Born to fly - 2012/05
Jim T. Graham [email protected]
Sharing community space
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, 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.
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.
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 give-and-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 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 surrounding neighborhoods. 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
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
