Help Starting An Rc Local Club

[Capn Pete]

I am thinking of trying to start a local RC club and am unsure of how to recruit members. I have thought of starting a FB page and a YouTube channel and linking them together. We are located in a rather small rural town, but the county is over 30,000. Last I checked there is a hobby shop in the mall, but that's 30 mi. away. Right now, it's just the two of us. so if anybody has done this or has any suggestions, we are open to them all.
Thanks,
Capn Pete

 

[murankar]

Your best bet is to work with the hobby store. They will have more access to hobbyists. Then you will need to hunt down a field or track depending on the activity.

The club I was with a working relationship with a planker club. They fly helis at a planker field which is farm land. My recent videos from around 2015 - 2016 were filmed at that field.

You will have a lot of red tape to get it off the ground . You will need to research what's considered legal hobby flying space and then find a land owner that will be willing to allow you to fly.

Personally i would look for legal flying areas for your personal use. Then build a relationship with the land owners. Once you have that then work on getting the club established there. It's going to be a lot of work but once its established it should get easier.

At some point you will need to think about adding AMA options to your club, which has it own set of rules. The FAA may have issues unless you register with the AMA.

 

[RandyDSok]

The AMA can actually help with setting up a new club. You can contact the District Manager for your area for more info. They even will supply some assistance in obtaining a flying field in some cases last I heard about it ( several years ago ).

 

[Capn Pete]

Good advice. Thanks to all. I was even wondering if we should require insurance through AMA or somebody. It's one thing to fly on your own, quite another to engage in a group activity.