By Lester LeBlanc
Photos by the author except as noted
As seen in the May 2005 issue of Model Aviation.
In early 2002, the On Top of the World (OTOW) RC Flyers club was faced with the need to build a new flying site at its home community of On Top of the World Central in southwest Ocala, Florida. Because of this active adult housing community’s rapid growth, we were given roughly two years to move to a new location.
The existing flying site was within our gated community and until that time had been almost perfect in its location and layout. In photos 1 and 2, the old OTOW RC Flyers’ site is shown during its first invitational: the spring 2003 fly-in.
The original runway was located on a small hilltop, and pilots were able to fly facing north without going near homes and people on the community’s two golf courses. During an approximate 10-year period, club members had planted, rolled, and maintained the runway to provide a smooth, grassy strip that measured 150 feet wide and 450 feet in length.
As the community gained popularity and grew rapidly, homes started encroaching on the south of the field, and a new golf course was under construction approximately 1,000 feet to the north of the flightline. I had just become club president, and I saw this as an excellent opportunity to plan well in advance to build an even better flying site.
There was ample time to locate a new spot, and On Top of the World Communities, Inc. President Kenneth Colen provided our club with a location that was distanced from homes and people. It was within a pasture where cattle grazed on his Circle Square Ranch.
On Top of the World Central occupies a small portion of the 21-square-mile Circle Square Ranch that Kenneth Colen's father Sidney Colen acquired in 1975. After much discussion regarding field access, model-flying safety, and noise issues, Kenneth directed his ranch hands to fence off a 14-acre parcel, located at the edge of a large cattle-grazing pasture, to be used for the new flying site.
The pasture area at the ranch is so large that cattle are rarely seen near the flying site, but the fence is necessary to keep them from damaging the runway and structures. Kenneth also provided us with a 1,500-foot, single-lane asphalt road so that we could access the site with our cars and golf carts. In our discussions, the recommended field layout on the AMA Web site was helpful in explaining the safety considerations for locating the new flying site.
Photo 1 shows the new flying site. Safety was the primary concern in the new field's layout, and, as you can see, there is plenty of cleared overfly area (pasture) where model aircraft may inadvertently—but safely—go down and be easily recovered. Pilots can face the north to avoid being blinded by the sun, and people can safely access the field from the rear entrance.
There are gates at the east and west corners of the north side of the cattle fence that surrounds the 14-acre flying site, to allow golf carts to recover downed models. The new runway is 150 feet wide and 600 feet in length, and it was leveled by a farm tractor before the photo was taken.
The runway is positioned east to west, and there is 150 feet of space between the runway and the fence on the east, west, and north sides of the runway, to allow for aircraft that overrun it to stop before reaching the cattle fence. The south portion of the flying site to the rear of the runway is approximately 400 feet wide and will be used for pits, setup area, parking, and event operations.
Gaining approval for land use was a big step toward obtaining the new flying site, but there was a lot of work to do before the field was ready for use. Foremost was the issue of planting grass on the runway, and I am sure that others can benefit from our experience.
The runway that we had been using was mostly grassed over with Pensacola Bahia grass, which is native to Florida. It is resistant to drought and requires no irrigation. According to Bahiagrass.com, the Pensacola variety has a root system that extends downward in the ground to a depth of eight feet.
There was only one drawback to the Pensacola Bahia grass: in the summertime it grew tall seed heads between weekly mowings. These seed heads have been known to tear the covering on the bottom of a model’s wing during landing.
We decided to use Argentine Bahia grass, which is as robust as the Pensacola but without most of the seed-head problem. The seed heads from Argentine Bahia are much shorter and do not need to be mowed as frequently.
The decision to plant this type of grass posed a problem in preparing the new runway for seeding. It had been tilled, disked, and leveled, but that did not destroy the pasture grass. Pasture covering in Central Florida is mainly Pensacola Bahia, and because of its root system it will grow back even after it is turned over to bare ground. Obtaining a new grass cover required us to kill the root system with herbicide.
All of this was completed in the fall of 2003, and we missed a good part of the growing season for new grass. The best time for growing new grass is June through September, when rain is abundant and the ground is warm enough to germinate the seed. The peak of the rainy season occurs in mid-August in Central Florida.
Almost 1,000 pounds of Argentina Bahia grass were spread in November, but it did not germinate because the ground temperature was too low and there was not enough rain. However, more research revealed that the new Bahia grass seed has a built-in mechanism that will hold off germination until the right conditions exist. Despite our skepticism, we held onto the belief that the seeds on the new runway would eventually germinate.
When weeds grew on the runway during the winter, we were concerned about their crowding the new grass and depleting the nutrients in the soil. The club’s membership came out in force on many occasions to hand-pull weeds so they wouldn't damage the dormant seed.
