May 2005 39
IN EARLY 2002 the On Top of the World
(OTOW) RC Flyers club was faced with
the need to build a new flying site at its
home community of On Top of the World
Central in southwest Ocala, Florida.
Because of this active adult housing
community’s rapid growth, we were given
roughly two years to move to a new
location.
The existing flying site was within our
gated community and until that time had
been almost perfect in its location and
layout. In photo 1 (and in photo 2a), the
old OTOW RC Flyers’ site is shown
during its first invitational: the spring
2003 fly-in.
The original runway was located on a
small hilltop, and pilots were able to fly
facing north without going near homes and
people on the community’s two golf
courses. During an approximate 10-year
period, club members had planted, rolled,
and maintained the runway to provide a
smooth, grassy strip that measured 150
feet wide and 450 feet in length.
As the community gained popularity
and grew rapidly, homes started
encroaching on the south of the field, and
a new golf course was under construction
approximately 1,000 feet to the north of
the flightline. I had just become club
president, and I saw this as an excellent
opportunity to plan well in advance to
build an even better flying site.
There was ample time to locate a new
spot, and On Top of the World
Communities, Inc. President Kenneth
Colen provided our club with a location
that was distanced from homes and people.
It was within a pasture where cattle grazed
on his Circle Square Ranch.
On Top of the World Central occupies a
small portion of the 21-square-mile Circle
Square Ranch that Kenneth Colen's father
Sidney Colen acquired in 1975. After
much discussion regarding field access,
model-flying safety, and noise issues,
Kenneth directed his ranch hands to fence
off a 14-acre parcel, located at the edge of
a large cattle-grazing pasture, to be used
for the new flying site.
The pasture area at the ranch is so large
that cattle are rarely seen near the flying
site, but the fence is necessary to keep
them from damaging the runway and
structures. Kenneth also provided us with
a 1,500-foot, single-lane asphalt road so
that we could access the site with our cars
and golf carts. In our discussions, the
recommended field layout on the AMA
Web site was helpful in explaining the
safety considerations for locating the new
flying site.
Photo 2b shows the new flying site.
Safety was the primary concern in the new
field's layout, and, as you can see, there is
plenty of cleared overfly area (pasture)
where model aircraft may inadvertently—
but safely—go down and be easily
recovered. Pilots can face the north to
Left: Photo 2b.
The OTOW RC
Flyers' new field
is shown under
construction.
Below: Photo 2a.
The On Top of the
World (OTOW) RC
Flyers' old flying
field in Ocala,
Florida. Club
member H.P.
Jenks took the
photos on this
page in fall 2003.
by Lester LeBlanc
Photos by the author except as noted
40 MODEL AVIATION
Figure 4. Drawing of the OTOW RC Flyers' new site.
Photo 3. Member Bob Vance rolls grass on new runway, which
was nearly filled in by mid-August. In background is pole barn
and tractor shed.
Photo 1. The old flying site, runway, and flightline. This picture
was taken at the club's spring 2003 fly-in.
avoid being blinded by the sun, and people
can safely access the field from the rear
entrance.
There are gates at the east and west
corners of the north side of the cattle fence
that surrounds the 14-acre flying site, to
allow golf carts to recover downed models.
The new runway is 150 feet wide and 600
feet in length, and it was leveled by a farm
tractor before the photo was taken.
The runway is positioned east to west,
and there is 150 feet of space between the
runway and the fence on the east, west,
and north sides of the runway, to allow for
aircraft that overrun it to stop before
reaching the cattle fence. The south
portion of the flying site to the rear of the
runway is approximately 400 feet wide and
will be used for pits, setup area, parking,
and event operations.
Gaining approval for land use was a big
step toward obtaining the new flying site,
but there was a lot of work to do before the
field was ready for use. Foremost was the
issue of planting grass on the runway, and
I am sure that others can benefit from our
experience.
The runway that we had been using was
mostly grassed over with Pensacola Bahia
grass, which is native to Florida. It is
resistant to drought and requires no
irrigation. According to Bahiagrass.com,
the Pensacola variety has a root system
that extends downward in the ground to a
depth of eight feet.
There was only one drawback to the
Pensacola Bahia grass: in the summertime
it grew tall seed heads between weekly
mowings. These seed heads have been
known to tear the covering on the bottom
of a model’s wing during landing.
We decided to use Argentine Bahia
grass, which is as robust as the Pensacola
but without most of the seed-head
problem. The seed heads from Argentine
Bahia are much shorter and do not need to
be mowed as frequently.
The decision to plant this type of grass
posed a problem in preparing the new
runway for seeding. It had been tilled,
disked, and leveled, but that did not
destroy the pasture grass. Pasture covering
in Central Florida is mainly Pensacola
Bahia, and because of its root system it
will grow back even after it is turned over
to bare ground. Obtaining a new grass
cover required us to kill the root system
with herbicide.
All of this was completed in the fall of
2003, and we missed a good part of the
growing season for new grass. The best
time for growing new grass is June through
September, when rain is abundant and the
ground is warm enough to germinate the
seed. The peak of the rainy season occurs
in mid-August in Central Florida.
Almost 1,000 pounds of Argentina
Bahia grass were spread in November, but
it did not germinate because the ground
temperature was too low and there was not
enough rain. However, more research
May 2005 41
Photo 5. Kenneth Colen cuts the ribbon at the field's opening. Club officers (L-R) are
treasurer Doug Ensley, field marshal Bob Vance, secretary Chuck Frederick, safety officer
Howard Rutkowski, vice president Ed Beck, and president Lester LeBlanc.
