Flying Site Case Study #2
The Tokay Radio Control Modelers in the Sacramento, California area lost two of the four local flying sites because of residential encroachment, and the remaining two were in jeopardy.
Mark Sherrill, club president, had begun to attack the problem of keeping his club's current flying site, trying to satisfy local requirements related to the use of county-owned property. Environmental issues- most notably noise--consumed hours and dollars as he attempted to save the existing field. The effort was in vain and Mark made a quick transition from the "save the field" to the "find a new field" mode.
By November of last year, Mark had been looking for a field for nearly a year. He asked for advice about the strategies used by other clubs in successful field searches.
He spoke at length with the AMA on the telephone, discussing networking, newspaper ads, door pounding. .. anything successful clubs do when trying to get a new home. And Mark kept pressuring himself to identify any potential site owner.
Mark did find two potential flying sites and received examples of generic agreements between clubs and land owners from the AMA. In each case, networking was the key to finding the sites. A friend of a club member was instrumental in providing the site ultimately chosen (it was already level), and a contact Mark's wife had made in a local political club was the source of the second site, a site which is now firmly in the club's "potential site inventory," should urban sprawl or any other factor render the current site unusable.
Mark stated, "It is really great seeing the smiles on the faces of the guys who hung in there and were rewarded by their hard work. We just added four new members to the club and I am sure there will be more to come now that we have another flying site. Thanks AMA for your support during our hunt!"
Dedication, perseverance, and persistence are the recipe for success. Okay Tokay!