Minor Park in Kansas City MO
by Tony Stillman
Hi, everyone!
In my last column (in the September issue) I gave a report about a club that acquired a new flying site because its old site was no longer safe.
Since then, I was contacted by another club that had been flying at the Minor Park site for the last 30 years. Club members were upset that their flying site was listed as too small and unsafe. I invited them to write an article about the history of the club and flying site to help set the record straight. Here is their report:
Minor Park: A Great Place to Fly
In the southern part of Kansas City, Missouri, a short distance from the suburb of Grandview, is Minor Park and the Minor Park helicopter flying field. That site was established by Floyd Kurzweil. He founded a club called the Midwest Miniature Aircraft Association in the early 1980s.
The club was a group of roughly 10 men. Floyd worked for the Jackson County Parks Department and helped create an active partnership between the heli club and the parks department that still exists today.
Many years have passed and several changes have been made, but it has all been for the better—not only for the field, but also for the people who enjoy flying there. Today, Minor Park is the home field of the Eagles Associates heli club, and most recently, the members have put forth major efforts and expense to make significant improvements to the field.
For quite a while there wasn’t much of a landing pad and the flightline was always flooding, creating a muddy mess. Club vice president, David Parra, said, “In 2010, the club brought in gravel and railroad ties for the pit area. We also buried a drainage pipe to evacuate much of the standing water, providing a much better flying experience. A short time later, a poured concrete landing pad, complete with AstroTurf-like carpet, was added as well. In recent weeks, fill dirt was added around the landing pad, along with new flightline fencing for the north and south flight stations.”
The Jackson County Parks Department has always taken a positive stance with the clubs that have flown at Minor Park and it has been instrumental in helping create a safe and clean place where we can all enjoy this hobby. The parks department helps us schedule our annual fun-fly, and also keeps the grass mowed, empties the trash barrels, and provides a porta-potty.
The county sometimes faces budget constraints, but the Minor Park flying field wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of the people in the Jackson County Parks. Everyone in the Eagles Associates appreciates their efforts.
Currently, we are in discussions to have concrete paths added to the pit area to improve wheelchair accessibility.
For local pilots looking for a place to fly, the field at Minor Park can safely support any size helicopter or flying style. The Eagles Associates have approximately 30 members who represent nearly every skill level. Club president Darren Berkey said, “We have guys with 600- and 700-class helicopters who enjoy flying here just as much as those with 450s and 500s.”
If you’re new to the hobby in the area, you don’t need to be a member of the Eagles Associates to get assistance from its members. “Sometimes a person shows up at the field and they just need some help with a small heli that they like to fly in their back yard from time to time. That’s okay with us because we want people to enjoy this hobby, so we’re here to help out whenever we can,” Darren added.
“The Eagles Associates is all about diversity and being open to anyone who wants to fly helicopters. It doesn’t matter what you fly or how good you are because we’re here to share a learning experience while having a good time flying, and the Minor Park field is a great place for it!”
You can get in touch with the Eagles Associates through the organization’s website at www.eaglesassociates.org.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
