View From HQ
Ordinances and park bans
We receive too many telephone calls or e-mails that start like this: "The local city council has just banned all model flying in the public parks. What can we do?"
Regretfully, it's often too late if the council has acted and the ordinance has passed. It is much harder to have a city ordinance repealed than to prevent one from passing. Most city and county procedures call for multiple readings of a proposed ordinance before it can be enacted. Unless there is a reason to declare an emergency, the process usually takes time so that the public can be made aware of the proposal and has an opportunity to react.
This awareness process generally doesn't apply to recreation and parks governing boards. Issues such as banning model flying have a greater chance of "flying under the radar" before action is taken. It is often too late to avert a ruling that a little public relations and community involvement might have prevented.
The impact of park-flyer aircraft and new pilots
The development of the park-flyer type of aircraft, and the ability of a nontraditional RC pilot (a newbie) to go out and fly anywhere space is available, have counteracted the positive public-relations efforts of organized clubs. The new flyer has likely never heard of the AMA Safety Code, doesn't think twice about flying in unsuitable areas, and often performs antics that would make any club safety officer's blood boil.
My point is that clubs can never do too much building of good relations with the community, elected officials, and park governing boards.
Building community relationships
There is an urban legend about losing a flying site. It is the story of a young dad going out to a flying site with his son, seeking help with a park flyer. The "gang" at the site basically told the man that they didn't mess with park-flyer airplanes and he needed to take his "toy" elsewhere.
This young father happened to be the son of the mayor. The story goes on to reveal that the flying site was on city property and its lease was due to be renewed. You can guess the rest. I'm amazed how well some clubs are able to build those important relationships in advance of a crisis or problem. I'm also astonished at the naiveté of other clubs that think they exist in a vacuum when it comes to the world around them.
While he was still the District IX vice president, Mark Smith invited Dave Mathewson and me to attend a local club meeting and participate in a ceremony awarding the members their Leader Club pins. The club had thought to invite two of the local officials to be a part of the celebration. As part of the recognition ceremony, the club presented a plaque to the officials in appreciation of their support of the club.
As the credit-card commercial goes:
- Cost of time inviting the officials: $15
- Cost of plaque: $20
- Goodwill generated by these small actions: priceless!
Next time this club has a problem, the value of the relationships built by this action is incalculable.
Club officer: public relations
If your club doesn't have a person responsible for public relations, consider the benefits of adding that position to the list of officers or creating a PR committee for the club. It can pay dividends.
AMA website resources
It has been said that locating things on AMA's Web site can be challenging. The site, www.modelaircraft.org, contains a wealth of information—if you can find it.
To help those such as myself, who sometimes find themselves broken down on this information superhighway, an AMA Web site map can be found on page 150. I hope this guide will prove helpful in navigating this member resource.
In the spirit of flight.
Jim Cherry Executive Director [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
