Anyone fly at a military base?

[RknRusty]

Anyone fly at a military base? My field is at Fort Jackson, SC, and we got word last week that in short said, "Due to the attacks on the Canadian military, Ft. Jackson is restricting access to civilians." Well that sucks. But our club president, a veteran Viet Nam Huey pilot is moving quickly to get a short list of the most active members to submit for background checks and ID cards. The thing is, we're pretty low on the totem as civvies go, so I might not get a lot of flying done this winter.

I have hopes of really tuning up between now and next season. No mention of this has been on the TV news or newspaper as far as I can find, so I was wondering if anyone else had got this wrench thrown in their works.
Rusty

[Larry Fernandez]

While stationed in San Diego in the late seventies, I flew on the parade ground at the Naval Training Center.
I met the base XO at the base hobby shop one night and he gave us permission to fly on the grounds, except on Fridays as that's when the recruits graduated boot camp and they conducted their parade there.
It just so happened that the XO flew control line as a teen and he had a soft spot in his heart for us.

I tore up may chunks of asphalt and ruined a bunch of Fox .35's on that grinder.
I hear that there are now condos and townhouses on that site.
Oh how I long for the good old days,

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[Bill Adair]

Rusty,

Check with your base authorities to see if military sponsorship is permitted for nonmilitary club members.

Could be there is a way around the restrictions, as most of these panic (knee jerk) reactions are simply PYA maneuvers. Of course, they might shoot the sponsors, if a guest member attacks anyone with a model airplane!  

My last base was terrible about timely response to base housing problems, so when I found a natural gas leak in my back yard they scheduled a service ticket for later that week. I was told they were just too busy to come out any sooner. I promptly hung up, and called the Fire Department to report the gas leak within feet of my furnace room pilot light, and within minutes there was a Fire Engine and crew at my house! The FD then called housing maintenance, and the leak was fixed before the day was out!  

The point is that for many restrictions there are exceptions that may not be mentioned, so ask around.

Good luck,

Bill

[John Tate]

The Norfolk Aeromodelers fly at the Fentress Auxiliary Landing Field in Chesapeake VA (1988 Nats site).

I have to write a permission letter to the JAG every year for our club to use the field. I have to provide the insurance from the AMA to show that we are in earnest. I found out years ago that the insurance is no good for the Navy but we still have to have it. Last year it took 5 months for the paper work to go through all the channels that needed to be. I am getting ready to go through the same thing for next year.

[Sean McEntee]

I usually just show up and fly.  Of course, I'm active duty.

Where exactly do you fly at?  If you using an area within a particular unit's "footprint", then I would try to contact that unit and see if they can help you.  If its a facility such as a baseball diamond, soccer field, ect. then try the installation's MWR office.

Don't discount airfields.  If they have a ramp or other type of FMA that is suitable to fly off of, try to get in contact with the airfield manager.  Some UAS landing strips and other training areas are suitable too.  Here at Ft Hood, if the Training area is not being occupied by a unit, then it can be used for recreational purposes. 

If you do get anywhere with any of these, be sure to get memorandums of agreement outlining your permission to fly there.  If things are getting that tight at "Relaxin' Jackson" that those would come in handy to beat back the often self-important MPs

Good luck!
Sean McEntee

[RknRusty]

It's a grass LZ, about 200'x1000' with a control line circle off of one end and even a wind sock. As I understand it we lease it from the US Army and it has a sign with our club name and logo at the entrance. We also have bleachers, a (generously named)pavillion and a conex box for the mower, grill, and tools.

Mostly all we see are wandering soldiers learning navigation or playing war. Once in a rare while on a Saturday the National Guard will be practicing sling loading out there. One time an Apache had a hydraulic leak and put down. They actually let me fly my plane while they were working on it, and one of the mechanics came over and borrowed a 7/8" socket and breaker bar from me. Can't believe they didn't have one. It's a really nice place, so I'm hoping this will just blow over.

34°04'24.5"N 80°51'11.0"W

Rusty

[Sean McEntee]

Yeah get in touch with range control there, or whoever you got in touch with originally, amd ask what you would need to do to keep flying there

[RknRusty]

Yeah get in touch with range control there, or whoever you got in touch with originally, amd ask what you would need to do to keep flying there

For those who don't know, Range Control keeps track of who is in the areas they control, including our field. We check in and out with them when we arrive and leave. I called Friday to ask them some questions like, can one guy with a DOD card get two cars in, or do we(and how many of us) have to all pile into his car to get in. But the guy that answered wasn't one of my old familiar voices and said it was his first day on the job, so he didn't know nuthin'. Colonel Klink!

I think I'll call again tomorrow and see if I can get one of the guys that knows us. They're usually pretty cool. They like our group because we always call when we're supposed to and never cause them any confusion. MPs frequently drive out to see if we're doing anything interesting. They get a kick out of watching us, and we always chat with them. It's a great relationship and a great place to fly.

I'm sure we'll work it out. It's just a shame my good airforce buddy from coxengineforum.com arranged to get a month assignment at Shaw AFB so we could meet and fly some stunters out at Jax. He came all the way from Oklahoma for this. This directive came down same time he did. We're planning a test run with some planes and try to gain access this coming weekend. Maybe we can see how that goes and get some questions answered by the gate guards.

I'm fixing my Magnum up for an excursion, am dying to fly it again and make some movies too. John I'll be sure and make a movie for you and the Norfolk gang.
Rusty

[Steve Helmick]

We usta fly FF on the Ft. Lewis rez. The land was owned by Pierce County and given to the Army under the proviso that it be made available for civilian recreational use when it wasn't being used by the Army. Guess what? They need it 24/7 now, and of course it often actually not being used.

In the old days, they'd give us the written ok but (occasionally) all of a sudden we'd be swarmed by MP's and have to pull up stakes and move off the prairie for a couple of hours in the middle of our contest while they had an air drop. It was kinda cool to see and all, but do you really think they didn't have it planned? Maybe just forgot that we were already approved for the use of the prairie? Yeah, I think so!

All that aside, it will largely depend on who the CO is, if he's a good guy or a bleeding asshole, new guy (micromanager) or old hand about to retire. If you can get some military guys flying with you, that would be a big plus. See if you can...then get some help from the base hobby shop & recreation office.   Steve

[John Craig]

In recent years the KOI has been done on a military facility.  At one time the gate was always open; just check in at the fire station.  Today, after 911, it is an AMA membership, club membership, sanctioned club & flying field,  back round check, legal waivers signed, submit a form a week prior for permission to use the field, then approval from  the legal dept. & NAV-OPS,  then a code that changes monthly to open the gate, call NAV-OPS to tell them you are going in & when you leave that the field is secure. Simple, no sweat!