Flying Site Assistance - 2004/08

August 2004 151
HERE IS a great success story. As with
others I’ve included in my column, it
contains some useful ideas concerning
people whom you might contact to get lowor
no-cost materials for your fielddevelopment
project.
While I got the information for the article
from Joe Beshar—who got it from Dave
Hostetter—who got it from Rich Hardt—it’s
not a rumor! Rich Hardt is “the horse’s
mouth” as it were, and he welcomes your
questions concerning the project.
My thanks to Joe and Dave, and Rich
who wrote the following piece.
This sure beats putting down stripes by
hand!
A.J. Stein, the first pilot to solo in the
Learn to Fly program, at the pilot’s table.
He is currently attending the local high
school and is one of 23 successful solo
pilots who have completed the program
so far.
The pit area at the new field during the
first fun-fly in 2003.
Development of the Wyoming Modelers’
Park: In 2000, a few RC fliers got together
to talk about finding somewhere to fly. At
the time, they were flying from a pasture on
the Griffin Ranch in Lander, Wyoming. The
site was okay, but there could be no
development of any kind, and you never
knew when 100 or so cows would come
wandering through.
The group contacted a local group of RC
car buffs. That started the idea of a
combined RC park. Several sites were
identified in the Fremont County, Wyoming,
area. Riverton is the largest town in the
county with 9,000-plus residents and Lander
is next with slightly more than 7,500 people.
The county, while very large, has only
30,000 residents and most are on the Wind
River Indian Reservation.
A site on the Wyoming Honor Farm
(prison) was identified as a possibility.
Investigation found the prison management
open to the idea. The site is 26 acres of
nonproductive farmland with 400 acres of
adjacent overfly area on the northern edge of
Riverton.
The prison management found that the
Department of Corrections could not lease
the land to the modelers. Through
discussions, it was found that they could
lease the land to the City of Riverton, and
that the City of Riverton could sublease the
land to the modelers. Thus, an arrangement
was put in place and the Wyoming
Modelers’ Park Association (WyMoPa) was
formed.
The group originally had 11 members in
the fall of 2000. We moved onto the site in
the spring of 2001. With our own funds and
sweat, we built an off-road RC car track and
graded a dirt runway. We used those
facilities that summer.
We worked with various groups in the
community to develop support and raised
money through demonstrations and a raffle.
We submitted grant applications to various
sources. Our main source of funding has
come from the local school district’s
recreation fund and the county’s recreation
fund. With their support, in the summer of
2002 we paved the runways. We have a
main east/west runway that is 450 x 50 feet
and a 350- x 50-foot north-south runway
with a paved 150- x 100-foot pit area. We
also built roads and parking areas.
A local oil-well drilling company dug a
650-foot well for water. In the summer of
2003, we extended and improved the roads
and parking areas.
With rotomill that came from local
highway projects, we rebuilt the off-road car
track to Remotely Operated Auto Racers’
(ROAR, the AMA of car racing) standards.
With cooperation from Pacific Power, the
local electrical company, we installed
underground electrical service to various
parts of the park and installed the beginning
of an underground sprinkler system for the
grassed park area.
This summer we have received further
support from the school district and county
recreation funds and we are taking bids for a
180- x 75-foot paved on-road car track. It
will be NASCAR-styled with banked
straightaways and curves and a paved center
to extend to road racing.
We will continue to complete the road
and parking areas with more rotomill from
local highway projects. We are also
purchasing two standard and one
handicapped-accessible portable toilets.
We are currently working with the
Wyoming National Guard to plan the RC
boat lake. They will provide the engineering
and construction of the lake as a “practice
activity” in 2005. Once this is done, we will
begin to develop a central pavilion as well
as covered pit areas at the flying field, the
car tracks (these will also serve as raised
drivers’ stands), and the boat area. The
central pavilion will provide a place for club
activities as well as a shelter area for visitors
to the park. In the future, the central pavilion
will house permanent restrooms and cooking
facilities.
We started with 11 members and now
have 115. We provide FF aircraft instruction
and RC car instruction, providing the
beginner with all of the equipment needed.
We use Kadet LT-40s for flight instruction
and T-Maxx buggies for car instruction. We
will provide the same for boaters when the
lake is finished. We have boaters who are
interested in gas and electric speedboats,
sailboats, and scale RC warship battles.
Last summer, a local summer youth
program held a program called Young
Aviators. Twenty fifth- through eighth-grade
boys participated. They build five Sig LT-
40s (kits, not ARFs) that are available for
them to fly when they come to the field.
This summer that program plans to offer an
Amelia Earhart program for girls.
This is a quick overview of what we’ve
accomplished. I will be happy to answer any
questions you have.
Contact Rich Hardt at (307) 857-0505.
Flying Site Assistance
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
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