Photo 6. The new field at the opening ceremonies. This is the view from the parking
area to the south of the runway.
Photo 7. A view of the new field from the east along the flightline. Congratulations to
the OTOW RC Flyers club on its fine new field!
revealed that the new Bahia grass seed has
a built-in mechanism that will hold off
germination until the right conditions exist.
Despite our skepticism, we held onto the
belief that the seeds on the new runway
would eventually germinate.
When weeds grew on the runway during
the winter, we were concerned about their
crowding the new grass and depleting the
nutrients in the soil. The club’s
membership came out in force on many
occasions to hand-pull weeds so they
wouldn't damage the dormant seed.
The Argentine Bahia didn’t start to
grow until early July 2004. Although we
were finally having some success in
growing our new airfield, we found patches
where seed had washed and blown away
during the winter.
We decided to reseed with a small,
fresh batch of new Argentine Bahia, but
our group was alarmed to learn that there
was a seed shortage because of weather
conditions and less planting by growers.
The price had shot up to nearly $8 a pound,
and we needed 500 pounds.
One of the club members noticed fresh
Argentine Bahia seed at Lowe’s for $2.75
per pound; it was from a shipment that had
recently been delivered under a contract
made nearly 12 months earlier. Lowe’s
policy was to mark it up only by its usual
amount, so we were able to purchase 500
pounds.
Club Field Marshal Bob Vance and
Safety Officer Howard Rutkowski prepared
our new two-acre runway for overseeding
by mowing the new grass with the club's
lawn tractor. Then Bob rolled the runway
with a spiked roller to make holes for the
seed while Howard planted it with a
borrowed spreader and golf-course work
vehicle. We later learned that this worked
out very well.
In Photo 3, taken in early September
2004, the runway and pit area are shown
growing new grass, which has filled in
nearly all of the bare spots. Also shown is
Bob Vance rolling the runway with a
rented compacting roller. The grass was
established enough in early September for
us to use a roller to smooth the depressions
in the runway, to obtain a smooth surface
for landing models.
Throughout this process, many of the
able members of our 105-member club
were actively involved in building our new
field. Most members are experienced RC
fliers who are eager to help, and many
have actually chosen this community for
their Florida retirement because of the
ready access to flying facilities for their
models.
Another major issue with building the
new flying site was the construction of a
sunshade pavilion. During the previous two
years, the club had held two fund-raising
events and saved a good portion of dues for
the expenses related to constructing the
new field. We voted to have a contractor
build the sun pavilion rather than do it
ourselves.
In the background in Photo 3 is a 20-
foot-wide, 48-foot-long, 10-foot-high pole
barn installed by Robert W. Sullivan
Construction of Trenton, Florida, at a
modest cost of $4,800. The structure is
built to withstand the sudden windstorms
that come up in Central Florida.
At the old field we experienced several
instances of the wind tearing up our sun
shelter and turning over the lawn shed. In
September 2004 we endured two
hurricanes with winds of at least 70 mph
that resulted in no damage to our structures
on the flying site.
The hip roof of the new pavilion was
constructed from pressure-treated lumber
and covered with heavy, 29-gauge steel
sheeting that has a trade name of
Galvalume Plus. It is coated with an
aluminum-and-zinc mixture and then
sealed with a clear plastic coating. The
poles are 6 x 6-inch pressure-treated wood
and are anchored in a concrete footing that
is separate from the floor that was poured
later.
We are grateful to Kenneth Colen for
providing his contractors to float the
pavilion's concrete floor for the club. He
supports at least 100 clubs and other
activities within On Top of the World
communities in Ocala, and we appreciate
his generosity in helping with our project,
even though we are a small group of only
105 enthusiastic members.
The remainder of the field, including
the flightline, pilots’ stations, pit area, and
aircraft-assembly area, are laid out
according to AMA recommendations, as
shown in Figure 4. The flightline is 25 feet
in front of the four flight stations, which
are grouped in the center to allow pilots to
communicate easily with each other.
Airplanes enter and exit the runway on
each side of the row of flight stations,
depending on the flight pattern that the
wind conditions dictate.
There is a 3-foot-high chain-link barrier
in front of the pilots’ stations. In addition,
a 2-foot-high chain-link barrier was
constructed on each side of the pilots’
stations to prevent returning models from
heading into the pit and spectator areas.
This spring we plan to top-dress any
small surface depressions in the runway,
reseed, fertilize, and roll to make the grass
runway as smooth as possible. Our
objective is to make this flying site a safe
and fun place for our members to enjoy.
November 13, 2004, the club held its third
invitational fly-in and field-dedication
ceremony at the new site. It was well
attended by 44 pilots and nearly 300
spectators.
In Photo 5, Kenneth Colen and club
officers are shown cutting the ribbon at the
opening ceremony. Photos 6 and 7 show
the RC site from the parking and flightline
locations. In Photo 6 you can also see the
new flagpole and windsock (also shown in
Photo 7) that the OTOW RC LadyBirds
club donated, adding the finishing touches
to the venue.
This great new site would not have
been possible without the work of our
membership, manager of golf-course
maintenance Jim Murphy, and especially
Bonnie Walters, who appreciated the value
of the enjoyment that this great hobby
brings to this beautiful community. MA
Lester LeBlanc
9490 SW 90th St.
Ocala FL 34481
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/05
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/05
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42
May 2005 39
IN EARLY 2002 the On Top of the World
(OTOW) RC Flyers club was faced with
the need to build a new flying site at its
home community of On Top of the World
Central in southwest Ocala, Florida.
