Born to fly - 2012/05

www.ModelAviation.com May 2012 Model Aviation 77
Born to fly
Jim T. Graham
[email protected]
I ’ve said it before, and I’ll say it
again—one of my favorite things
about this hobby is the community.
Online communities are wonderful
and bring together people who
otherwise might not know about one
another. Think of the much bigger
world that has opened to you as a
result of your interactions in the online
RC community, and how much smaller
your RC hobby world might be if they
didn’t exist.
Information can be shared quickly
and easily, and you can find out more
than you ever could at any point in
the history of RC flight about any
particular aspect of the hobby in just a
few clicks.
Although online RC communities
have, in some ways, made us more
closely knit hobbyists, you can only get
face-to-face interaction by spending
time on the sticks next to your flying
buddies at your local field. When I visit
my home field, I come away feeling
energized and excited by the group,
Sharing community space
Bob Patterson, our club’s safety
officer, instructs a youth member of
our club. Bob was a pilot in the Navy
and teaches newcomers how to fly.
The plaque says it all.
A group of kids admire the author’s
airplane. This is how it all starts.
and happy to have spent time around
people who share the same passion.
No matter what we do in our everyday
lives, or how different we may be in
our other interests and beliefs, once
someone throws an airplane in the air
at my local field, we’re all the same
little kid.
It requires a large outdoor space
to practice and perform our hobby;
it’s not always easy to fit in with the
neighborhood. Airplanes can be noisy,
there’s liability to homes, people, and
other property to consider, and flying
fields take up much valuable real
estate. Making peace with the world
outside of your immediate club can be
tough sometimes.
Home Field
My club is the Edwin Warner
Modelers Association (EWMA). The
club field is located in one of the only
open spaces in the 800-acre wooded
Edwin Warner city park in Nashville,
Tennessee. The field is surrounded by
hills and lined (far away enough for
comfort) with trees.
78 Model Aviation May 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
Born to fly
One of the reasons we still have a club is because of
all the hours Richard Rust, our fearless leader, and the
whole club put in with the Metro Parks and Recreation.
It doesn’t take a lot to make RC fliers happy. Our new pavilion
makes those hot summer days more bearable. In the past, our
only form of comfort was a couple of exposed picnic tables.
Above: Bryce Custer, cheesing for the camera,
was the brave soul who taught the author how
to fly RC at this very field. Now Jim makes his
living in the RC industry.
Left: A club member helps out a new pilot. If our
hobby is going to have a future, we have to pass
on the love for RC.
EWMA was the first model airplane
club in Nashville and is one of the
oldest in the United States. It’s close
to my house, so the temptation to take
lunch breaks there is something I can
give in to pretty easily.
Hobby Lobby is down the road,
so there’s always a good chance that
Jason Cole might be there with a new
product. The people are friendly, the
view is nice, there’s a pavilion for
shade, electricity so you can charge
batteries when you need to, a nice
tarmac, and free hot dogs at the Labor
Day fun-fly. Not too bad.
When the club was established back
in the 1930s, FF models dominated,
there was a CL circle near where the
tarmac would eventually be located,
and all types of competitions were
held. It was a busy and thriving
hobbyists’ club that catered to all
types of RC flight. It held many
events and promoted a great sense of
community—both for the club itself
and the city—through its very presence
in a city park.
But, because of its presence in a city
park, as populations and homes grow,
the club has had to learn some giveand-
take with Nashville’s Metro Parks
and Recreation, as many other clubs
have had to learn to do. EWMA has
always struggled with sharing its space
with the popular nearby soccer and
baseball fields, which makes weekend
flying impossible.
Compromise
Several years ago, the field was even
closed because the city thought that
building the field in a different city
park might be more advantageous. As
a group, we petitioned the Metro Parks
and Recreation board, and the field
reopened with limited weekday hours
and was closed on weekends.
These factors greatly restricted its
availability to everyone, but especially
to youth; the field’s hours were exactly
the same as school hours, which
heavily restricted school-age kids’
participation. They were only able to
fly during the three months of summer
vacation and not year-round.
