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I can tell you how CMRCM does it...
> 2. Field not mowed. There does seem to be a hassle in getting this
> accomplished at times. Either the mower is unavailable, the person
> is unavailable, or as quite often happens, if there is no one
> designated as the mower, the same people end up doing it until they
> either get fed up with it or just don't have the time. The club
> I belong to is toying with the idea of buying a riding mower, but
> we will still have the problem of where to keep it and who uses
> it.
> Any innovative thoughts on this dillemma?
Part of our club dues pays for a person to mow and sweep the field
as needed. The field director decides on when it is needed. Nothing
innovative but it works fine! Pay someone to mow it and it will
get done.
> 3. Bumpy and Rutted. Unfortunately, unless storm fencing is put
> around the field, along with land mines, there ain't a whole lot
> that can be done about this, other than a few choice words as you
> try to fill them back in.
Once a year, in the spring, CMRCM has a field clean-up day.
Members bring whatever equipment they have access to. We usually
get 20-30 members, a roller, trimming equipment, rakes, shovels,
etc and have at it! In 3 or 4 hours it's perfect, and everyone
brings their planes to enjoy it afterward. During the summer, if
you see a new hole or rut in the field, you fix it! This kind of thing
only works if your club has enough members that are willing to
give some elbow grease to have a nice field. Set an example! If
people see you raking or picking up trash or whatever, maybe it
will catch on.
> 4. Police closing the field. Don't know the particulars on this
> Kay, but I can't say I'm too surprised. This brings up the question
> of how does your club police the flying field? At Acton, the rule
> is supposed to be no flying before 10:00 A.M. However almost any
> weekend you can find at least one or two planes airborne well before
> 9:30. Part of the hassle we have with the Acton Field, is that it
> is very visible and enticing from RT.2, therefore we most often
> have more non-members than members there. With the field being on
> state land, we really don't have any authority to tell who may or
> may not fly there.
CMRCM is fortunate in that we are on secluded land and the only
way to get to the field is through a locked gate that only members
have a key to. But the disadvantage is that the Westborough
Fish & Game department controls the field (it is on state-owned
land). We can't fly during hunting season (except
on sundays), and we can't fly when they are having field trials
with hunting dogs in the area (usually takes away a couple weekends
each summer).
The basic philosophy we have lived by is that you don't fly
before 10:00 AM, and if ANYBODY asks you to stop, you STOP. Be
as courteous as possible to the people in the area. Not being
able to fly on occasion can be frustrating, but we have a beautiful
field and don't pay any rent for the land. It's worth the sacrifices.
The bottom line is that there are clubs and then there are groups
of people who just fly their planes at the same place. The clubs will
have the nice, well-maintained fields, will obey courtesy rules
by self-policing, and will have a better chance of keeping their
flying sites.
Bill
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| The West Shore Flying Society (Harrisburg, PA area) does it this
way:
1) We have two fields about 15 mi. apart.
2) One field has had noise complaints; we took care of them as follows:
a) We "flipped the field", i.e. we took pit area from south
side of the runway to the north side and the pattern reversed
as well.
b) We only fly from 9 AM to 8 PM (the evening curfew really
only comes into play for about three weeks in summer,
otherwise it's too dark by then anyway.
3) With 150 members, it's only a few extra dollars on dues just
to hire someone to maintain the fields and expect that we always
have 1" grass!
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| Last weekend I visited a club field in Athens, PA. They have
a field that's in a state park, and it's a reasonable site -
my only complaint was that there were trees on the landing
approach that scared me.
They have low dues ($15/yr). They have a locked gate limiting
vehicle access, and have built a locked shed in which their
lawn equipment is stored. I think they have a rotating volunteer
basis of club members to mow the lawn, but if the equipment is there
I suppose anybody can mow it if they think it needs it.
There's also now a chain saw in their shed for retrieving stuck
aircraft - bet you wish we had one of those at CMRCM, Bill!
There were his and hers outhouses (labelled "Pilots" and
"Stewardesses", which got my liberated sister-in-law upset),
a small playground for the kids, and a small pavilion with a picnic
table.
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