Modeling Spoken Here — 2006/12
No matter what type of models you enjoy flying, the first need you have to fulfill is someplace at which to fly them. This is fundamental. Without a field, circle, or strip we cannot effectively practice and enjoy our hobby/sport.
Belonging to a club that already has a field is usually the solution to the preceding problem. Many clubs have fields with long-term leases or situations that ensure their stability in the long haul.
Many other clubs are facing the loss of their fields and are in the process of looking for new ones. Still others have already lost their fields and are disbanding because the club cannot sustain itself without a field on which to fly.
This is not a new problem by a long shot, but the solutions have become more difficult to find because of the ever-diminishing amount of available land. Certainly some of the new and quieter forms of propulsion have opened a few new fields that were not options for the noisier modeling disciplines, but really the problem is across the board: there is less land available and many are competing for its use.
This issue contains an article outlining one of the first success stories stemming from the EPA–AMA Partnership Superfund Program, which is the brainchild of AMA Flying Site Assistant Coordinator Joe Beshar. Joe sought potential flying sites through governmental involvement. He envisioned a partnership for the use of idle properties and began searching for advice from various governmental agencies about how to make this happen.
This search led Joe to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., and to the attention of the director of that agency, Michael Cook. Joe visited Washington and convinced Mr. Cook of the value of model aviation in recycling idle Superfund sites.
Melissa Friedland, the National Manager for Superfund Development, was asked to establish and direct a program to utilize the aforementioned idle properties, coordinating and communicating with Joe. The procedure that was established is as follows:
How the EPA–AMA Superfund Site Procedure Works
- Visit the EPA Web site at www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/index.htm. In the menu on the left, click on “Locate NPL Sites,” click “Construction Completions at National Priorities List (NPL) Sites—by State,” and then click your state.
- Choose a site of interest. Write down its CERCLIS ID number. Visit and inspect the site to make sure it is suitable for a flying field.
- If you want to pursue the Superfund site as a possible flying field, e-mail Joe Beshar at [email protected] or contact him by mail at 198 Merritt Dr., Oradell, NJ 07649. Include the site ID number from the EPA Web site; the Superfund site’s state and city location; and your club’s name and contact person’s name, phone number, and address. You can also contact Joe by telephone at (201) 261-1281.
- Joe will follow up with the EPA for possible acceptance.
Does this process really work? Turn to page 55 and read the story by Jeff Welliver about the Minneapolis Piston Poppers’ experiences in obtaining a new field. Jeff had been reading about this new program in the pages of MA, and with his club’s blessing he contacted Joe and began to follow the preceding procedure.
The message here is clear: unless your club takes the initiative by going to the EPA Web site and doing the initial search, this process won’t work. But if you do follow the procedure, the chances are very good that the EPA and AMA can help in ways that were not options for us before.
Joe wanted me to be sure to pass on his personal thanks to Jeff Welliver for not only getting involved with the EPA–AMA Partnership Superfund Program process, but also for writing about his club’s success story so that all of us can see that it really works.
I would like to personally acknowledge the work that Joe Beshar has done, first in coming up with a great idea and then having the fortitude to follow through by doing the significant legwork of finding the proper governmental agency to work with and establishing a workable procedure. We all owe him thanks for his work on our behalf.
We are well aware of the fact that the Internet is fast becoming the resource of choice for those who have adopted keystroking and mouse hunting into their daily routine.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
