A SISTER CLUB APPROACH:
Assisting and working with Dave Jones to
get a flying field, I found him to be a most
persistant, determined, dedicated, and
persuasive individual addressing the task.
Dave is a member of the Valkyries of
Manatee Club in Florida.
Dave expressed an interesting thought
he has about clubs cooperating with one
another in times of need, which I would
like to share. He suggests promoting
interclub cooperation by forming sister
clubs, those that are within 30 or 40 miles
of one another, working together to
promote model aviation to local
governments such as city councils and
county commissioners.
What he says is if a model club is
facing the loss of its flying site, then all of
the sister clubs within the 30-40 mile
radius should pull together as one to help
that club retain the use of its flying site or
to help find a new flying site.
How can this be done? One way is by
having all the members of the sister clubs
attend city council and county
commissioners’ meetings in the county of
the club that is facing the loss of its flying
site. The group can appoint a spokesman to
give a presentation to the officials about
the positive merits of having and retaining
a model flying field in their community.
Most RC clubs are small—50 to 60
members—but if you have four clubs of 50
members each attending a city council or
county commissioners’ meeting, that’s 200
people. If the members can get their
spouses and children to attend the meeting
as well, then the numbers go up
dramatically.
There is only one thing that all
politicians understand, no matter what his
or her political affiliation is, and that’s
numbers! It was numbers that got that
politician elected in the first place, and it’s
numbers that will get politicians reelected.
It makes no difference if the sister club
is not in the same county as the club being
helped. The politicians will not be aware
of where you live; they will only see you
as a number and numbers are the only
thing that they are concerned with.
I would bet all of my models—and I
have a lot of models—that if 200 or more
RC model club members walked into a city
council or county commissioners’ meeting,
that it would get their attention.
I know that many of you might ask,
“Why should I be concerned with helping
another club? After all, our club has a
great flying site.”
Yes that may be true today, but what
about a year from now or even 10 years
from now? We had our club flying site for
37 years and have now lost it and are
having a hard time convincing the county
commissioners to help us get a new flying
site.
Someday your club may find itself in
the same situation of need and would
welcome the sister-club approach for help
and support.
Landfills Make Ideal Flying Sites
Waste Management Inc. is the leading
provider of comprehensive waste and
environmental services in North America.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the
company’s network of operations includes
413 collection operations, 370 transfer
stations, 283 active landfill disposal sites,
and 17 waste-to-energy plants. These
assets enable Waste Management to offer a
full range of environmental services to 21
million residential, industrial, municipal,
and commercial customers.
Waste Management operates the largest
network of landfills in its industry with its
283 active sites managing the disposal of
more than 125 million tons of waste per
year.
Closed landfills have proven to serve
ideally for use as model flying sites. They
are well accepted by local communities for
their natural policing and relief to
surrounding property owners, maintained
and disciplined by the modelers.
AMA is fortunate to have a partnertype
relationship with Waste Management
and a set procedure to apply for permission
to use a Waste Management landfill when
appropiate.
Finding a Waste Management Landfill
Site and Applying for Its Use
1) Visit www.wmdisposal.com on the
Web.
2) Click “Facility Directory.”
3) Click applicable state on the map
that lists Waste Management sites.
4) Choose and visit the site of interest
to be sure it is appropiate for a model
field.
5) As contact person, submit a request
to Joe Beshar to coordinate with Waste
Management for permission to use the
site.
Scene at the Flying Field: You can have a
comfort level with your battery condition
at the field before flying. The CellMeter-8
is like a gas gauge. It measures the level of
charge remaining in your Li-Poly battery.
An LCD screen shows
the individual voltage of
each cell in the pack
at a glance as well
as the state of
balance. A
second
screen
shows number of
cells, voltage of
pack, and percentage of
charge. The CellMeter-8 is by
Hobby Lobby International.