Because of this active adult housing
community’s rapid growth, we were given
roughly two years to move to a new
location.
The existing flying site was within our
gated community and until that time had
been almost perfect in its location and
layout. In photo 1 (and in photo 2a), the
old OTOW RC Flyers’ site is shown
during its first invitational: the spring
2003 fly-in.
The original runway was located on a
small hilltop, and pilots were able to fly
facing north without going near homes and
people on the community’s two golf
courses. During an approximate 10-year
period, club members had planted, rolled,
and maintained the runway to provide a
smooth, grassy strip that measured 150
feet wide and 450 feet in length.
As the community gained popularity
and grew rapidly, homes started
encroaching on the south of the field, and
a new golf course was under construction
approximately 1,000 feet to the north of
the flightline. I had just become club
president, and I saw this as an excellent
opportunity to plan well in advance to
build an even better flying site.
There was ample time to locate a new
spot, and On Top of the World
Communities, Inc. President Kenneth
Colen provided our club with a location
that was distanced from homes and people.
It was within a pasture where cattle grazed
on his Circle Square Ranch.
On Top of the World Central occupies a
small portion of the 21-square-mile Circle
Square Ranch that Kenneth Colen's father
Sidney Colen acquired in 1975. After
much discussion regarding field access,
model-flying safety, and noise issues,
Kenneth directed his ranch hands to fence
off a 14-acre parcel, located at the edge of
a large cattle-grazing pasture, to be used
for the new flying site.
The pasture area at the ranch is so large
that cattle are rarely seen near the flying
site, but the fence is necessary to keep
them from damaging the runway and
structures. Kenneth also provided us with
a 1,500-foot, single-lane asphalt road so
that we could access the site with our cars
and golf carts. In our discussions, the
recommended field layout on the AMA
Web site was helpful in explaining the
safety considerations for locating the new
flying site.
Photo 2b shows the new flying site.
Safety was the primary concern in the new
field's layout, and, as you can see, there is
plenty of cleared overfly area (pasture)
where model aircraft may inadvertently—
but safely—go down and be easily
recovered. Pilots can face the north to
Left: Photo 2b.
The OTOW RC
Flyers' new field
is shown under
construction.
Below: Photo 2a.
The On Top of the
World (OTOW) RC
Flyers' old flying
field in Ocala,
Florida. Club
member H.P.
Jenks took the
photos on this
page in fall 2003.
by Lester LeBlanc
Photos by the author except as noted
40 MODEL AVIATION
Figure 4. Drawing of the OTOW RC Flyers' new site.
Photo 3. Member Bob Vance rolls grass on new runway, which
was nearly filled in by mid-August. In background is pole barn
and tractor shed.
Photo 1. The old flying site, runway, and flightline. This picture
was taken at the club's spring 2003 fly-in.
avoid being blinded by the sun, and people
can safely access the field from the rear
entrance.
There are gates at the east and west
corners of the north side of the cattle fence
that surrounds the 14-acre flying site, to
allow golf carts to recover downed models.
The new runway is 150 feet wide and 600
feet in length, and it was leveled by a farm
tractor before the photo was taken.
The runway is positioned east to west,
and there is 150 feet of space between the
runway and the fence on the east, west,
and north sides of the runway, to allow for
aircraft that overrun it to stop before
reaching the cattle fence. The south
portion of the flying site to the rear of the
runway is approximately 400 feet wide and
will be used for pits, setup area, parking,
and event operations.
Gaining approval for land use was a big
step toward obtaining the new flying site,
but there was a lot of work to do before the
field was ready for use. Foremost was the
issue of planting grass on the runway, and
I am sure that others can benefit from our
experience.
The runway that we had been using was
mostly grassed over with Pensacola Bahia
grass, which is native to Florida. It is
resistant to drought and requires no
irrigation. According to Bahiagrass.com,
the Pensacola variety has a root system
that extends downward in the ground to a
depth of eight feet.
There was only one drawback to the
Pensacola Bahia grass: in the summertime
it grew tall seed heads between weekly
mowings. These seed heads have been
known to tear the covering on the bottom
of a model’s wing during landing.
We decided to use Argentine Bahia
grass, which is as robust as the Pensacola
but without most of the seed-head
problem. The seed heads from Argentine
Bahia are much shorter and do not need to
be mowed as frequently.
The decision to plant this type of grass
posed a problem in preparing the new
runway for seeding. It had been tilled,
disked, and leveled, but that did not
destroy the pasture grass. Pasture covering
in Central Florida is mainly Pensacola
Bahia, and because of its root system it
will grow back even after it is turned over
to bare ground. Obtaining a new grass
cover required us to kill the root system
with herbicide.
All of this was completed in the fall of
2003, and we missed a good part of the
growing season for new grass. The best
time for growing new grass is June through
September, when rain is abundant and the
ground is warm enough to germinate the
seed. The peak of the rainy season occurs
in mid-August in Central Florida.
Almost 1,000 pounds of Argentina
Bahia grass were spread in November, but
it did not germinate because the ground
temperature was too low and there was not
enough rain. However, more research
May 2005 41
Photo 5. Kenneth Colen cuts the ribbon at the field's opening. Club officers (L-R) are
treasurer Doug Ensley, field marshal Bob Vance, secretary Chuck Frederick, safety officer
Howard Rutkowski, vice president Ed Beck, and president Lester LeBlanc.
