Finding a flying or boating site if you don't belong to a club can be trial and error. You can try to fly at home, your local park or schoolyard and hope to not have the police called or other authorities notified. Same with boating. Most municipal, county, state, and federal areas won't allow the use because of liability concerns and noise. If one of those areas does allow you to fly you will need to be able to show proof of insurance either through you homeowners property insurance or by being a member of the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) for flyers, the IMPBA (International Model Power Boat Association) or NAMLA (North American Model Boat Association) for boat racers, which all include insurance in their membership. Almost all flying clubs will require AMA membership. It is very foolish to fly anywhere without some form of insurance as people these days are very prone to sue over any matter whatsoever.
I remember back in the mid to late 60s when I was a young boy about 10 or so attempting (more about that later) to fly a Testors C/L with my father at the local school yard until the janitor came out and told us we had to leave because it was not allowed anymore. It was deemed too dangerous and put the school at risk. So this is not a new development but it is much more rigidly enforced now. Back then some private property owners with large lots or fields would turn a blind eye to the occasional use of there acreage by one or two people, but that would end when it became more frequent or more people would arrive. Clubs would negotiate with landowners so that they could have access for their members, but just like now, the non affiliated flyer had few options. Many of those fields were once located in outlying areas but as rapid city growth and housing developments closed in, often times that property was sold and the fields were lost. If the field did somehow survive many times severe restrictions were frequently put in place on when you could fly, the type and size of aircraft and the kind of propulsion allowed. Those restrictions are very common now and it has allowed for the growth of electric powered aircraft and boats but it has forced the nitro, gas and turbine powered segment of the hobby to move to even more remote locations. Lots of these fields also are behind locked gates and only members have keys. These gates are kept locked at all times (except for the rare public event) which makes it difficult for those that have an interest in the hobby and non flyers to come out and just watch and enjoy the activity at the field. Many fields have equipment stored on site so I understand that when no one is using the field you would need to keep the gates locked. With many clubs membership now declining keeping the gates open when the field is in use would help bring in those interested in the hobby, and in turn some of those people might join the club. To be fair if you call a club in advance they will make arrangements for a visiting flyer to use the field. The field is sometimes quite far or not even visible from the gate so if you are a non flyer and just want to casually stop in and watch it is very difficult or impossible to get someone to come out and unlock the gate. The clubs that I have visited have almost no members under 30 years old. To attract new members the clubs will need to do a better job of making their club and flying site or pond available to all those young, new to the hobby elec. flyers and boaters.
I remember back in the mid to late 60s when I was a young boy about 10 or so attempting (more about that later) to fly a Testors C/L with my father at the local school yard until the janitor came out and told us we had to leave because it was not allowed anymore. It was deemed too dangerous and put the school at risk. So this is not a new development but it is much more rigidly enforced now. Back then some private property owners with large lots or fields would turn a blind eye to the occasional use of there acreage by one or two people, but that would end when it became more frequent or more people would arrive. Clubs would negotiate with landowners so that they could have access for their members, but just like now, the non affiliated flyer had few options. Many of those fields were once located in outlying areas but as rapid city growth and housing developments closed in, often times that property was sold and the fields were lost. If the field did somehow survive many times severe restrictions were frequently put in place on when you could fly, the type and size of aircraft and the kind of propulsion allowed. Those restrictions are very common now and it has allowed for the growth of electric powered aircraft and boats but it has forced the nitro, gas and turbine powered segment of the hobby to move to even more remote locations. Lots of these fields also are behind locked gates and only members have keys. These gates are kept locked at all times (except for the rare public event) which makes it difficult for those that have an interest in the hobby and non flyers to come out and just watch and enjoy the activity at the field. Many fields have equipment stored on site so I understand that when no one is using the field you would need to keep the gates locked. With many clubs membership now declining keeping the gates open when the field is in use would help bring in those interested in the hobby, and in turn some of those people might join the club. To be fair if you call a club in advance they will make arrangements for a visiting flyer to use the field. The field is sometimes quite far or not even visible from the gate so if you are a non flyer and just want to casually stop in and watch it is very difficult or impossible to get someone to come out and unlock the gate. The clubs that I have visited have almost no members under 30 years old. To attract new members the clubs will need to do a better job of making their club and flying site or pond available to all those young, new to the hobby elec. flyers and boaters.
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