Excellent post. Regis --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Doug McLaren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Fri, Nov 11, 2005 at 03:39:30PM -0700, Paul Emerson wrote: > > | ME: Hey what channel are you on? > | PFG: I dunno > > Personally, the usual funny response I get is not `dunno', but `um, > 27?' (And it's always 27, because their box says 27 MHz.) > > Though really, most of the park flier people around Austin at the > local parks seem to understand frequency control and even practice it. > Perhaps because we explain it to them when we go up and introduce > ourselves and try to be friendly? > > | ME: Well you might be interfering with our club field across the > | street, you don't want to shoot down one of those $2000 planes do you? > | PFG: Meh. > > I've gotten that response. It's not typical, but I've gotten it. > > A better angle is to also point out that it would probably crash their > plane as well. > > I've also seen these discussions get somewhat hostile. Telling > somebody that they _can't_ fly in the city park near the AMA field > tends to not go over well, especially when people start citing laws > and rules that either don't exist (AMA club fields do not get `special > rights' to the R/C band) or don't apply (AMA rules don't apply to > non-members.) > > And the last thing you want to do is piss somebody off -- they can > cause trouble for your club (call in noise complaints for powered > clubs, get the local parks department involved, etc.) or could even go > around deliberately interfering with the channels that are in use. > I've not personally seen it happen (at least not where it could be > proven), but I've heard of it ... > > | ME: Well you could join our club and enjoy frequency control and the > | shared knowledge of 100 fellow pilots. > > Around here, the powered plane club has very little to offer your > typical park flier. Sure, it's a nice field, but there's all sorts of > rules that the park flier doesn't like (sure, they're good rules, but > that's not the perception) and the other fliers really tend to look > down on his `little toy plane'. (If it's one of the < $150 jobs. If > it's a more expensive plane, with real gear, then people aren't so > dismissive.) > > The local soaring club has a better attitude (since most of the > members have a park flier or two), but still, they don't have that > much to offer. At least not for the price, at least not what the park > flier actually wants. > > | PFG: How much? > | ME: Our club is only $20 a year, but of course you would have to > | become an AMA member for $60 a year. > > You're certainly right about that -- it's quite a deal breaker. Many > clubs will even let the $20 slide ... but the $60 generally can't be > ignored. > > Nobody wants to pay $100/year just to fly their plane that they got > for less than $100. Especially to fly it with a bunch of people that > really aren't that nice (and I've heard this, over and over, from > people that I've talked to with park fliers), at a field that's even > further than the local park, with all sorts of `silly' rules. > > (I could talk about `not being nice' to the park flier people at some > length, and I've even brought the issue up at meetings of the local > powered club, but ultimately there's a very strong feeling of > `entitlement' and `superiority' that tends to run people off very > quickly. But that's where I'll leave that issue for now.) > > Really, the only real solution to the frequency control problem with > park fliers is spread spectrum. And it looks like the first > installment (which isn't perfect, but it looks like a really good > first shot) is due out in about a month, called the DX6. > > (It's not perfect because it's not sutiable for those $2000 planes, > not yet, and you can't control the radio gear that the park fliers > flying nearby will use. But hopefully soon they'll come out with the > next version.) > > -- > Doug McLaren, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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