Photo 6. The new field at the opening ceremonies. This is the view from the parking
area to the south of the runway.
Photo 7. A view of the new field from the east along the flightline. Congratulations to
the OTOW RC Flyers club on its fine new field!
revealed that the new Bahia grass seed has
a built-in mechanism that will hold off
germination until the right conditions exist.
Despite our skepticism, we held onto the
belief that the seeds on the new runway
would eventually germinate.
When weeds grew on the runway during
the winter, we were concerned about their
crowding the new grass and depleting the
nutrients in the soil. The club’s
membership came out in force on many
occasions to hand-pull weeds so they
wouldn't damage the dormant seed.
The Argentine Bahia didn’t start to
grow until early July 2004. Although we
were finally having some success in
growing our new airfield, we found patches
where seed had washed and blown away
during the winter.
We decided to reseed with a small,
fresh batch of new Argentine Bahia, but
our group was alarmed to learn that there
was a seed shortage because of weather
conditions and less planting by growers.
The price had shot up to nearly $8 a pound,
and we needed 500 pounds.
One of the club members noticed fresh
Argentine Bahia seed at Lowe’s for $2.75
per pound; it was from a shipment that had
recently been delivered under a contract
made nearly 12 months earlier. Lowe’s
policy was to mark it up only by its usual
amount, so we were able to purchase 500
pounds.
Club Field Marshal Bob Vance and
Safety Officer Howard Rutkowski prepared
our new two-acre runway for overseeding
by mowing the new grass with the club's
lawn tractor. Then Bob rolled the runway
with a spiked roller to make holes for the
seed while Howard planted it with a
borrowed spreader and golf-course work
vehicle. We later learned that this worked
out very well.
In Photo 3, taken in early September
2004, the runway and pit area are shown
growing new grass, which has filled in
nearly all of the bare spots. Also shown is
Bob Vance rolling the runway with a
rented compacting roller. The grass was
established enough in early September for
us to use a roller to smooth the depressions
in the runway, to obtain a smooth surface
for landing models.
Throughout this process, many of the
able members of our 105-member club
were actively involved in building our new
field. Most members are experienced RC
fliers who are eager to help, and many
have actually chosen this community for
their Florida retirement because of the
ready access to flying facilities for their
models.
Another major issue with building the
new flying site was the construction of a
sunshade pavilion. During the previous two
years, the club had held two fund-raising
events and saved a good portion of dues for
the expenses related to constructing the
new field. We voted to have a contractor
build the sun pavilion rather than do it
ourselves.
In the background in Photo 3 is a 20-
foot-wide, 48-foot-long, 10-foot-high pole
barn installed by Robert W. Sullivan
Construction of Trenton, Florida, at a
modest cost of $4,800. The structure is
built to withstand the sudden windstorms
that come up in Central Florida.
At the old field we experienced several
instances of the wind tearing up our sun
shelter and turning over the lawn shed. In
September 2004 we endured two
hurricanes with winds of at least 70 mph
that resulted in no damage to our structures
on the flying site.
The hip roof of the new pavilion was
constructed from pressure-treated lumber
and covered with heavy, 29-gauge steel
sheeting that has a trade name of
Galvalume Plus. It is coated with an
aluminum-and-zinc mixture and then
sealed with a clear plastic coating. The
poles are 6 x 6-inch pressure-treated wood
and are anchored in a concrete footing that
is separate from the floor that was poured
later.
We are grateful to Kenneth Colen for
providing his contractors to float the
pavilion's concrete floor for the club. He
supports at least 100 clubs and other
activities within On Top of the World
communities in Ocala, and we appreciate
his generosity in helping with our project,
even though we are a small group of only
105 enthusiastic members.
The remainder of the field, including
the flightline, pilots’ stations, pit area, and
aircraft-assembly area, are laid out
according to AMA recommendations, as
shown in Figure 4. The flightline is 25 feet
in front of the four flight stations, which
are grouped in the center to allow pilots to
communicate easily with each other.
Airplanes enter and exit the runway on
each side of the row of flight stations,
depending on the flight pattern that the
wind conditions dictate.
There is a 3-foot-high chain-link barrier
in front of the pilots’ stations. In addition,
a 2-foot-high chain-link barrier was
constructed on each side of the pilots’
stations to prevent returning models from
heading into the pit and spectator areas.
This spring we plan to top-dress any
small surface depressions in the runway,
reseed, fertilize, and roll to make the grass
runway as smooth as possible. Our
objective is to make this flying site a safe
and fun place for our members to enjoy.
November 13, 2004, the club held its third
invitational fly-in and field-dedication
ceremony at the new site. It was well
attended by 44 pilots and nearly 300
spectators.
In Photo 5, Kenneth Colen and club
officers are shown cutting the ribbon at the
opening ceremony. Photos 6 and 7 show
the RC site from the parking and flightline
locations. In Photo 6 you can also see the
new flagpole and windsock (also shown in
Photo 7) that the OTOW RC LadyBirds
club donated, adding the finishing touches
to the venue.
This great new site would not have
been possible without the work of our
membership, manager of golf-course
maintenance Jim Murphy, and especially
Bonnie Walters, who appreciated the value
of the enjoyment that this great hobby
brings to this beautiful community. MA
Lester LeBlanc
9490 SW 90th St.
Ocala FL 34481
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/05
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42
May 2005 39
IN EARLY 2002 the On Top of the World
(OTOW) RC Flyers club was faced with
the need to build a new flying site at its
home community of On Top of the World
Central in southwest Ocala, Florida.
