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Lately,
you have probably realized that AMA has been encouraging clubs to get
out and do something with local park flyers. Many have asked, “What’s in
it for me?” This is a good question, and it’s one that can be easy to
answer, but hard to convince your club members is worthwhile.
Before proceeding, ask yourself if your club has enough political
influence in town to convince the political power structure to change
its mind after passing an ordinance that would prohibit you from flying
at your club field. Consider how long that process would take.
Those who have been involved in the local community may have sufficient
influence to preclude an ordinance from being passed in the first place,
but if this is the case, your club is probably in that 10% that have
their ducks in a row.
For the rest of us, having to deal with an ordinance that would prohibit
model-airplane flying within the county (city, township, etc.) limits
would be a challenge.
Some of our clubs wouldn’t even know that it was being proposed before
it was a done deal, and we would be faced with the very tough job of
getting it repealed.
Club visibility is the first way to avoid surprises, but is this enough
in today’s world? With park flyers flown in ball diamonds, soccer
fields, backyards, and even in parks, it’s just a matter of time before
someone does something “dumb” with one of these, and creates a reason
for the city fathers to think about some form of control for them.
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Do the city
fathers in your community know you well enough to draft an ordinance
that would prohibit park flyers without prohibiting organized AMA club
members? Further, do they even know we exist?
Obviously, while the answer to this in a few cases is yes, the majority
of us face an uphill battle if this scenario were to occur in our areas.
Ironically, the problem isn’t limited to just “them” causing the
problem.
In a few cases, our own members can create the problem by flying in
places which are inappropriate for model airplanes or which some in the
rest of the community will deem to be unreasonable. After all, these new
models can be flown just about anywhere, can’t they?
That is the loaded question. While these new models are capable of being
flown just about anywhere, whether they can be flown there is a
different question. An even more appropriate question is whether they
should be flown there.
There are a number of factors to considered before answering these
questions and there is more to think about than whether the model is
capable of being flown in that spot. For most club members, frequency
interference would be the first thought but does a new pilot with a park
flyer think of that first?
There is the question of pilot
proficiency to think about. An experienced pilot may be able to fly that
park flyer in a typical park, but someone with no previous experience
probably won’t be able to keep the aircraft within the confines of most
parks until he or she has some amount of experience. |
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Park flyers are easier to fly than most
“conventional” models, but the inexperienced newcomer will still have
the problem of the aircraft getting too far away to handle—most likely
downwind.
How many models crashing indiscriminately around town do you think it
will take to raise some eyebrows? What if one hurt another park patron?
How do we minimize the risks posed to our activity posed by the sales of
huge numbers of these models? The easiest way is to try to bring the new
fliers into the fold.
Try to convince them to join your club and fly at your field. If your
field is too far out in the wilderness to be attractive to them, then
get a group together and work toward creating an E-field or two in town.
Work proactively with the local authorities to establish appropriate
places for park flyers to fly. I think you will find that the local
hobby shops will support those efforts.
You might find it fun and convenient to have a place to fly an
appropriate model on your lunch hour or after dinner when a trip to the
“regular” field isn’t practical.
Being proactive in addressing the potential situation will go far to
avoid that issue becoming a “problem” or even a “disaster” in the
future.
To steal an old saying: the flying field you save may be your own! Think
about it selfishly! |
