The axe is falling

[Bill Hodges]

We, the X47 Flyers, just found out last week that as of June 30th, we will no longer be able to fly at the Flagler County Airport.  That was our primary weekend flying site and a really nice place to fly.  The airport is putting up a control tower and non full scale aircraft activities will no longer be allowed.

Those of us who are retired can fly during the week at a local recreation facility (soccer field) but on weekends it is covered in people.  Those members who work during the week and fly mostly on the weekends are the ones really in a bind.  We are looking for a replacement site, but they are really, really hard to come by.

Wish us luck!!
Bill Hodges

[Peter Ferguson]

I hope you find a new place to fly for your sake and mine. I'm hoping to be down there (Ormond Beach) in a few  and I need a place to fly. Theres a landfill off of Kings Hwy south of Palm Coast where the R/C flyers are, any room for you guys?

[builditright]

Hi Peter,
Living in Palm Coast I went over there about two years ago and found out that there are a couple of R/C flyers that were old C/L flyers,  Now I am not saying that they may not make a one time exception for you, they were not very receptive to having C/L flying there as a regular.
 

[Peter Ferguson]

Sounds like you and Bill should get together.

[Bill Hodges]

Peter:

I used to be a member and Vice President of the RC club on Old Kings Rd. (The Flagler Co. RAMS).  I inquired a while back about flying CL on their current field and did not get very far (like Walter said, they are not very receptive to CL).  Besides, there are numerous methane gas vents pipes (the site is a closed and capped landfill) which would make finding enough room for a circle that is not in their flight area difficult.  Don't think there is much chance of anything happening at that site, but it may be worth another look.  Unfortunately, the good friends that I had in that club have either got out of the hobby or have passed away.  I will bring it up for discussion at the next club meeting.

Bill Hodges

[bill marvel]

Peter:

I used to be a member and Vice President of the RC club on Old Kings Rd. (The Flagler Co. RAMS).  I inquired a while back about flying CL on their current field and did not get very far (like Walter said, they are not very receptive to CL).  Besides, there are numerous methane gas vents pipes (the site is a closed and capped landfill) which would make finding enough room for a circle that is not in their flight area difficult.  Don't think there is much chance of anything happening at that site, but it may be worth another look.  Unfortunately, the good friends that I had in that club have either got out of the hobby or have passed away.  I will bring it up for discussion at the next club meeting.

Bill Hodges

Bill

Touch base with Allen Brickhaus or Charlie Reeves.  They belong to a model airplane club in Paducah, Kentucky that is primarily RC but also has a CL component.  At their Fall CL contest, some of the RC guys pitch in and help with the event.  Best of all, the RC field and the CL circles are located on an old county landfill, complete with vent pipes.  The model airplane club also shares space with ball diamonds and soccer fields.   Maybe Allen and Charlie can offer some ideas.

regards,
bill marvel

[Randy Powell]

Believe me, I understand. While we have a temporary area to fly in (thank you Tacoma Narrows Airport), this has been an ongoing issue since we lost the sight at Boeing Space Center. The parks departments are full of promises that never happen and we get run off and all but arrested if we use any park or school, regardless of use by others. It's a tough deal. We've even consider buying a piece of property, but all it takes is one jerk complaining about the noise and you are shut down. It's amazing that even if you are well within noise restrictions, you still get shut down. Fun world we've created.

[Norm Faith Jr.]

Bill, I fly at a club site that is primarily R/C. We get along fine...I flew R/C for years, but went back to C/L around nine years ago. We are planning to have a C/L stunt contest sometime in October and everyone in the club is looking forward to pitching in. Myself and some other C/L fliers are always talking up C/L and trying to get the other members involved, inturn we show an intrest in their mode of flying. This is important. There are R/C clubs losing their sites far more so than C/L fliers. You need to stress this to your R/C pals in a "round about way." Banding together...strength in numbers. Control line sites require small amounts of realestate. Public baseball diamonds, soccer fields...etc. Most public officials that are approached with well written proposals and insurance (AMA) backing, are very receptive. The city here just repaved our 500' X 20' runway. They will be installing drains next month.
We have a nice paved C/L pad also...not the most level place at the site, but nice. This is all located on an old land fill and has come about through a coalition of fliers.
Norm

http://www.myspace.com/southarkansasaviators

http://www.jasong.rchomepage.com/masaHome.html

[Roger Vizioli]

Bill,
If the RC club is unsure about coexisting with CL, and they want to discuss same with local clubs that have done it, I can give you a ref. from our club.
As you well know, P. Coopy's club  has also been very successful in RC and CL sharing a facility.
Roger V.

[Bill Hodges]

Roger:

Sent you a reply to your PM. 

We will be discussing the idea of getting in with one of the nearby RC clubs at the next meeting, along with any other possibilities that come up.   

One of our members told me last evening that he is checking a possibility a few miles west of St. Augustine.  I even pulled up Google Earth and spent some time just looking for possible sites in our county and neighboring counties.  Found a couple of possibilities but will have to go look at them for real and then go from there.

Bill Hodges

[Phil Coopy]

True, we do have a great relationship in our club between the RC'rs and C/L guys (most of which are also RC flyers).  But in the beginning there were doubts which had to be overcome. The easiest of which was demonstrating to those who have never been close to C/L flying,,that they are safe, and that lines rarely break, and if they do only one breaks at a time.  The second was harder to get across.  RC'rs have been religiously sensitized to noise abatement over many years, and as a result are fearful of losing their site over noise complaints. They know that we C/L folks have a poor record when it comes to noise control.  Fortunately that is not a problem at our site because we are well isolated from close by neighbors.  However, with all that said, I am very pleased with the interest and response of the RC'rs as demonstrated by their overwhelming enjoyment of the one or two C/L fly-ins that I try to hold yearly.

So in conclusion, when talking to a strictly RC club, make sure to inoculate them against these two problems.

Phil C.

[john e. holliday]

I guess I am lucky in that the Northern Knights of North Kansas City has welcomed us control liners.  They even brought their roller over for us to roll the field today.  Of course we have to join the club to get a key to the gate in order to get in to fly.  Now if I can get the family to let set a schedule for flying maybe I could more people out to fly.  Any control liners out there in the KC area.  We now have two from Lees Summit, one from Kearney,  and 3 from Shawnee KS.  I am real hard to get hold of.  Later,  DOC Holliday