Al Klashak

During the summer of 1997, our club—Midland Radio
Control Modelers—began hearing rumors that the
airfield we had leased for more than 25 years was being
considered for sale. Club members discussed the
possibility of purchasing the property, the total of which
was nearly 200 acres—much of it farmland, swamp, and woodland.
The 10 acres we had leased was not a choice location; it had a
hill at one end of the runway area. If an airplane came in below the
hill, the pilot would invariably lose sight of the model for a minute
or so, and many times the airplane would crash before it became
visible again.