Flying Site Assistance - 2003/10
Wes De Cou Coordinator, Western Region Districts VII–XI
Voice: (480) 460-9466 Cell: (480) 296-9515 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
From the Mailbag
I have some great stories this month from clubs across the country. In each case, proactive, out-of-the-box thinking has or will pay dividends to the clubs involved. First is an article from Dave Hable, president of the Winnebago Radio Control Flyers in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This is an excellent example of a club addressing a potential field-loss situation well in advance of the actual loss. I’ll let you know how this plays out.
Winnebago Radio Control Flyers — Oshkosh, WI
I want to bring everyone up-to-date on the flying field situation.
Our current active lease with Winnebago County is set to expire May 1, 2005. However, in January 2003 the county informed the club that it intended to terminate the lease effective April 30, 2004, a year earlier. The county has every legal right to do so. Our lease stipulates that either party could terminate with a 90-day notice at any time.
The ultimate decision-making authority for Winnebago County Parks land is the citizens' advisory Winnebago County Parks Board. The board oversees all decisions and activities on parks land. The decision to terminate our lease was made by this board, principally for economic reasons. They want the land for Expo Center event parking and camping. They need the money; it’s as simple as that.
What is the club’s approach to the problem? We’ve known for some time that our days at the Expo Center were numbered, and we already started looking for a replacement field last fall. All along, we have tried, and will continue to try to follow two important courses of action: keep flying and keep looking.
Moving a flying field is no easy task. Those of you who moved from 4th Street to Highway Y, then from the Highway Y location north to our current site, know exactly what I mean. It’s a task which we have to face, but there’s no doubt that we want to face it only once. If and when we move, we want to move to a location that will allow us to stay for some time. We don’t want to move again three or four years later.
Keep flying
In February the club wrote a letter to the Parks Board, asking it to reconsider its decision to terminate our lease altogether. We told the board that we have not yet been successful in our search to find a new site, though we are still looking. We asked to stay at our current location with whatever restrictions the county decides, which includes allowing events to use our field for parking and camping.
We contacted Hobbytown USA and Dymond Modelsports to ask that they too write letters to the board on our behalf, which they gladly agreed to do for us.
The board agreed in principle not to terminate our lease and to allow us to continue to fly with restrictions, which will include allowing parking and camping on our field. The county is in the process of writing the "legalese" for a new lease. As of this point in time, I don't know what the specifics will be.
I thought it important to ask for reconsideration and to agree to any restrictions that they may place on us so that we can continue to fly while we look for a new location. Without the reconsideration, 2003 would be our last year at our current location with no new field in sight. We had everything to lose had we not agreed to the board's restrictions. At least we have bought some time.
I am aware that event camping and parking could be detrimental to the field's condition. The county has agreed to include the field in any repair functions necessary after the events.
I am also aware that there has been talk of canceling our fly-ins because of damage that we think will happen. I believe talk of cancellation of either of our fly-ins is premature at best. We have no idea what will happen at the events, and we will pursue with the county any and all repair requirements diligently should they arise.
Keep looking
We continue to look for a new location. We have looked at three landfill sites in the county:
- Georgia Pacific North (closed) landfill, US Highway 41 and Highway 45.
- Georgia Pacific South (active) landfill, County Highway G south of Hwy 45.
- Town of Black Wolf (closed) landfill, Lone Elm Road, west of US Highway 45 (near Wendt's on the Lake).
We ruled out number one as unsuitable for a flying field. Georgia Pacific won't let us use the second site (yet) because it's an active landfill (it was perfect!).
Bruce and I toured the third site last fall. It looks promising, but we will need to make a presentation to the Town of Black Wolf Board. We don't yet know whether they will allow us to use the land. We would need to level a 50-75-foot mound of earth in its center. This location is on the extreme southern edge of Winnebago County, about 15 miles south of our current location.
Some other, smaller locations were brought up at a recent meeting. Bruce and I checked them out but they are far too small or too close to development.
I have written to AMA to ask for whatever assistance in our search they can provide and I have placed an advertisement in the Oshkosh Northwestern.
What can members do?
We all need to look at this experience with rational judgment. We could say that the Parks Board is not being fair to our club. We could write letters of protest. We could involve the media. We could do a lot of negative things, none of which would help our cause—and in fact could backfire.
We could win a battle and create some public sympathy but lose the war and the field before we are ready to move. Parks Board members are human and the Parks Board is in control of this situation no matter what we do or say.
Instead, watch for parcels of land big enough to support our need. When you see such a parcel, don't just talk about it at a meeting or among yourselves. Be proactive. Try to find out who owns the land. Try to get some information about it to pass along to officers to make a contact.
This search is too big and important to place only on the shoulders of the club officers. We need every member's help. With everyone's help and patience, we will come through this as a club, intact, and in a new location. It just won't happen overnight.
Guymon Flying Tigers — Guymon, OK
The next story comes from Don Fajen of the Guymon Flying Tigers Radio Control Club in Guymon, Oklahoma. The Flying Tigers used some inventive approaches to get their field prepared and covered. Note that this club opted to use relatively inexpensive geotextile as a flying surface. Once the surface is prepared, this material is something your own members can apply without too many sore muscles.
We are the Guymon Flying Tigers RC Club located in Guymon, Oklahoma, in the middle of the Oklahoma Panhandle. The pictures are not in order, but depict the before, during, and after stages.
This project started after viewing pictures of your field and the one in Elk City, Oklahoma. We started the project by establishing a field-improvement fund with two $100 contributions. A raffle and fun-fly added roughly $1,000. An anonymous pledge of $1,000 was offered on the premise that we could raise the balance needed.
Members and others contributed amounts from $25 to $250 and we soon had the necessary funds. We were able to get the dirt work done by the county at no charge. We ordered geotextile from Maxwell Supply in Oklahoma City — four rolls of #2019 (15 x 300) and one roll of #2006 (15 x 250). The sheriff furnished us with work crews to help lay the material and put the spikes in.
We will stripe the runway, taxiway, and ramp when the runway finishes shrinking. It is still a work in progress as we have plans to put a chain-link fence in front of the spectator area and some painting and signs, but we are well along to a great flying field.
Got a potential flying site problem? Get involved! Get Joe or me involved. We're here to help! :)
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