Write to me and share what you have
seen at the flying field.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/02
Page Numbers: 169,170
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/02
Page Numbers: 169,170
A SISTER CLUB APPROACH:
Assisting and working with Dave Jones to
get a flying field, I found him to be a most
persistant, determined, dedicated, and
persuasive individual addressing the task.
Dave is a member of the Valkyries of
Manatee Club in Florida.
Dave expressed an interesting thought
he has about clubs cooperating with one
another in times of need, which I would
like to share. He suggests promoting
interclub cooperation by forming sister
clubs, those that are within 30 or 40 miles
of one another, working together to
promote model aviation to local
governments such as city councils and
county commissioners.
What he says is if a model club is
facing the loss of its flying site, then all of
the sister clubs within the 30-40 mile
radius should pull together as one to help
that club retain the use of its flying site or
to help find a new flying site.
How can this be done? One way is by
having all the members of the sister clubs
attend city council and county
commissioners’ meetings in the county of
the club that is facing the loss of its flying
site. The group can appoint a spokesman to
give a presentation to the officials about
the positive merits of having and retaining
a model flying field in their community.
Most RC clubs are small—50 to 60
members—but if you have four clubs of 50
members each attending a city council or
county commissioners’ meeting, that’s 200
people. If the members can get their
spouses and children to attend the meeting
as well, then the numbers go up
dramatically.
There is only one thing that all
politicians understand, no matter what his
or her political affiliation is, and that’s
numbers! It was numbers that got that
politician elected in the first place, and it’s
numbers that will get politicians reelected.
It makes no difference if the sister club
is not in the same county as the club being
helped. The politicians will not be aware
of where you live; they will only see you
as a number and numbers are the only
thing that they are concerned with.
I would bet all of my models—and I
have a lot of models—that if 200 or more
RC model club members walked into a city
council or county commissioners’ meeting,
that it would get their attention.
I know that many of you might ask,
“Why should I be concerned with helping
another club? After all, our club has a
great flying site.”
Yes that may be true today, but what
about a year from now or even 10 years
from now? We had our club flying site for
37 years and have now lost it and are
having a hard time convincing the county
commissioners to help us get a new flying
site.
Someday your club may find itself in
the same situation of need and would
welcome the sister-club approach for help
and support.
Landfills Make Ideal Flying Sites
Waste Management Inc. is the leading
provider of comprehensive waste and
environmental services in North America.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the
company’s network of operations includes
413 collection operations, 370 transfer
stations, 283 active landfill disposal sites,
and 17 waste-to-energy plants. These
assets enable Waste Management to offer a
full range of environmental services to 21
million residential, industrial, municipal,
and commercial customers.
Waste Management operates the largest
network of landfills in its industry with its
283 active sites managing the disposal of
more than 125 million tons of waste per
year.
Closed landfills have proven to serve
ideally for use as model flying sites. They
are well accepted by local communities for
their natural policing and relief to
surrounding property owners, maintained
and disciplined by the modelers.
AMA is fortunate to have a partnertype
relationship with Waste Management
and a set procedure to apply for permission
to use a Waste Management landfill when
appropiate.
Finding a Waste Management Landfill
Site and Applying for Its Use
1) Visit www.wmdisposal.com on the
Web.
2) Click “Facility Directory.”
3) Click applicable state on the map
that lists Waste Management sites.
4) Choose and visit the site of interest
to be sure it is appropiate for a model
field.
5) As contact person, submit a request
to Joe Beshar to coordinate with Waste
Management for permission to use the
site.
Scene at the Flying Field: You can have a
comfort level with your battery condition
at the field before flying. The CellMeter-8
is like a gas gauge. It measures the level of
charge remaining in your Li-Poly battery.
An LCD screen shows
the individual voltage of
each cell in the pack
at a glance as well
as the state of
balance. A
second
screen
shows number of
cells, voltage of
pack, and percentage of
charge. The CellMeter-8 is by
Hobby Lobby International.
Write to me and share what you have
seen at the flying field.
