Peninsula Channel Commanders Forced To Move Once Again

A California R/C flying club has found itself homeless many times over its 47 year history. This time, the Peninsula Channel Commanders is hoping its latest eviction won't spell the end of the organization.

For more than 10 years, the group has been flying from a 53-acre field near Martin's Beach, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. In August, new corporate owners closed on the property, and have given the club until the end of this month to vacate the plot.

Last weekend, the group met to take down its 500-foot airstrip. All that remains is to remove the rolls of astroturf and a storage container, but the group doesn't yet know where it will go.

Group President Ken Martinez says the new property managers have a problem with model planes flying over the beach. "More than likely they can see planes from the beach, even though we're not flying over the beach," he said. "I think this new company doesn't want to (risk) the headache of any people complaining..."

The club's 92-year-old patriarch, World War II pilot Alonso Richardson, was blunt in expressing his frustration to the Half Moon Bay Times.

"We've been screwed again. We did everything we could do to be a good neighbor to contribute to the community activities, and things were going fine until Mr. Deeney had to sell the property," Richardson said. "The people who bought it wouldn't hear anything except us getting the hell out of there."

Most members of the group are over 65 years old... and say it's tough to recruit younger members when there's no place available to fly. The Commanders have even tried their own version of a Young Eagles program, working to provide local boy scouts, and anyone else who visited, some time at the controls of a radio-controlled model plane.

Member Harry Smith points to the educational and technological contributions of the sport. "It teaches discipline and skill because a lot of people build their own airplanes. You build them from the bones up, so to speak," he said. "It can be an educational thing. The stuff we use in the military these days came about from this type of radio-controlled flying."

Martinez says moving is expensive, and worries that too much delay could spell the end of the group. If you want more information, or have ideas on a possible new home for the Peninsula Channel Commanders, visit their website at the FMI link below.

FMI: www.flypcc.org