Folks, I am going to touch a few nagging Issues that have come to mind the last couple of months. Some were mentioned at last month’s meeting, but since about 25% of us attend the meetings, I figure we can reach everyone with the newsletter. I am going to try to not step on Quan’s toes, but as we are ALL responsible for safety…
Field etiquette: As noted on many occasions, please loudly announce your intentions to take off/land/conduct a low pass/ or walk onto the field. Whispering to yourself does not qualify. Even if you announce that you are crossing, YOU are still required to look and see if someone is landing or taking off before stepping past the fence. I witnessed 3 near misses this month that could have been catastrophic. If you need to cross the field to retrieve an aircraft, please cross from the gate closest to your aircraft. I won’t name any names, but one member routinely steps onto the field at gate 4 to slowly walk diagonally to retrieve a jet in front of gate 1, then walks slowly back to gate 4 while people low on electrons are screaming “landing!”.
Low/high speed passes MUST be kept between the field centerline and the grass. QUIT FLYING OVER THE FENCE! The guys who break this rule most are some of the more experienced flyers at our site, so lame excuses are not cutting it. If you accidentally end up over the fence loudly shout “heads up” so others know your aircraft is in an unsafe location.
There are a few ( not many ) occasions when there is no wind. When this happens, please stick with the prevailing landing/take off pattern which is right to left. This avoids confusion and landing in the face of people trying to take to the air. No practicing pylon racing over the field flying opposite the pattern. We are generally under a gentlemen’s agreement about mid-air crashes – but that can change if one pilot is obviously displaying extremely poor judgment…
Another note to new members – I am at the field on non-raining weekends with gate keys and badge clips. Please show me your membership badge when you ask for a key. Please keep control of your key. We have somehow given out nearly 600 keys in the last 18 months.
Finally,
If you destroy a plane- and its remnants are too large to fit in the trash can, please take it with you. Do not leave it for the ranger lady to haul away for you.
Brad
