Flying Site Assistance
Wes De Cou | [email protected]
Estimate Your Club’s Impact on the Community
Use Steve’s model to try to put a value on the impact of your club to the community.
- How many members do you have?
- Estimate fuel purchases per year.
- Estimate food purchases (coffee, donuts, lunches, etc.) per year.
Develop a model to estimate the impact of any special events your club conducts (contests, swap meets, etc.).
- Total attendees?
- Motel or hotel impacts?
- Food, drink, or entertainment impacts?
- Transportation impacts? (Did participants fly or drive?)
- Campsite or RV impacts?
Find out how many “people days” of activity you have at your facility.
- How many people attended a specific event?
- Were they participants or spectators?
- How far did they drive, fly, or swim to get there?
Brief questionnaires handed to all participants or spectators can add vital information to your database and can provide the basis for worthwhile statistics you can use in your presentations.
Request for Flying-Site Assistance
A few months ago I received a request for flying-site assistance from Steve Shipley, a member of the Wings Miniature Aircraft Society in Lubbock, Texas. His request went something like this—in fact, it went exactly like this:
“Wings Miniature Aircraft Society in Lubbock, Texas, is in danger of losing its flying site within the next 12–18 months. We have been fortunate to have a 10,000-foot runway at the closed Reese Air Force Base for the last several years, but now with the redevelopment of the facilities, it is entirely possible that our activities will cease to be compatible with some of the new businesses that anticipate moving out there.
“Consequently we are in the beginning stages of acquiring a new flying site. I have contacted several of the smaller communities around the Lubbock area and have found them to be receptive—and even desirous—of us moving to their community. As a board member of a chamber of commerce, and the president of the Board of City Development in a small community, I understand what it takes to get a community’s attention: economic impact!
“In the past, AMA had some presentation information or at least a format for the presentation of economic impact data, and an impressive list of information that would make developing a ‘business proposal’ much easier. We are more than capable of producing such a document, but if it is available, there’s no point in reinventing it.
“Any assistance you can provide in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your efforts on our behalf.”
Two things jumped out at me as I read the e-mail. This is a textbook example of great advance preparation by members of a club whose flying site is potentially “on the block.” Too often I receive calls or e-mails from members whose urgent pleadings are prefaced with the words, “We’ve just lost our field.” Often the conversation uncovers the fact that the demise of the flying site was the result of a situation that was recognized months or years ago, but no positive action was taken in the hopes that the situation would resolve itself. Once the field is lost, club membership starts to hit the skids. Nothing good comes from member inaction in the face of a potential flying-site loss.
Survey stakes are an early warning sign. By the time the bulldozer arrives, it’s probably a bit late. Steve’s approach is excellent. A lead time of 12–18 months allows the club’s site-acquisition committee time to pursue many options.
The other item of interest to me was Steve’s idea that indications of a substantial positive economic impact might drive favorable responses on the part of local officials to whom we are making pleas for new flying sites. In all of the presentations I have attended, I don’t think I’ve ever heard any mention of the potential economic impact of a flying club on a local community. We tout the recreational and educational benefits of our sport; we clearly demonstrate that entire families benefit from model aviation activities and that people from the very young to the very old can participate, but that’s all about us. What benefits accrue to the community as a result of our presence?
Steve’s ensuing e-mail begins to put some dollar values on a potential economic model.
“I think what would be as helpful if not more so would be a way for clubs to estimate their impact on a community. Of course the increased business for a major event is significant, but most clubs just don’t draw that kind of attendance to their local events.
“When a club is being forced to look for a permanent site outside its original municipality, the members need to be able to go to a chamber of commerce, economic development board, or the city council of a satellite community and convince the authorities that they are deserving of the community support.
“What I have found in my conversations with some of the small communities near Lubbock is that they are excited about the prospect of having us move there. What they didn’t realize is the potential impact of having us there.
“I explained to the mayor of Anton, Texas, that if the approximately 90 members of our club bought one tank of gas there once a month that would be a $54,000 increase in annual retail sales. Add to that the occasional lunch or dinner, drinks, and snacks at the local convenience store, and a $4,000–$5,000 average daily balance in our club bank account, and the next thing you know people are clamoring for you to move in.
“I think the approach we've taken when we try to convince people to take us may be a little backward. From my experiences of the past few weeks, it has sure been interesting to have communities actually try to compete for us!
“Anton is a town of approximately 2,100 and none of the land anywhere near where they picked out for us will ever be developed, but it's only 25 minutes from Lubbock and it would be a permanent solution to a flying site in West Texas.
“So, I guess what I'm asking for is help to not leave anything out in making a ‘business proposal’ to an interested civic group when estimating the positive impact of model aviation on a community.”
There are myriad paths we can follow in an effort to try to put a dollar value on our club's impact on the community. I called the Convention and Tourism office in my town and discovered that the average business tourist spends $1,457 during the average 3.37-day business trip. Gee, if we have a three-day flying event, how much could we reasonably estimate the participants and spectators would spend in our community?
What should we consider? We need some data so we can make some predictions.
We can add many things to these lists. What is important is that we start to gather data on how we impact the local economy.
AMA Executive Director Jim Cherry had a useful idea. Once you develop a model for the value of your club's annual contribution to the local economy, multiply it by five and present it as a five-year impact. Five-year planning cycles are common in the budgeting process, and of course, the number looks better when it is five times greater!
We're looking at a fertile field. I welcome your ideas and suggestions on how we can begin to gather pertinent data on the economic impacts of our sport in your area. Google is great for getting ideas. You are our best resource for local practical applications.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
