President's Perspective
"... we need to ... keep our current flying sites ..."
It's funny how often I come to the 10th of the month, which is the deadline for this column, and have not only a blank piece of paper, but a blank expression as well. Most often it is getting started that is difficult, and once I figure out a subject and get started, it is easy to fill the column.
Sometimes I have some piece of information which I intend to pass on, but it is not enough to base a whole column on, so I figure I'll stick it in at the end. Great theory, but as often as not, I end up filling up the space before I get it in, or I get so into the main subject that I simply forget it.
FAI / CIAM News
One such case was last month, where I should have reported some good news on the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) front, but didn't. At the CIAM (International Aeromodeling Committee) Plenary meeting, our own Bob Underwood was elected to the position of Technical Secretary. That is arguably the second most influential role in the CIAM.
Bob's election will certainly result in some good things happening for the FAI, as his wisdom and experience will be of great benefit. He replaces Tony Aarts, who has held that office for more than 20 years. I know that many of our members who are active in international competition get discouraged and impatient with the pace at which seemingly simple things progress, and I feel confident that Bob's election to this post will help this situation.
I will give all of you fair warning, however, that the nature of the FAI and its somewhat cumbersome structure will allow only some improvement, not a miracle!
Flying Sites
Flying sites, or rather the lack or loss of them, is a subject which is certainly high on the priority list of AMA's officers; exactly how high varies with the part of the country from which they come. In some parts of the country, such as on the West Coast, the problem is absolutely critical, while in other parts of the country it's not too bad.
At our recent Executive Council meeting, we spent half a day in a round-table discussion of flying sites, which brought out some interesting observations. While I have always known that there were some differences in what is "typical" in flying sites, I was not prepared for the great differences indicated by the EC members.
This discussion was certainly not a scientifically accurate poll, but it indicated that in some districts nearly all of the flying sites are either truly public sites or are on public property that is leased, rented, or in some fashion controlled by a club or group of clubs. In some other districts, public sites, or even sites on public land, are rare if not nonexistent. The majority of districts have some mix of sites on public land and on private land. In some districts, purchase of fields is becoming more common, while in others that option is virtually out of the question.
The discussions did bring up some rather funny observations. One Vice President told of a club running an ad in the paper and acquiring a site; a few of the other VPs mentioned that they had never seen that approach! Sometimes the simplest solution is the hardest to envision.
Sharing sites with other compatible activities seems reasonable, with more than one Vice President mentioning a site shared with a gun club. Another area of diversity is what is acceptable as an area to fly over in terms of desirability and safety.
One of the outcomes of the session is that a survey will be prepared in order to determine our current status of flying sites, as well as some history of those sites and others that the clubs may have had. In any effort, it is important that you have as full an understanding of where you are and where you want to go as possible before you start to plan the route that you are going to take.
Key points and actions:
- Recognize wide regional differences in types of flying sites (public, leased, private, purchased).
- Consider simple, local solutions (e.g., placing an ad) that others may not have tried.
- Explore sharing sites with compatible activities.
- Prepare and respond to the upcoming survey to document current and past site situations.
- Protect existing sites proactively — it is much easier to protect them early than to replace them later.
One thing should be obvious to all: we need to do as much as possible to keep our current flying sites. It is much easier to take steps early to protect our sites than it is to replace them. Do your best.
Till next month,
Dave
Dave Brown AMA President dbrown@dbproducts.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
