Protecting your club’s flying site
Flying Site Assistance — Tony Stillman, Flying Site Coordinator
It is a good idea for club members to think about their flying site situation and plan activities to protect the site you currently enjoy. If your club is leasing property from a private individual or company, is your club actively working to ensure that it will be able to continue leasing in the future? What can you do?
Look at things from the property owner’s perspective. What would make you want to lease property to people who fly model airplanes? In some cases, the owner simply has a love for aircraft and enjoys your presence.
This is often true for clubs that fly at small, privately owned airports or crop duster sites. These sites are usually located in rural areas and can be great flying locations.
Spending time with the site owners—letting them see what you do and interact with them so they can enjoy your airplanes—can build relationships that help ensure the club has a place to fly for many years.
Have you ever thought about having a field party for your site owner? I know of a club that gave its landowners a nice weekend getaway in a nearby tourist area. It only cost the club a couple of hotel nights and a gift card for a dinner for two—probably about $300 total. The club does this annually, and it is a much-anticipated vacation for the landowners. That is what I call a great relationship.
What if your landowner is a business? Consider things the club could do for it, such as:
- Assist with a fundraiser for a charity or a company project.
- Partner on a community goal or local project.
- Help with simple maintenance tasks, like cutting grass and cleaning the parking area monthly.
Money is not the important thing here—relationships are. In the South there’s a saying: “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” You’re paying to use property, but what you want is more than land—you want a relationship. Give serious thought to what will make the landowner happy; what you come up with might be worth more to them than the lease payment.
If your site owner is the U.S. government or a local/state government, think about it from their perspective. Administrators receive many requests; what do they want? Many want to be reelected, and many want to improve their community and bring economic impact to the area. Show that your club helps fulfill those goals. Host events that draw modelers who spend money at gas stations, restaurants, and hotels—this will usually please county commissioners.
Ideas to put your club in a positive light with local officials:
- Invite officials to an event or a club meeting.
- Work with kids in community programs and schools.
- Inform the news media about your activities.
- Participate in county-hosted events.
- Staff demo booths at county fairs and parades.
When was the last time your club contacted its neighbors and invited them to a club picnic at the field? Some may not attend, but treat those who do like honored guests so they tell others. I know a club that does this annually; new members are a by-product.
Neighbor outreach can include:
- Offering free or discounted memberships to neighbors and their children.
- Providing flying lessons.
- Helping kids build models and become modelers themselves.
If neighbors become involved with a sport you both enjoy, they’ll be much more interested in your club staying around. With the local community involved, you’ll likely see less vandalism and equipment theft.
If you start working now to build relationships with neighbors and landowners, you protect yourself from having your lease terminated without cause. If you are seen as an asset, they will likely try to protect your right to fly—or at least help find a suitable replacement flying site.
Discuss holding events like these with your club. See what you can do to improve relationships between the club and the site owner.
It is easy to sit around and not be involved. That is one of the many reasons we lose flying sites and AMA members. Work to create an environment that protects your flying site and your privilege to fly there. Be good neighbors and good tenants. Show that you care about your relationships with the landowner and the community.
Now, back to the model shop.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