Because of this active adult housing
community’s rapid growth, we were given
roughly two years to move to a new
location.
The existing flying site was within our
gated community and until that time had
been almost perfect in its location and
layout. In photo 1 (and in photo 2a), the
old OTOW RC Flyers’ site is shown
during its first invitational: the spring
2003 fly-in.
The original runway was located on a
small hilltop, and pilots were able to fly
facing north without going near homes and
people on the community’s two golf
courses. During an approximate 10-year
period, club members had planted, rolled,
and maintained the runway to provide a
smooth, grassy strip that measured 150
feet wide and 450 feet in length.
As the community gained popularity
and grew rapidly, homes started
encroaching on the south of the field, and
a new golf course was under construction
approximately 1,000 feet to the north of
the flightline. I had just become club
president, and I saw this as an excellent
opportunity to plan well in advance to
build an even better flying site.
There was ample time to locate a new
spot, and On Top of the World
Communities, Inc. President Kenneth
Colen provided our club with a location
that was distanced from homes and people.
It was within a pasture where cattle grazed
on his Circle Square Ranch.
On Top of the World Central occupies a
small portion of the 21-square-mile Circle
Square Ranch that Kenneth Colen's father
Sidney Colen acquired in 1975. After
much discussion regarding field access,
model-flying safety, and noise issues,
Kenneth directed his ranch hands to fence
off a 14-acre parcel, located at the edge of
a large cattle-grazing pasture, to be used
for the new flying site.
The pasture area at the ranch is so large
that cattle are rarely seen near the flying
site, but the fence is necessary to keep
them from damaging the runway and
structures. Kenneth also provided us with
a 1,500-foot, single-lane asphalt road so
that we could access the site with our cars
and golf carts. In our discussions, the
recommended field layout on the AMA
Web site was helpful in explaining the
safety considerations for locating the new
flying site.
Photo 2b shows the new flying site.
Safety was the primary concern in the new
field's layout, and, as you can see, there is
plenty of cleared overfly area (pasture)
where model aircraft may inadvertently—
but safely—go down and be easily
recovered. Pilots can face the north to
Left: Photo 2b.
The OTOW RC
Flyers' new field
is shown under
construction.
Below: Photo 2a.
The On Top of the
World (OTOW) RC
Flyers' old flying
field in Ocala,
Florida. Club
member H.P.
Jenks took the
photos on this
page in fall 2003.
by Lester LeBlanc
Photos by the author except as noted
40 MODEL AVIATION
Figure 4. Drawing of the OTOW RC Flyers' new site.
Photo 3. Member Bob Vance rolls grass on new runway, which
was nearly filled in by mid-August. In background is pole barn
and tractor shed.
Photo 1. The old flying site, runway, and flightline. This picture
was taken at the club's spring 2003 fly-in.
avoid being blinded by the sun, and people
can safely access the field from the rear
entrance.
There are gates at the east and west
corners of the north side of the cattle fence
that surrounds the 14-acre flying site, to
allow golf carts to recover downed models.
The new runway is 150 feet wide and 600
feet in length, and it was leveled by a farm
tractor before the photo was taken.
The runway is positioned east to west,
and there is 150 feet of space between the
runway and the fence on the east, west,
and north sides of the runway, to allow for
aircraft that overrun it to stop before
reaching the cattle fence. The south
portion of the flying site to the rear of the
runway is approximately 400 feet wide and
will be used for pits, setup area, parking,
and event operations.
Gaining approval for land use was a big
step toward obtaining the new flying site,
but there was a lot of work to do before the
field was ready for use. Foremost was the
issue of planting grass on the runway, and
I am sure that others can benefit from our
experience.
The runway that we had been using was
mostly grassed over with Pensacola Bahia
grass, which is native to Florida. It is
resistant to drought and requires no
irrigation. According to Bahiagrass.com,
the Pensacola variety has a root system
that extends downward in the ground to a
depth of eight feet.
There was only one drawback to the
Pensacola Bahia grass: in the summertime
it grew tall seed heads between weekly
mowings. These seed heads have been
known to tear the covering on the bottom
of a model’s wing during landing.
We decided to use Argentine Bahia
grass, which is as robust as the Pensacola
but without most of the seed-head
problem. The seed heads from Argentine
Bahia are much shorter and do not need to
be mowed as frequently.
The decision to plant this type of grass
posed a problem in preparing the new
runway for seeding. It had been tilled,
disked, and leveled, but that did not
destroy the pasture grass. Pasture covering
in Central Florida is mainly Pensacola
Bahia, and because of its root system it
will grow back even after it is turned over
to bare ground. Obtaining a new grass
cover required us to kill the root system
with herbicide.
All of this was completed in the fall of
2003, and we missed a good part of the
growing season for new grass. The best
time for growing new grass is June through
September, when rain is abundant and the
ground is warm enough to germinate the
seed. The peak of the rainy season occurs
in mid-August in Central Florida.
Almost 1,000 pounds of Argentina
Bahia grass were spread in November, but
it did not germinate because the ground
temperature was too low and there was not
enough rain. However, more research
May 2005 41
Photo 5. Kenneth Colen cuts the ribbon at the field's opening. Club officers (L-R) are
treasurer Doug Ensley, field marshal Bob Vance, secretary Chuck Frederick, safety officer
Howard Rutkowski, vice president Ed Beck, and president Lester LeBlanc.
