Tucson-Area Club Searching For New Base

An Arizona model airplane club fears it will soon have to disband, after 30 years, if it can't find a new field to fly their planes from.

Based in the Tucson suburb of Marana, the Sonoran Desert Flyers Club lost its home field when a developer bought the property in January. Faced with having to pay added fees, the club had to leave.

"They told us the taxes were going to be enormous, and if we were using it in the manner we were using it, they couldn't classify it as grazing land," club member Charles Sides told The Oro Valley Explorer News.

The lack of a suitable alternate has left the club grounded since then. The nonprofit corporation appealed to Marana town leaders for help in finding a new site, but were unable to locate a suitable location. They need around 25 acres, away from homes so residents won't complain about the noise.

Things were looking up when the club talked to Pima County. A line item was added to a 2008 bond issue, targeted at attracting radio control clubs forced out from down south -- but the club had to find a spot to fly from before it could ask voters to approve the money to develop the site.

One possible location looked perfect... until the club learned it was State Trust Land.

"They said it would be great if we made a petition, but it would take 10 years," club member Bill Melcher said. "I'm 76. I'll probably be dead by then."

Members explored other alternatives, to no avail. Some who fly electric-powered park flyers asked the Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Department for permission to use a gravel pit in nearby Naranja... but that town forbids all aircraft.

Some have already left the club, and migrated to the Tucson International Modelplex Association. Other members, mostly park flyers, have found the Marana Northwest Regional Airport more accommodating.

Plans are now afoot to disband the Sonoran Desert Flyers at a meeting scheduled for Saturday.

"The way things are, if you don't have a flying field, you really don't have a club," Melcher said.

FMI: www.sdfrc.org/