Flying Site Assistance

I was forwarded
the following email
from Lois Mock of
AMA’s Safety and
Member Benefits
Department. It
was sent to Lois,
and she forwarded
it, because it
pertains to flying
sites. The email gives information
about the Olde Mill Stream E-Flyers
Club in Umatilla, Florida. This is an
interesting club situation! I hope you
find it interesting as well.
“I feel a note of explanation
regarding the structure of the Olde
Mill Stream E-Flyers Club [#4903]
is in order. OMS E-Flyers is a club
located on the grounds of an RV resort
park in Umatilla, Florida, known as
Olde Mill Stream RV Resort. It is a
‘gated,’ over 55, community of about
500 residents during peak winter
capacity.
“The OMS E-Flyers was started
by Ron Tibbetts and I took over
guardianship in the 2010-2011 season
when Ron decided to move on to
a full-time home here in Florida.
The owner of OMS is very gracious
and has been more than generous in
providing the means that support a
number of activities here in the park.
“Presently, we are allowed to fly on
a 5-acre field [located at 28.57N by
81.39W] that is expansion land for
the RV resort. We may lose this site
in another three years if the resort
continues to grow at its present rate.
We also have use of a multi-purpose
steel building in the park where we
have monthly meetings and can fly
micro-rotary and micro-fixed-wing
aircraft there as well.
“This year, we had a few residents
that did not return, yet we grew
from four active members to 15 and
taught about eight brave souls how
to maneuver ‘stick’ airplanes around.
Others have graduated to foam
models that look more like their Scale
prototypes.
“Membership in the OMS E-Flyers
is limited to residents of Olde
Mill Stream RV Resort, and club
operations cease during the summer
period when the resort is closed.
A few folks arrive in October with
numbers increasing through New
Year’s and decreasing through April.
Typically, we have six monthly
meetings, November through April,
and then everyone goes home for
the summer. I have had a number of
queries from people in the Leesburg,
Florida, area regarding membership. It
looks like another club to service this
area is warranted.
“I was wondering if there are similar
Park Flyer clubs located at RV parks
and if the AMA has ever considered
the network of national RV parks as a
way to promote AMA membership? I
know that the few newbies we started
this year are generally going to look for
a summertime club once they get back
north. One-hundred percent of our
membership is on email and we will
all be in touch over the summer until
we return this coming November.
“You should be receiving our charter
papers in a few days … I stapled a
copy of our bylaws to the renewal.
The club voted 100% to renew.
We will be starting home to New
Hampshire on April 15.
“You can see more about Olde
Mill Stream RV Resort at: www.
oldemillstreamrvresort.com/parkmap.
html. It’s Florida’s best-kept secret.”
Warm regards,
Joel Chappell—OMS E-Flyers
President
AMA34143
I know that many AMA members
enjoy RVing. I am sure that most go
to resorts from time to time. I would
love to hear from any members who
are bringing their models with them
in their travels and getting in a few
flights at the RV park. If you don’t
have access to an open area of the park
to fly, perhaps this is something you
might want to look into.
I will be following up with Mr.
Chappell about this, and hopefully
you will let me know about your
exploits when traveling with your
models! If you get a chance, drop me
an email. If you have any questions, or
if I can help in any way, please contact
me at [email protected] or call
(912) 242-2407.
Have fun!
FLYING SITE ASSISTANCE by Tony Stillman, Flying Site Coordinator
RV park flying clubs
fsac@modelaircra .org
Keeping Your Flying Sites
Actually, you keep your  ying site in the same way you keep a friend. The
land, its owner, and your neighbors are your friends and should be treated as
such. One should never abuse the privilege of friendship but should always strive
to maintain good personal and public relations with a friend. In short, treat a
friend—like a friend! Empathy means putting yourself in the other fellow’s place,
so empathy is the key to maintain good relations with your  ying site owner(s)
and neighboring property owners. Put yourself in their shoes. Think how you
would like a group using your property (or the property next door) to treat you.
Visit www.modelaircraft.org/
membership/clubs/fsap-keepsite.
aspx to look over the support
documents. Hopefully you can
 nd something to help you. Please
remember that you can call or
email to get additional help.
For assistance, you may
contact us at (912) 242-2407
or [email protected].