Any DC metro area flyers out there ?

[yardsparrow]

I Just found FT in February and have built an FT Flyer, Delta and Versa Wing. Only the Flyer has maidened and after some tweaks she flies well.

Living in the DC area presents some special challenges. All of the county parks near me (I live in Rockville MD) explicitly forbid RC model aircraft. Then there is the DC SFRA (Special Flight Rules Area).

I have joined 3 flying clubs, Konterra, DCRC and CASA. They seem like great organizations but they're far away and require a proficiency check before I can "solo". This is perfectly reasonable but challenging to line up an appointment that doesn't get scrubbed because of weather.

I need a place to go for a quick flight after work without dealing with rush hour traffic. It seems I've picked the worst place to live and have an RC hobby. Can anyone suggest a good place to fly near Rockville where the Police won't come and take away my toys?

Seriously considering moving to Ohio

 

[Craftydan]

Ohio is a good alternative . . . as is Georgia Could solve a lot of the rush hour commute trouble, but the job might create another problem in it's place.

I commend your willingness to do it right -- we all don't need the scare-mongering publicity of "foamboard drones raining death from above" -- and I wish you luck in finding the right route out of town to someplace nice to fly

 

[C130CrewChief]

Yard,

Your situation sounds remarkably like mine sir. I live south off the DC area in Charles County and have the same problems. The closest club to me meets up at a local school but the field is on the other side of the county. Not to mention the fact that if I'm working an off shift or actually get some time off I probably wouldn't be able to fly due to the fact that I as well would require to be supervised in my flying. Meanwhile I pass 3 parks on my way home from work, all of which have 6+ soccer fields that set vacant durning the day when I'm not at work, or during the week when no games are played.

I too built a FT Flyer to get my oldest interested and so that we can Lear to fly/build together and the only place we have found is an unestablished housing plan deadend surrounded by trees, that I can only imagine what goes on at, not to mention is paved and no room to do more than take off and land.

I could see a restriction on wing span and engine sizes during low occupancy and even giving way to other, but 1 flying field in the area for every 10 or even 20 flipping soccer fields, is that so much to ask.......wait I know the problem, the soccer teams/organizations sell and buy stuff so they are taxed and have to pay the park system for access, so the county is making money off them, but last time I checked the air is free in MD and they have not yet found a way to tax it like they do for the rain so I guess we are out of luck.

I'll keep you posted, good luck.

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

Hey, Wisconsin is always open too. So far there is no legislation (apart from the FAA jumble****) here that prevents you from flying.

 

[joshk20000]

I'm in the same situation, I live in DC and I'm looking for good fields in MD or VA to fly without having to join a club. My schedule just doesnt give me the time to schedule the intro stuff to clubs. Right now the only times I fly is when I visit family in NJ.

Also anyone know of any good hobby shops in the DMV?

 

[rockyboy]

I usually fly at the NVRC club field in Chantilly, but with that closed down due to FAA/County arguments I haven't had any bigger stuff in the air in a month or so. There was a fun indoor event a couple weeks back in Alexandria where I discovered the (discontinued) Mini Vapor. But I found a used one through rcgroups classified and I've been flying in semi-empty parking garage levels at the local grocery store.