I guess we all saw this coming, apparently the club is going to enforce the 400 foot altitude limit, while we technically can still fly a glider there, a good winch launch can exceed 400 feet, long gone are the days when we flew large scale gliders there, at 400 I am setting up for a final with the large stuff.
I felt a little sadness 2 weeks ago flying in the SC/2 contest, I had a feeling this might be the last true soaring contest ever held at the field. Too bad, Harbor Soaring is the oldest AMA soaring club, while I have nothing against electric rc models (I even have a few), they might want to change the club name to something like the "Harbor R/C Society", true thermal soaring is finished at Harbor.

Wow! That's a shame!! I didn't know they were within three miles of an airport??

I don't think they are, its more like 3 1/2 miles, but supposedly they are under some approach control from the tower, I think it has something to do with a police department that has a surplus of money to spend on a police chopper, you would think that there might be something that the city of Costa Mesa could better spend their money on than harrasing a bunch of "criminal" model airplane flyers!

The HSS sailplane flyers have only them selves to blame over this. They are still the majority membership and can easily oust the offending power only pilots that now control the elected positions. I've been told via back door that all of the local power flyers are assiting in getting this turned into a power only flying site.

Going to be a sad time when the two pound and 25 mph limit is imposed on the power flyers. No 30 pound four motor 50 mph flying right next to a major public walk way.

I am just one of the HSS electric power flyers that flies at Fairview, I'm not aware of any plot to oust anybody. I am sympathetic with glider flyers that feel that this restriction will drastically reduce their enjoyment of flying at Fairview. Many of the active flyers fly both electric power and gliders/sailplanes and also fly, or will be flying, IC and electrics elsewhere.

FYI, when a 3 foot wingspan model is at 400 feet, it's wingspan appears to be about 1/8" wide. A 6 foot wingspan would appear about 1/4" wide and a 12 footer about 1/2". Most of the flyers begin to lose orientation at certain angles when their models are 400 feet up and some distance away.

I think that we are lucky to have any legal place to fly electrics and sailplanes and sincerely hope that nobody, through accident or recklessness, screws things up for us.

You are the problem E-Challenged. The plane in your icon is clearly too large to fly at Fairview Park as are most of the planes that few Saturday. I quote from one of your other posts about Saturday; "Watched a 1/4 scale electric J-3 fly at our scale fun fly today, old guy nearly stalled it during takeoff due primarily to stage fright..."

What you don't mention is that awnings and the pits were set up on one side of the public pathway while the runway is right on the other side letting the public walk between them. Also there were no pilots stations. Then there was the five pound Corsair that went over the public path at head height and between the awnings on take off. Combine that with the five pound (or better) Yak that crashed off field.

This is not about visability. This is about public safety. Even the AMA has reviewed Fairview and clearly stated that it's not a good place to fly power planes. Too small of an area and too much public access. How long do you think that any flying will remain at Fairview when one of the twenty to thirty ponders that certain power only flyers insist on flying takes out a mother or her kid in a stroller.

Yes E-Challenged. You and your power buds are the problem.

[QUOTE=E-Challenged] Most of the flyers begin to lose orientation at certain angles when their models are 400 feet up and some distance away.
QUOTE]

I think you will find that the majority of sailplane pilots have good
orientation to 600 meters. some have reached 1000 meters and still
can control there plane. And without offending those few that fly
Large scale sailplanes as myself we have reached even higher. My
personal limit is 1550 meters, and wont do it again as at that
altitude was very difficult for my self. There are others that have
logged higher altitudes. My point is that Sailplane pilots have to read
every movement of there plane to have a good flight.
So maybe you power boys do lose Orientation over 121 meters.
But then again it is a different sport isn’t it. We don’t just follow a propeller
around.

Now I am not trying to pick on you, and if you think that, I apologize in
advance. Go to a scale event and see for yourself 400 feet is ridiculous
for a sailplane of size.
I myself come off my winch at 900 feet. Any lower would just make it
harder to find lift.

On the other point having a field with a public pathway next to or near
the runway is just wrong.

The propeller heads have moved the two benches that the city placed out for them onto the other side of that path (was on the runway side). This is so their planes can sit on the paved path. Makes the public walk around them ON THE RUNWAY SIDE!

Well, 2 years plus since this message was posted, and they have to hold a REAL glider contest at another field, (the August SC2) still trying to figureout why the name is still Harbor SOARING Society, and look at the newsletter, power planes everywhere, sure isn't the club I remember joining years ago.

Flew with an older GLIDER flier from Harbor soaring, he told me some of the sad details about what is happening at Harbor, seems the power guys are still bringing out the 15, 20, and 25 pound models to fly, even though they have a 10 pound weight restriction, yet they are ever so vigilant when it comes to the altitude restriction. Thankfully, us true glider fliers have a new home in the SoCal area that will remain a secret location for now. It is for those of us who understand about the props and how they ruin can ruin a perfectly safe flying site. The first rule implemented has been absolutely NO PROPS of any kind allowed on the field to fly or even test. What a joy it is to fly once again without the constant drone of propellors overhead. I have more info to find out about what the propheads really didn at Harbor, what I was told was much worse than I ever suspected.

These guys are still at it, the December newsletter has a 32 pound Cessna Skylane that flew at the field, I am trying to figure out how that fits in with the 10 pound weight limit.