Club Says Former Member Gave Bad Information

Members of the Redwood Empire Modelers Association (REMA) from Crescent City, California have regularly flown their model airplanes at Kite Field at the Port of Brookings Harbor in nearby Brookings, Oregon. But at a meeting of the Port Commission last week, Ron Duvall, a Brookings resident and RC flyer himself, told the commission that the field was not suitable for the activity, and the Commission placed a temporary ban on RC flying until the matter could be studied further.

Duvall brought his complaint to the commission after he says a friends wife, "almost got hit by one of those planes.”

The Curry Coastal Pilot reports that Duvall testified that the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) does not provide insurance for RC flying at a non-certified field, and that Kite Field is not adequate for RC Flying.

Duvall flies faster, higher powered gas-engined RC airplanes. Most of the RC activity at Kite, according to REMA, is smaller aircraft with electric motors. Carl Tobin of Brookings, an AMA member and radio control specialist, agreed the field is not suited to fly the gas powered models. But, it's fine for the slower, lighter and quieter, electric models, Tobin said.

For its part, REMA has questioned Duvall's membership in the club. REMA president Jim Sharp said Duvall was a former member of the club, but had not been active for some years. “No one up there should be representing us,” he said. Duvall insists he is a member because he has a membership card and receives the newsletter.

REMA voted last week to stay out of the Port of Brookings Harbor situation until it is resolved.

The AMA Web site states “... AMA liability insurance will still cover flying in your yard, in a neighbor’s field, on public park land, in any area large enough for you to safely fly appropriate-sized models – as long as you have the owner’s permission or are in public areas where park flying isn’t prohibited by local ordinances.”

Port Commissioner Jim Relaford told The Curry Coastal Pilot he thinks the AMA Park Pilot insurance would take care of the commission’s concerns. He said the commission has had people use incorrect or incomplete information in their testimony before.

“We’ve run into this over the years,” he said.

FMI: http://www.modelaircraft.org