Flying Site Assistance 2013/07

ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news ama news 150 Model Aviation July 2013 www.ModelAviation.com
As we began
the 2013 flying
season, I received
an email from a
good friend, Todd
Blose. Todd’s club,
the Texas Model
Aircraft Foundation,
recently installed a
new fabric runway.
Because I have received many
inquiries lately about this topic, I
thought this would be a great time to
present this to you.
Fabric runways have been around
for some time now, and there are
several companies that manufacture
this material for this purpose. These
runways are great alternatives to hardsurface
runways that require plenty of
ground preparation work and are more
expensive.
Fabric runways can easily be relocated,
if needed. They are also an inexpensive
way to add an additional runway or
taxiway to you current flying site.
Several clubs have used them to create
a smooth runway area for small models,
especially park flyers that have small
wheels and are difficult to operate on
grass fields.
Todd has generated some frequently
asked questions about fabric runways. To
read these, visit www.ModelAviation.
com/fabricrunways, or they will be
available in the July tablet issue.
One of our members created a tool
to put the staples in and this made the
installation easier. With one worker
loading them and another driving them
in, it goes surprisingly fast. We simply
rolled the fabric out and pulled it out
flat, then stapled it down. A few hours
of warm sunshine tightly stretches the
fabric, and it is useable within a couple
of hours.
We added extra staples at each end
after the runway was rolled out. After
one week in the sun, we added more
staples to each side to ensure that they
would stay down. We had the entire
runway done in roughly four hours and
began flying from it the same day.
Make sure that you don’t get the
fabric too tight when installing. Pull it
tightly by hand and the sun will smooth
it out.
If you have any questions, you can
email us at [email protected].
The Texas Model Aircraft Foundation’s field
before laying the fabric runway.
Flying Site Ass istance by Tony Stillman, Flying Site Coordinator
Fabric runways
[email protected]
The material used is called US 230
Aeromodeling Geotextile and is
available from US FABRICS. You
can find them on the web at www.
usfabricsinc.com/products/us-230-
aeromodeling-geotextile.
The phone number is (800) 518-
2290 and mailing address is US Fabrics
Inc., 3904 Virginia Ave., Cincinnati
OH 45227.
I am sure there are other companies
out there making a similar product, but
this one was brought to my attention by
several other clubs that had excellent
results with their product.
captured team disciplines. know shout doing in 2013 F1A, August Mike Ken Andrew Rene Alexander Walt George 2013 participants
13july.indd 150 5/21/2013 12:40:44 PM