It has been a tough few years for our
club, and we came close to losing the
field altogether. But before you think
the parks department is the bad guy, as
it is for many clubs across the country
these days, our field is in an open and
populated area.
Going Electric
Last year, the Metro Parks and
Recreation board decreed that the
model airplane field at Edwin Warner
Park would become an all-electric
airplane facility. The good news was
that weekday hours were extended and
weekend flying was again allowed (but
only during the three winter months).
The advantages to the field being
located in the park system are many,
and seem to multiply when we
choose to focus on those. There was
no building expense for the runway
or pavilion and there is no expense to
the club for using the facilities. Also,
grounds maintenance is provided.
When the runway faced some damage
from cars being parked at a weekend
event, fencing was immediately erected
around the field to protect it.
When the new field was being
considered, meetings were held and
club members attended in large
numbers with a spirit of cooperation
and compromise. Our wishes were
exceeded in every respect. It made us
stronger as a club and grew our internal
sense of community.
Is it a perfect arrangement? No. Is it
one that leans heavily on compromise
both from the club and the park? Yes.
But sometimes compromise is what we
have to do in the name of community,
even if that community begins to
extend outside of our club, our field, or
even our hobby.
We work closely with the
superintendent for the Warner Parks,
whose office is across the street from
our flying field. We also have a liaison
who is our immediate contact for
solving problems and coordinating
EWMA’s volunteer work.
We view ourselves as an integral part
of the entire Warner Parks structure
and as partners with park headquarters.
Our partnership is based on good
stewardship for the parks, good public
relations, and—you guessed it—
community building.
Community Building
Compromise has let us extend
our community building further to
something that matters to our club. A
primary focus of EWMA is teaching
youngsters how to fly and take care of
their model airplanes. It is enjoyable to
have their enthusiasm and energy. Our
members clearly recognize that youth
are the future of the hobby.
For Scout groups, special and
private school groups, and as part of
Warner Parks’ education schedule,
EWMA members provide programs
that teach about the phenomenon
and logistics of flight. Some of the
youngsters attending have become
interested in flying, and several have
become club members. We even have
a program for public school children
during Nashville’s spring break.
These programs are always well
attended by the children, parents,
and club members.
In addition to the presentation of
how airplanes fly and how our model
airplanes are controlled, we’ll have
flying demonstrations of different
aircraft, combat between airplanes
with streamers, and of course, a
candy drop from Hobby Lobby’s
12-foot Telemaster. Hosting the
programs is a rewarding experience
for all involved.
In recognition of EWMA’s
volunteer spirit, the pilot participants
are invited to a delicious volunteer
appreciation party at Christmas
time by the Friends of Warner Parks,
the park’s fundraising organization,
which just adds to our already
steadily growing community.
Increasing Membership
Although becoming an all-electric
field has been an adjustment, that
particular compromise for our
community has improved our club
internally and its relationship with
the community. Our relationship
with the surrounding neighborhoods
is better because of the decrease in
noise, but the largest benefit to the
club is the immense gain in members.
EWMA membership has increased by
more than a third, and retention of
members for the current 2012 year is
unprecedented, with nearly a 100%
renewal.
There is much positive feedback
from new members. They like the
electric airplanes’ ease of operation
and the simplicity of getting into the
hobby because of the low cost and
learning curve, which also appear to
be the motivating factors for staying
in the club.
These reasons have also attracted
young people to the club for the
first time. This helps us meet
and strengthen our goal and the
commitment of community outreach
to young people.
Compromise isn’t always fun, and
it isn’t something that our society
values sometimes, but magically,
things seem to fit together best
when you extend your idea of what
a community is outside of yourself,
your friends, your club, your hobby
and into the bigger world.
My thanks to EWMA’s fearless
leader, Richard Rust, and my own
EWMA community.
Sources :
Edwin Warner Model Aviators
www.ewmaclub.org
Nashville Metro Parks and Recreation
www.nashville.gov/parks