Flying Site Assistance
Wes De Cou | [email protected]
Background
With the implementation of the second round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) activities, many modelers thought there would be a surplus of available flying sites up for grabs. Closed military airfields all over the country—what an opportunity!
While there were indeed many closed airfields, only a few became model-aviation venues. Even then, those new model airfields existed at the pleasure of the new landowners. When the site was to be developed—whether for residential or commercial use—the modelers would be looking for a new home. But the sites are still there and, with the right amount of effort and an unwillingness to take no for an answer, they can become your next flying site. This is the story of such a site: Naval Air Station (NAS) Alameda, California.
Alameda Naval Air Station, which became operational in the early 1940s, was closed during the third round of BRAC activity. Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay area, I developed an affinity for NAS Alameda. I was born in Alameda. As a youngster I saw flight after flight of World War II and Korean Conflict–era aircraft fly by over my family home to and from the base. I knew that Jimmy Doolittle’s Raiders and their B-25s took off from Alameda on the USS Hornet for their historic mission to Tokyo. As a young Naval Aviation Cadet in the early 1960s, I landed at NAS Alameda as part of the Naval Aviation Cadet Choir to perform on the Tennessee Ernie Ford show, filmed in San Francisco Bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hancock.
On April 25, 1997, the curtain fell on 50-plus years of Naval Aviation history at NAS Alameda.
Initial efforts to secure a flying site
Fast forward to 2001: as AMA’s Western Region Flying Site Assistance Coordinator, I was excited when I got a telephone call from a modeler who wanted to pursue a model-aviation field on the now-closed NAS property. What an ideal site for model aviation! I went to Alameda, met with the man and some of his club members, toured the prospective flying site, and came away feeling the quest could be successful if we lined up the right supporters.
A week or so later the fellow called to ask what progress I had made. As simply as possible, I let him know that the quest was his and his club’s. I am a resource: I can provide advice and resource information, talk to governing bodies, and outline and even deliver presentations to various groups, but the nuts-and-bolts on-site activities belong to the local people who are trying to secure a site. Find out who the key contacts are. Who owns or governs the property? What permits are required? Who is the issuing authority? No further contact. Failure to launch.
Fast forward again to January 2006. AMA member Mike Simi called and emailed to say he was actively pursuing a site on the old NAS property. A glimmer of hope? Perhaps, but as the saying goes, “I’ve seen this movie before.”
Mike had been looking for an alternative to his current flying site, which was plagued with high winds in the late summer months. While he no longer lived in Alameda, Mike grew up there and was aware of the potential for a site at the naval base. He had gone as far as having conversations with people involved with the City of Alameda Planning Board to assess what he would have to do to get the job done. He was put in contact with the property-management group that works on the base for the city. The initial response from the group was positive, but some of the lessees along a proposed site on an 8,000-foot runway were skeptical, and that site was scrapped.
At the same time Mike was making his initial contacts with the city, he started a thread on RC Universe to see if anyone else shared a passion for flying at the site. Enter Dan Ayala: a computer-savvy modeler. Dan volunteered to put up a website and really get the ball rolling. Dan and Mike began an intensive effort to get final authority to fly on a great piece of what was a taxiway and parking ramp in front of the old NAS terminal building. At the same time, they formed and chartered the Alameda Hornet Squadron RC club.
Obstacles and resolution
There were plenty of obstacles along the way. An unfortunate confrontation with a headstrong tenant who spoke for no one but himself, yet claimed to speak for nearly everyone on the base, led to the statement that model aviation wasn’t wanted on the base and would never happen. This was quite an unpleasant episode for a modeler and his spouse, and the confrontation led to a call from Dan’s wife Soraya to the mayor of Alameda. Afterward the mayor instructed the property-management group to “make it happen.”
There was an interminable permitting process. There were (and still are) strange but bearable restrictions regarding time of use on the new site. There were delays because the site owner’s insurance certificate had to be “letter perfect.” There were boards and individuals to satisfy—quite a stiff breeze!
Dan and Mike were not to be denied. They complied with every request, whether or not it seemed to make sense. Every document was completed to everyone’s satisfaction and the proposed site became a reality.
Partnership with the Alameda NAS Museum
Since the paperwork was completed, the club has formed an alliance with the Alameda NAS Museum, which is housed in the old terminal building. In a “one-hand-washes-the-other” scenario, the club will participate in work days on behalf of the museum and has committed to making contributions and assisting with maintenance and activities to support the museum and the flying site.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