Photo 6. The new field at the opening ceremonies. This is the view from the parking
area to the south of the runway.
Photo 7. A view of the new field from the east along the flightline. Congratulations to
the OTOW RC Flyers club on its fine new field!
revealed that the new Bahia grass seed has
a built-in mechanism that will hold off
germination until the right conditions exist.
Despite our skepticism, we held onto the
belief that the seeds on the new runway
would eventually germinate.
When weeds grew on the runway during
the winter, we were concerned about their
crowding the new grass and depleting the
nutrients in the soil. The club’s
membership came out in force on many
occasions to hand-pull weeds so they
wouldn't damage the dormant seed.
The Argentine Bahia didn’t start to
grow until early July 2004. Although we
were finally having some success in
growing our new airfield, we found patches
where seed had washed and blown away
during the winter.
We decided to reseed with a small,
fresh batch of new Argentine Bahia, but
our group was alarmed to learn that there
was a seed shortage because of weather
conditions and less planting by growers.
The price had shot up to nearly $8 a pound,
and we needed 500 pounds.
One of the club members noticed fresh
Argentine Bahia seed at Lowe’s for $2.75
per pound; it was from a shipment that had
recently been delivered under a contract
made nearly 12 months earlier. Lowe’s
policy was to mark it up only by its usual
amount, so we were able to purchase 500
pounds.
Club Field Marshal Bob Vance and
Safety Officer Howard Rutkowski prepared
our new two-acre runway for overseeding
by mowing the new grass with the club's
lawn tractor. Then Bob rolled the runway
with a spiked roller to make holes for the
seed while Howard planted it with a
borrowed spreader and golf-course work
vehicle. We later learned that this worked
out very well.
In Photo 3, taken in early September
2004, the runway and pit area are shown
growing new grass, which has filled in
nearly all of the bare spots. Also shown is
Bob Vance rolling the runway with a
rented compacting roller. The grass was
established enough in early September for
us to use a roller to smooth the depressions
in the runway, to obtain a smooth surface
for landing models.
Throughout this process, many of the
able members of our 105-member club
were actively involved in building our new
field. Most members are experienced RC
fliers who are eager to help, and many
have actually chosen this community for
their Florida retirement because of the
ready access to flying facilities for their
models.
Another major issue with building the
new flying site was the construction of a
sunshade pavilion. During the previous two
years, the club had held two fund-raising
events and saved a good portion of dues for
the expenses related to constructing the
new field. We voted to have a contractor
build the sun pavilion rather than do it
ourselves.
In the background in Photo 3 is a 20-
foot-wide, 48-foot-long, 10-foot-high pole
barn installed by Robert W. Sullivan
Construction of Trenton, Florida, at a
modest cost of $4,800. The structure is
built to withstand the sudden windstorms
that come up in Central Florida.
At the old field we experienced several
instances of the wind tearing up our sun
shelter and turning over the lawn shed. In
September 2004 we endured two
hurricanes with winds of at least 70 mph
that resulted in no damage to our structures
on the flying site.
The hip roof of the new pavilion was
constructed from pressure-treated lumber
and covered with heavy, 29-gauge steel
sheeting that has a trade name of
Galvalume Plus. It is coated with an
aluminum-and-zinc mixture and then
sealed with a clear plastic coating. The
poles are 6 x 6-inch pressure-treated wood
and are anchored in a concrete footing that
is separate from the floor that was poured
later.
We are grateful to Kenneth Colen for
providing his contractors to float the
pavilion's concrete floor for the club. He
supports at least 100 clubs and other
activities within On Top of the World
communities in Ocala, and we appreciate
his generosity in helping with our project,
even though we are a small group of only
105 enthusiastic members.
The remainder of the field, including
the flightline, pilots’ stations, pit area, and
aircraft-assembly area, are laid out
according to AMA recommendations, as
shown in Figure 4. The flightline is 25 feet
in front of the four flight stations, which
are grouped in the center to allow pilots to
communicate easily with each other.
Airplanes enter and exit the runway on
each side of the row of flight stations,
depending on the flight pattern that the
wind conditions dictate.
There is a 3-foot-high chain-link barrier
in front of the pilots’ stations. In addition,
a 2-foot-high chain-link barrier was
constructed on each side of the pilots’
stations to prevent returning models from
heading into the pit and spectator areas.
This spring we plan to top-dress any
small surface depressions in the runway,
reseed, fertilize, and roll to make the grass
runway as smooth as possible. Our
objective is to make this flying site a safe
and fun place for our members to enjoy.
November 13, 2004, the club held its third
invitational fly-in and field-dedication
ceremony at the new site. It was well
attended by 44 pilots and nearly 300
spectators.
In Photo 5, Kenneth Colen and club
officers are shown cutting the ribbon at the
opening ceremony. Photos 6 and 7 show
the RC site from the parking and flightline
locations. In Photo 6 you can also see the
new flagpole and windsock (also shown in
Photo 7) that the OTOW RC LadyBirds
club donated, adding the finishing touches
to the venue.
This great new site would not have
been possible without the work of our
membership, manager of golf-course
maintenance Jim Murphy, and especially
Bonnie Walters, who appreciated the value
of the enjoyment that this great hobby
brings to this beautiful community. MA
Lester LeBlanc
9490 SW 90th St.
Ocala FL 34481
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/05
Page Numbers: 39,40,41,42
May 2005 39
IN EARLY 2002 the On Top of the World
(OTOW) RC Flyers club was faced with
the need to build a new flying site at its
home community of On Top of the World
Central in southwest Ocala, Florida.
