Hey guys, now that the state of California is officially open, I am seeing more and more of you at the field. I am really enjoying catching up and seeing a lot of you bring new planes to enjoy this summer! It was great to see so many of you at the Swap Meet at Discount Hobbies on Fathers Day!
Right off the bat, one thing I’d like to discuss is that we had an issue at the field with a homeless person. As Mission Bay had a decrease in overall usage for the past year, the homeless have really moved into the outer field areas. While I do understand that people have fallen on hard times, the mental states of some of these folks are questionable. Two of our members were injured in a confrontation with one of them early in June. He was arrested and charged with felony assault. Please attempt to maintain your situational awareness while on site, and look out for each other. Be extra vigilant if you are by yourself at the site. My thoughts are that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep bear spray/or pepper spray in your vehicle and handy if needed. Something to go along with your fire extinguishers. Again, please take care of each other on site.
One thing your president and I have been pinging on lately is the number of people who are currently flying, and appear to be progressing well until you find out that they never get out of safe mode. You owe it to yourself and the rest of us at the club to actually learn how to fly your aircraft! If you accidentally turn it off in flight, or buy a plane without safe because “you have this!” you increase the risk to us all and any spectators on site, not to mention what happens to your wallet. While safe mode can be a great tool to get started, please don’t rely on it as a crutch.
As the summer begins we have already seen some pretty heavy temperatures at the site. Please remember to bring plenty of water to stay hydrated, and limit your unprotected sun exposure as I keep hearing of members with bad sunburn and some skin cancer issues. Protect yourself!
Just a reminder on field etiquette, always yell loudly when you are crossing or stepping on to the runway. Please announce your take offs and landings so others have an awareness of the situation around them. I keep hearing people whisper to themselves, but I implore you to use your man voice! Also, as you place your planes on the field prior to flight, please think for a moment on where your prop/fan blast will throw the sand and dust. Quite a few people are getting the back of their SUV’s filled with sand and are asking me to make an official rule. For now it is just a note – please think about others!!
For the last few months I have been asking for help from members in re-arranging the boulders along South Shores Drive to keep people from jumping the curb to use our site without being members. The response was crickets…Quan has been communicating with the city about keeping our site safe from interlopers that want to take advantage of the great conditions you pay for. Part of our written agreement with the city requires all pilots be members in SEFSD and AMA and to keep non-members from jumping the curb and using the site when no one is around. If they hurt someone, we know who will catch the blame. The city responded to Quans request by re-arranging the rocks 😊 themselves and adding some large heavy wood posts. Thanks Quan!! See Randy’s video.
On June 26 we will hold our first club meeting at the field in 16 months. We will also have a fun fly that morning.. The fun fly begins at 1000 and is one of our historical favorites, Don’t Spill The Beans. Bring a plane that you’re comfortable to fly and that lands nice. Anyone can play! Jovi and Jim will be running the event. There will be $150 in prize money. The club meeting will follow, somewhere between 11 and 12 AM depending on how many play the game. Sorry, we decided to wait to serve Hot Dogs until next month.
The Fireworks should be spectacular this year, and the view from our field is one of the best available.
We will not be having any actual event for the Fourth of July, however the field will be open for daytime flying from sun up to dusk. I’m going to have the members only sign posted on the gate and ask members to open the gate, pass-through, and close the gate behind them. In the past when we allowed a lot of general public persons on site into the evening they left nearly a thousand pounds of trash for us to pick up the next day. A closed gate-Members Only Fourth of July will help keep our site clean, and is one of the benefits of membership. Per our agreement with the FAA, there is no night playing allowed and class B airspace, which is us. This will probably never change. Feel free to bring gas barbecues and have lunch/or dinner on site, and also remember no glass beverage containers are allowed in Mission Bay Park. Exiting after the show can be simpler than people think. Instead of turning right or left on Sea World drive, going straight through the light puts you on Old Sea World Drive – and an immediate left will bring you to Friars road which can get you to I-8 pretty quickly.
On a closing note, If you replace your lawn chairs or carpeting in your home, we can use your old items at the field.
Brad
