Flying Site Assistance - 2003/06

162
HERE IS a reminder for those clubs
thinking about leasing or purchasing federal
land. Roughly a year ago I reviewed a
booklet published by the Royal City Radio
Control Club of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The booklet is a step-by-step primer for
clubs wanting to deal with the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) for potential
flying site leases or purchases.
Ads for the booklet will appear in Model
Aviation in the spring issues. (I found the ad
on page 188 of the April issue.) For more
information, you can contact Tom Hill at
(505) 660-3987, or E-mail him at
[email protected].
A note I received is a great lead-in to this
month’s article. The note was sent to
District VIII Vice President Sandy Frank by
John Kling, president of the Gulf Coast
Radio Control Club. Here are some
paraphrased excerpts:
“The Gulf Coast Radio Control (GCRC)
club here in Pasadena, Texas, is being
relocated. Our present location, one we
have been using for more than 30 years, is
being reclaimed by the City of Pasadena for
a street project. That’s the bad news.
“The good news is that the City of
Pasadena has given us another plot of land
fairly close to our present location. The new
location is 3.4 miles from another flying
site, and thus is in full compliance with
provisions of the AMA Safety Code under
the RC section.
“I see no problems with this site. We are
well on our way to having a premium site
located in a very accessible area provided to
us by the City of Pasadena.
“The City of Pasadena has been good to
our club for more than 30 years, and in
return, GCRC has been a very good steward
of its property and an asset to the
community.
“The example here in Pasadena serves
notice to all clubs that if you are consistent
in your efforts to forge a mutually
beneficial partnership with your local
government, you stand a good chance of
keeping and acquiring flying sites through
that government in the future.
“The site we are developing is a ‘drybed
retention pond.’ We feel that this is the
last move the club will have to make, and
one with which the city is happy. GCRC
has always stayed in the good graces of the
city officials through constant
communications.”
The two main points I see in the above
excerpts are (1) that the City of Pasadena
was willing, or perhaps even anxious, to
provide an alternate flying site to the
GCRC folks, and (2) that the club itself
recognized the value of constant
communications with its landlord.
I think the first point derives from the
second. This article, and perhaps one or
two in the future, will deal with some
strategies your club can use to assure its
place in your community’s long-term
recreational scheme.
How do we, as a club of model airplane
enthusiasts, start an effective
communications campaign which we hope
will lead to our being recognized and
embraced by the community? Sandwich
boards on street corners? Overflights with
towed banners? Cars with loudspeakers
announcing our presence? Probably not!
How about establishing a network of
“key” contacts throughout our community?
These would be folks who might be able to
provide support for our sport, even though
they aren’t directly involved in it. If you try
a few of the following ideas, you’ll be
surprised at the “influence” you can bring
to your side of the negotiating table.
Establish a communications
chairperson/secretary/honcho—whatever
you want to call the position—in your club.
Or decide to take up the challenge yourself!
Using the club roster, send a snail-mail or
E-mail survey to every member in the club.
On the survey ask each member to identify
influential people in the community with
whom they have at least a casual
relationship. List the types of contacts you
are trying to develop, and ask for
suggestions.
Does anyone in the club know the
mayor, a city council member, a freeholder,
a parish official, a chamber of commerce
official, a science, math, history, or physics
teacher, or a member of the board of
education?
How about county, state, or federal
governmental officials? We’ve had more
than a few meetings with federal legislators
in Washington DC just because a member
was friends with an elected official.
Does your spouse have any such
contacts? How about the kids? Do they go
to school with or socialize with the kids of
any influential people?
Find out who knows someone in the
news media, whether it be the newspaper,
local radio, or television. It doesn’t have to
be the editor or the news anchor. Media
folks at any level can represent a foot in the
door.
For some of your more outgoing club
members, the development of “affinity”
contacts is a real possibility. These are not
necessarily personal contacts at the
moment, but because you have a common
bond through a high school or college class,
a church affiliation, or the like, you can
develop a relationship for the future.
You can develop an exhaustive list, and
you will develop some key contacts.
How about this? If you or someone in
your club develops a “key contact” survey,
send me a copy. If you have ideas but don’t
want to develop a full survey, call or E-mail
me with the ideas. I’ll be developing a
survey as well. I’ll take all of the ideas
submitted and come up with a usable
document we can have available on the
Web.
Then, after you have “mined” all of the
contacts you can from your current
membership, you’ll have a tool to use
whenever you accept a new member. The
new member fills out the survey as part of
the application process, and your club’s key
contact list stays current.
Now that we have the list, what do we do
with it? Next column!
Flying Site Assistance
Wes De Cou
Coordinator,
Western Region
Districts VII-XI
Voice: (480) 460-9466
Cell: (480) 540 3368
Fax: (480) 460-9434
202 W. Desert Flower Ln.
Phoenix AZ 85045
E-mail: [email protected]
Joe Beshar, Coordinator,
Eastern Region,
Districts I-VI
198 Merritt Dr., Oradell NJ 07649
Tel.: (201) 261-1281; Fax: (201) 261-0223
E-mail: [email protected]
Finding—Preserving—Maintaining
THE HEARTBEAT OF MODEL AVIATION: Recognizing the critical nature of
the need for preserving and finding flying sites, congratulations to the AMA
members who have taken the initiative to register to join in addressing this most
important objective. They are the heartbeat of model aviation.
These people comprise a network of volunteers who serve as AMA’s eyes and
ears, by being aware of activities in their area that could negatively impact existing
flying sites.
They recognize locations that have the potential for future flying sites, and they
advise the clubs and members in their area.
We invite and welcome all AMA members to get on board and join the team.
Please contact one of the Flying Site Assistance Coordinators for registration details.