Because of this active adult housing
community’s rapid growth, we were given
roughly two years to move to a new
location.
The existing flying site was within our
gated community and until that time had
been almost perfect in its location and
layout. In photo 1 (and in photo 2a), the
old OTOW RC Flyers’ site is shown
during its first invitational: the spring
2003 fly-in.
The original runway was located on a
small hilltop, and pilots were able to fly
facing north without going near homes and
people on the community’s two golf
courses. During an approximate 10-year
period, club members had planted, rolled,
and maintained the runway to provide a
smooth, grassy strip that measured 150
feet wide and 450 feet in length.
As the community gained popularity
and grew rapidly, homes started
encroaching on the south of the field, and
a new golf course was under construction
approximately 1,000 feet to the north of
the flightline. I had just become club
president, and I saw this as an excellent
opportunity to plan well in advance to
build an even better flying site.
There was ample time to locate a new
spot, and On Top of the World
Communities, Inc. President Kenneth
Colen provided our club with a location
that was distanced from homes and people.
It was within a pasture where cattle grazed
on his Circle Square Ranch.
On Top of the World Central occupies a
small portion of the 21-square-mile Circle
Square Ranch that Kenneth Colen's father
Sidney Colen acquired in 1975. After
much discussion regarding field access,
model-flying safety, and noise issues,
Kenneth directed his ranch hands to fence
off a 14-acre parcel, located at the edge of
a large cattle-grazing pasture, to be used
for the new flying site.
The pasture area at the ranch is so large
that cattle are rarely seen near the flying
site, but the fence is necessary to keep
them from damaging the runway and
structures. Kenneth also provided us with
a 1,500-foot, single-lane asphalt road so
that we could access the site with our cars
and golf carts. In our discussions, the
recommended field layout on the AMA
Web site was helpful in explaining the
safety considerations for locating the new
flying site.
Photo 2b shows the new flying site.
Safety was the primary concern in the new
field's layout, and, as you can see, there is
plenty of cleared overfly area (pasture)
where model aircraft may inadvertently—
but safely—go down and be easily
recovered. Pilots can face the north to
Left: Photo 2b.
The OTOW RC
Flyers' new field
is shown under
construction.
Below: Photo 2a.
The On Top of the
World (OTOW) RC
Flyers' old flying
field in Ocala,
Florida. Club
member H.P.
Jenks took the
photos on this
page in fall 2003.
by Lester LeBlanc
Photos by the author except as noted
40 MODEL AVIATION
Figure 4. Drawing of the OTOW RC Flyers' new site.
Photo 3. Member Bob Vance rolls grass on new runway, which
was nearly filled in by mid-August. In background is pole barn
and tractor shed.
Photo 1. The old flying site, runway, and flightline. This picture
was taken at the club's spring 2003 fly-in.
avoid being blinded by the sun, and people
can safely access the field from the rear
entrance.
There are gates at the east and west
corners of the north side of the cattle fence
that surrounds the 14-acre flying site, to
allow golf carts to recover downed models.
The new runway is 150 feet wide and 600
feet in length, and it was leveled by a farm
tractor before the photo was taken.
The runway is positioned east to west,
and there is 150 feet of space between the
runway and the fence on the east, west,
and north sides of the runway, to allow for
aircraft that overrun it to stop before
reaching the cattle fence. The south
portion of the flying site to the rear of the
runway is approximately 400 feet wide and
will be used for pits, setup area, parking,
and event operations.
Gaining approval for land use was a big
step toward obtaining the new flying site,
but there was a lot of work to do before the
field was ready for use. Foremost was the
issue of planting grass on the runway, and
I am sure that others can benefit from our
experience.
The runway that we had been using was
mostly grassed over with Pensacola Bahia
grass, which is native to Florida. It is
resistant to drought and requires no
irrigation. According to Bahiagrass.com,
the Pensacola variety has a root system
that extends downward in the ground to a
depth of eight feet.
There was only one drawback to the
Pensacola Bahia grass: in the summertime
it grew tall seed heads between weekly
mowings. These seed heads have been
known to tear the covering on the bottom
of a model’s wing during landing.
We decided to use Argentine Bahia
grass, which is as robust as the Pensacola
but without most of the seed-head
problem. The seed heads from Argentine
Bahia are much shorter and do not need to
be mowed as frequently.
The decision to plant this type of grass
posed a problem in preparing the new
runway for seeding. It had been tilled,
disked, and leveled, but that did not
destroy the pasture grass. Pasture covering
in Central Florida is mainly Pensacola
Bahia, and because of its root system it
will grow back even after it is turned over
to bare ground. Obtaining a new grass
cover required us to kill the root system
with herbicide.
All of this was completed in the fall of
2003, and we missed a good part of the
growing season for new grass. The best
time for growing new grass is June through
September, when rain is abundant and the
ground is warm enough to germinate the
seed. The peak of the rainy season occurs
in mid-August in Central Florida.
Almost 1,000 pounds of Argentina
Bahia grass were spread in November, but
it did not germinate because the ground
temperature was too low and there was not
enough rain. However, more research
May 2005 41
Photo 5. Kenneth Colen cuts the ribbon at the field's opening. Club officers (L-R) are
treasurer Doug Ensley, field marshal Bob Vance, secretary Chuck Frederick, safety officer
Howard Rutkowski, vice president Ed Beck, and president Lester LeBlanc.