The Argentine Bahia didn’t start to grow until early July 2004. Although we were finally having some success in growing our new airfield, we found patches where seed had washed and blown away during the winter.
We decided to reseed with a small, fresh batch of new Argentine Bahia, but our group was alarmed to learn that there was a seed shortage because of weather conditions and less planting by growers. The price had shot up to nearly $8 a pound, and we needed 500 pounds.
One of the club members noticed fresh Argentine Bahia seed at Lowe’s for $2.75 per pound; it was from a shipment that had recently been delivered under a contract made nearly 12 months earlier. Lowe’s policy was to mark it up only by its usual amount, so we were able to purchase 500 pounds.
Club Field Marshal Bob Vance and Safety Officer Howard Rutkowski prepared our new two-acre runway for overseeding by mowing the new grass with the club's lawn tractor. Then Bob rolled the runway with a spiked roller to make holes for the seed while Howard planted it with a borrowed spreader and golf-course work vehicle. We later learned that this worked out very well.
In Photo 4, taken in early September 2004, the runway and pit area are shown growing new grass, which has filled in nearly all of the bare spots. Also shown is Bob Vance rolling the runway with a rented compacting roller. The grass was established enough in early September for us to use a roller to smooth the depressions in the runway, to obtain a smooth surface for landing models.
Throughout this process, many of the able members of our 105-member club were actively involved in building our new field. Most members are experienced RC fliers who are eager to help, and many have actually chosen this community for their Florida retirement because of the ready access to flying facilities for their models.
Another major issue with building the new flying site was the construction of a sunshade pavilion. During the previous two years, the club had held two fund-raising events and saved a good portion of dues for the expenses related to constructing the new field. We voted to have a contractor build the sun pavilion rather than do it ourselves.
In the background in Photo 4 is a 20-foot-wide, 48-foot-long, 10-foot-high pole barn installed by Robert W. Sullivan Construction of Trenton, Florida, at a modest cost of $4,800. The structure is built to withstand the sudden windstorms that come up in Central Florida.
At the old field we experienced several instances of the wind tearing up our sun shelter and turning over the lawn shed. In September 2004 we endured two hurricanes with winds of at least 70 mph that resulted in no damage to our structures on the flying site.
The hip roof of the new pavilion was constructed from pressure-treated lumber and covered with heavy, 29-gauge steel sheeting that has a trade name of Galvalume Plus. It is coated with an aluminum-and-zinc mixture and then sealed with a clear plastic coating. The poles are 6 x 6-inch pressure-treated wood and are anchored in a concrete footing that is separate from the floor that was poured later.
We are grateful to Kenneth Colen for providing his contractors to float the pavilion's concrete floor for the club. He supports at least 100 clubs and other activities within On Top of the World communities in Ocala, and we appreciate his generosity in helping with our project, even though we are a small group of only 105 enthusiastic members.
The remainder of the field, including the flightline, pilots’ stations, pit area, and aircraft-assembly area, are laid out according to AMA recommendations, as shown in Figure 4. The flightline is 25 feet in front of the four flight stations, which are grouped in the center to allow pilots to communicate easily with each other. Airplanes enter and exit the runway on each side of the row of flight stations, depending on the flight pattern that the wind conditions dictate.
There is a 3-foot-high chain-link barrier in front of the pilots’ stations. In addition, a 2-foot-high chain-link barrier was constructed on each side of the pilots’ stations to prevent returning models from heading into the pit and spectator areas.
This spring we plan to top-dress any small surface depressions in the runway, reseed, fertilize, and roll to make the grass runway as smooth as possible. Our objective is to make this flying site a safe and fun place for our members to enjoy.
November 13, 2004, the club held its third invitational fly-in and field-dedication ceremony at the new site. It was well attended by 44 pilots and nearly 300 spectators.
In Photo 6, Kenneth Colen and club officers are shown cutting the ribbon at the opening ceremony. Photos 7 and 8 show the RC site from the parking and flightline locations. In photos 7 and 8 you can also see the new flagpole and windsock that the OTOW RC LadyBirds club donated, adding the finishing touches to the venue.
This great new site would not have been possible without the work of our membership, manager of golf-course maintenance Jim Murphy, and especially Bonnie Walters, who appreciated the value of the enjoyment that this great hobby brings to this beautiful community.
From the OTOW RC Flyers Club website (www.otowrcflyers.com):
OTOW RC Flyers club first started in 1990 when a group of seven residents obtained permission to fly RC model aircraft in a field behind the residential area. Since then, the club has grown to over 170 members and has moved the field three times. The current location remains within our gated community and is situated on a fourteen-acre site with a 600 by 50 foot asphalt and adjacent grass runways. This new flying site was completed and dedicated in October 2019.
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