District II
Gary Fitch, District II Vice President; [email protected] Region: New Jersey, New York, Europe
Finding a New Flying Field
Richard Green, president of the Babylon RC Flyers, sent an article about the process he used to find a new flying field on Long Island, New York. He wrote:
“It’s not as difficult as many people think it is. It takes a little time and nosing around your local city, village, or town hall. Remember to ask a lot of questions and get to the right officials.
“I went to my local town hall and started asking questions about town ordinances pertaining to RC model flying. Which department would oversee the control or enforcement, if there were such rules on the books?”
Richard researched all of the parks in the town, choosing the ones that would be best for flying models. He then downloaded a wealth of information that is already available on AMA’s website and put a proposal together.
“It took several months and much persistence, but Richard’s efforts paid off handsomely with two outdoor flying sites and an indoor site as well. As he put it, ‘All of this for nothing’ and I even convinced them that charging us for permits to fly at these locations was out of the question. They couldn’t wait for us to start right away at the West Babylon Community Youth Center because of the opportunity for the kids to have something else besides street hockey and softball. They even put us on their website, www.wbcyc.org.
“The second field is Overlook Beach parking lot which is entirely paved so there is no need to spend money for a runway installation. At this location we can fly electric and fuel. So it does pay to go after your local governments.”
For the complete journey that Richard and the Babylon RC Flyers took, check out his article on the District II website. Photos are courtesy of Ed Coppa.
District Events and Contacts
District II has many sanctioned events each year. The RC Contest Coordinator for the district is Jim Goodemote; he asks Contest Directors (CDs) of RC events to forward all applications (except International Miniature Aircraft Association events) directly to him.
Jim is also an accomplished pilot in addition to his administrative role. His interests include scale and aerobatic aircraft.
In Memoriam: Ralph Jackson
Bob Noll emailed that Ralph Jackson, Vintage Radio Control Society member #103, passed away this past February. Ralph was a modeling icon in the Binghamton, New York region and a founding member of the Aeroguidance Society. He traveled to many contests in the 1960s, flying in Aerobatics, Pylon, and Scale events, and he won Nats trophies in Aerobatics and Scale. His main interest was Scale and he had several designs published. Ralph was a member of the 1974 and 1980 USA Scale Teams and traveled hundreds of miles attending Scale events in several states. Our condolences to his wife Olga and their family.
Closing
Until next month, help secure our future and take a youngster flying.
District II Contact Information
Gary Fitch, District II Vice President 1298 Slab City Rd., Franklinville, NY 14737 Tel.: (716) 341-2813 Website: www.amadistrictii.org
Associate Vice Presidents
- Tom Bickford, Tupper Lake, NY; (518) 359-2218; [email protected]
- Sal Calvagna, Holbrook, NY; (631) 737-6327; [email protected]
- Gene Gavin, Staten Island, NY; (718) 967-0598; [email protected]
- Bill Hauth, Hamburg, NY; (716) 649-8583; [email protected]
- Ray Juschkus, St. James, NY; (631) 862-5589; [email protected]
- Joe Sarbello, Woolrich Township, NJ; (856) 491-8481; [email protected]
- Alexander Szemere, Kendall Park, NJ; (732) 821-5641; [email protected]
Other Coordinators
- RC Contest Coordinator: Jim Goodemote, Allegany, NY; (716) 372-1137
- Safety Coordinator: Al Kanser, New Lisbon, NY; (607) 293-7974; [email protected]
For a complete listing of district officers and volunteers, please visit the District II website or see a previous issue of Model Aviation.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
