Henry Morgan and Bob Kehoe
The Robson Ranch Radio Control Club Flyers are set for another year of model aircraft activities at our Robson Ranch airfield. If you are unfamiliar with this pastime, you should consider attending one of our upcoming events in 2024.
The Flyers have scheduled four “Fun Flys” where pilots of all skill levels using various types of airplanes compete for the coveted Top Gun Award. Flying contest elements include precision landings, pylon racing, bomb drop, combat, and other flying skill tests. Our first Fun Fly took place on Dec. 16, with upcoming events scheduled for Jan. 13, Feb. 17, and March 16, beginning at 9 a.m. We would love to see you there!
We have completed several improvement projects in 2023, beginning with winning the battle of the wet spring and all the weeds. It took many hours of work to get us back to smooth, weed-free runways. Another project involved adding pavers and modifying workbenches in the pit areas to be more ADA-accessible. Additionally, we added safety fencing to separate the pit and spectator areas from the active flight line and pilots. This fencing is 10 feet tall with screening over the top of the spectators that will keep everyone safe should an aviation anomaly occur. In summary, it was a busy year and many thanks go to all our members for helping with these airfield upgrades.
There has been some misinformation floating around regarding the FAA and recreational flying, and we would like to attempt to clarify the matter at a layman’s level.
With the advent of drones, the FAA has been adding elements to ensure flight safety, protect privacy, and add tracking capabilities to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The new FAA rules cover all types of recreational flying, including quadcopters, fixed-wing airplanes, and helicopters. The new regulation requires that the UAS broadcast flight information while flying by March 16, 2024, for all UASs that weigh more than 0.55 pounds.
The FAA allows for no broadcasting if you fly in a recognized FAA flying area called an FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA). Our flying area was not approved as a FRIA, so pilots are required to retrofit their aircraft with Remote ID modules. All is good. Additionally, the FAA requires pilots to pass a test and obtain a pilot TRUST certificate (The Recreational UAS Safety Test), and register their planes with the FAA. All the pilots at Robson have taken and passed the test, registered their planes, are members of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), and are working to upgrade their models.
Short version: The Robson Ranch Airfield and Flyers are in full compliance with the FAA regulations for recreational model flying.
If you have ever wanted to learn more about model aviation, come on out to our airfield! Or flag down one of our members with planes mounted on the back of their golf carts. We are all excited to explain our hobby to anyone interested.