Photo 6. The new field at the opening ceremonies. This is the view from the parking
area to the south of the runway.
Photo 7. A view of the new field from the east along the flightline. Congratulations to
the OTOW RC Flyers club on its fine new field!
revealed that the new Bahia grass seed has
a built-in mechanism that will hold off
germination until the right conditions exist.
Despite our skepticism, we held onto the
belief that the seeds on the new runway
would eventually germinate.
When weeds grew on the runway during
the winter, we were concerned about their
crowding the new grass and depleting the
nutrients in the soil. The club’s
membership came out in force on many
occasions to hand-pull weeds so they
wouldn't damage the dormant seed.
The Argentine Bahia didn’t start to
grow until early July 2004. Although we
were finally having some success in
growing our new airfield, we found patches
where seed had washed and blown away
during the winter.
We decided to reseed with a small,
fresh batch of new Argentine Bahia, but
our group was alarmed to learn that there
was a seed shortage because of weather
conditions and less planting by growers.
The price had shot up to nearly $8 a pound,
and we needed 500 pounds.
One of the club members noticed fresh
Argentine Bahia seed at Lowe’s for $2.75
per pound; it was from a shipment that had
recently been delivered under a contract
made nearly 12 months earlier. Lowe’s
policy was to mark it up only by its usual
amount, so we were able to purchase 500
pounds.
Club Field Marshal Bob Vance and
Safety Officer Howard Rutkowski prepared
our new two-acre runway for overseeding
by mowing the new grass with the club's
lawn tractor. Then Bob rolled the runway
with a spiked roller to make holes for the
seed while Howard planted it with a
borrowed spreader and golf-course work
vehicle. We later learned that this worked
out very well.
In Photo 3, taken in early September
2004, the runway and pit area are shown
growing new grass, which has filled in
nearly all of the bare spots. Also shown is
Bob Vance rolling the runway with a
rented compacting roller. The grass was
established enough in early September for
us to use a roller to smooth the depressions
in the runway, to obtain a smooth surface
for landing models.
Throughout this process, many of the
able members of our 105-member club
were actively involved in building our new
field. Most members are experienced RC
fliers who are eager to help, and many
have actually chosen this community for
their Florida retirement because of the
ready access to flying facilities for their
models.
Another major issue with building the
new flying site was the construction of a
sunshade pavilion. During the previous two
years, the club had held two fund-raising
events and saved a good portion of dues for
the expenses related to constructing the
new field. We voted to have a contractor
build the sun pavilion rather than do it
ourselves.
In the background in Photo 3 is a 20-
foot-wide, 48-foot-long, 10-foot-high pole
barn installed by Robert W. Sullivan
Construction of Trenton, Florida, at a
modest cost of $4,800. The structure is
built to withstand the sudden windstorms
that come up in Central Florida.
At the old field we experienced several
instances of the wind tearing up our sun
shelter and turning over the lawn shed. In
September 2004 we endured two
hurricanes with winds of at least 70 mph
that resulted in no damage to our structures
on the flying site.
The hip roof of the new pavilion was
constructed from pressure-treated lumber
and covered with heavy, 29-gauge steel
sheeting that has a trade name of
Galvalume Plus. It is coated with an
aluminum-and-zinc mixture and then
sealed with a clear plastic coating. The
poles are 6 x 6-inch pressure-treated wood
and are anchored in a concrete footing that
is separate from the floor that was poured
later.
We are grateful to Kenneth Colen for
providing his contractors to float the
pavilion's concrete floor for the club. He
supports at least 100 clubs and other
activities within On Top of the World
communities in Ocala, and we appreciate
his generosity in helping with our project,
even though we are a small group of only
105 enthusiastic members.
The remainder of the field, including
the flightline, pilots’ stations, pit area, and
aircraft-assembly area, are laid out
according to AMA recommendations, as
shown in Figure 4. The flightline is 25 feet
in front of the four flight stations, which
are grouped in the center to allow pilots to
communicate easily with each other.
Airplanes enter and exit the runway on
each side of the row of flight stations,
depending on the flight pattern that the
wind conditions dictate.
There is a 3-foot-high chain-link barrier
in front of the pilots’ stations. In addition,
a 2-foot-high chain-link barrier was
constructed on each side of the pilots’
stations to prevent returning models from
heading into the pit and spectator areas.
This spring we plan to top-dress any
small surface depressions in the runway,
reseed, fertilize, and roll to make the grass
runway as smooth as possible. Our
objective is to make this flying site a safe
and fun place for our members to enjoy.
November 13, 2004, the club held its third
invitational fly-in and field-dedication
ceremony at the new site. It was well
attended by 44 pilots and nearly 300
spectators.
In Photo 5, Kenneth Colen and club
officers are shown cutting the ribbon at the
opening ceremony. Photos 6 and 7 show
the RC site from the parking and flightline
locations. In Photo 6 you can also see the
new flagpole and windsock (also shown in
Photo 7) that the OTOW RC LadyBirds
club donated, adding the finishing touches
to the venue.
This great new site would not have
been possible without the work of our
membership, manager of golf-course
maintenance Jim Murphy, and especially
Bonnie Walters, who appreciated the value
of the enjoyment that this great hobby
brings to this beautiful community. MA
Lester LeBlanc
9490 SW 90th St.
Ocala FL 34481
[email protected]
