Flying Site Assistance
Coordinators
- Wes De Cou — Coordinator, Western Region (Districts VII–XI)
- Voice: (480) 460-9466
- Cell: (480) 540-3368
- Fax: (480) 460-9434
- Address: 202 W. Desert Flower Ln., Phoenix, AZ 85045
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Joe Beshar — Coordinator, Eastern Region (Districts I–VI)
- Address: 198 Merritt Dr., Dardel, NJ 07649
- Tel.: (201) 261-1281
- Fax: (201) 261-0223
- E-mail: [email protected]
Finding—Preserving—Maintaining
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 'dry-bed 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) the City of Pasadena was willing, perhaps even anxious, to provide an alternate flying site to the GCRC folks; and (2) 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.
Types of contacts to seek:
- Mayor or city council members
- Freeholders or parish officials
- Chamber of Commerce officials
- Science, math, history, or physics teachers
- Members of the board of education
- County, state, or federal governmental officials
- Ask about family and social connections:
- 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, develop "affinity" contacts. These are not necessarily personal contacts at the moment, but because they 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!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
