanks for your work on all of that Steve. With todays politics and such it will be a miracle if it ever works out but who knows, if we keep poking at them maybe we'll luck out sometime in the future. I appreciate your efforts.

 Made it up to the field for a bit today, got there right at noon. It was sunny, but cold, fairly breezy and turbulent. Shug and Keith each put up some flights, Keith with his Hotshot and Shug with his Prowler, Nobler and the 'ol Bi-Slob. I wussed out only putting up one flight with the 402 and then I called it quits. I'll admit my motivation level is pretty darn low right now, knowing that in three weeks we no longer have a field. After a little bit Keith and I ran out to his place and I delivered his All American Senior. When we left Shug was still going at it hot and heavy, bangin' around with the 'Slob.

[Shug Emery]

Yeah Steve....I concur with Wayne....Thankee for your work on this.
Fun, fun windy flying day. Flew the Nobler, Prowler, Plan B and Bi-Slob. All home in intact. Finally got some headway with the Plan B engine run!
Nice to see ya'll...if even briefly.
Shug

[john e. holliday]

They must think the hockey players and fans don't make noise.

[Carl Cisneros]

Randy
Also, (if they are still there), there is the model boat club that races/raced just a stones throw away from the CL area there as well.
That place was built up by the Parks authorities if memory serves.

When I raced there I would walk up to the CL circles and watch the guys fly there before my heats were up. (back in the early 90's)

[CosmicWind]

Shug, thanks for the video!
Thank you, John, for letting me fly your airplane. The smooth pull and control was a delight.
Looking forward to learning how to set my engines and airplanes, and try to fly a pattern for the first time.
Tom

[wwwarbird]

 CosmicWind, great "handle" Tom!

 Oh yeah, welcome to the forum too!

[CosmicWind]

Thank you! Having a great time with the piston poppers and flying

[wwwarbird]

 ...15 days left and counting. I doubt I'll even get a chance to get out there before then.

[john e. holliday]

Is it possible you can keep using the field until construction starts?

[Shug Emery]

Is it possible you can keep using the field until construction starts?

Sadly no. April 30 is the end of that field od dreams.