Well im tired of flying by myself. My friends are either two impatient, or have nothing but left thumbs. I find on occassion a few flyers at the field, but nothing at all resembling a club or group.

I know there are places like Yahoo groups, that dont realy do anything but give you a common meeting place. But to advertise for a yahoo group is half impossible as all members must have a yahoo email. I have the ability to create a web page, forums ect for local flyers of the Portland Area. I would like to include safe flying sites, as well as announcements, gatherings, and the common ground of hills wind, and rain all NW flyers have to put up with.

My question is has anyone been involved in this sort of setup? and if so, what are some basic guidelines to start spreading the word. Short of hanging flyers at the LHS, im rather short on options.

Originally Posted by IMCingYou

I have the ability to create a web page, forums ect for local flyers of the Portland Area.

Some other free resources are NexusWebs and YaBB Forums. Use snurl.com to get a shorter URL address for print media.

If you go this route consider incorporation. Without this you, personally, can have a liability issue. With incorporation the club bears the brunt of any $$ damages. 'Course if you're the guy that messes up they can come after you, too.

We have several of our members who would not join until we incorporated.

AMA has some data on starting clubs. Might want to check out their website.

walt

Originally Posted by IMCingYou

Well im tired of flying by myself. My friends are either two impatient, or have nothing but left thumbs. I find on occassion a few flyers at the field, but nothing at all resembling a club or group.

Well, I for one am local to you, so just exactly what is it that you want to do? electric only? Glow? Indoor? outdoor?

do you have any prospective members?

what ideas do you have so far for starting a club? and what is it that your going to expect out of the club?

Guess I'm just being inquisitive

When we started the Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego I made arrangements for a meeting place and set a date and time there. I then made up a flier announcing the initial club meeting and placed the fliers in the local hobby shops. Prior to the meeting we had a core group of volunteers that agreed to place their names in nomination for the club offices.

At the first meeting 25 people showed up. We held officer elections and voted on the name of the club. We also set the yearly dues, club meeting dates and accepted memberships.

After the meeting we submitted the necessary papers to AMA for chartering the club.

We flew at a local park for about three years before we were able get approval from the city for our current flying field.

We now have a great club

Good luck,
Chuck

Over the years, I found that the answer to the question is, "why bother?". I have started a number of "groups", always successful. Rather than go through all the folderol of registering, elections, etc., We got together on a fixed night, or at a particular field, and discussed what needed to be done; same result as a formal meeting, except much quicker. If insurance is a problem, join AMA (or appropriate organisation), and if field insurance is a necessity, make sure that everyone there is covered.

One group began in a community hall, and still exists 40 years later: we taught kids to fly, and eventually won a permanent flying site; having the kids on board was all the real clout we needed to get things done.

Another was a sailplane group, with none of the trappings of an official club; we ended up running the largest and most successful sailplane contest on the West Coast of North America. We all just did what we promised to do.

A freeflight group had access to a school gym for indoor, and a large park for outdoor rubber (and 1/2A r/c) No fees, no executive, no meetings, no problems, no politics, no hassles. Why start a club?

Fire suit on...

The goal is regular "get togethers", and a way for those that fly to share with others. I wouldnt see it as "my" group, as the members involved would shape and form the club in general.

As for the site Im half working on, I would like to have maps, of locations that are both OK and not OK to fly at, and concerns or comments on each location. Regular scheduled get togethers, both flying, and as needed, the not so fun legality side of things. Other than that. Im not sure how all the members would like it to grow. I know I dont have the best Ideas right out of the box, and Im sure that through time it would become more evident as to where the group is headed. We have a few Gas fields, and 1 soaring club that I know of. As for Electrics, im not sure. All I know is the Clubs I know of, are all in SW Washington, and have their own field. Im thinking starting as more of a less formal, informative (locations, possible workshops, ect.) common meeting ground for those interested in all RC flight.

I have private property thats 20acres square, lined with trees. Its a huge open field. Its 30min outside of Portland.

Originally Posted by IMCingYou

The goal is regular "get togethers", and a way for those that fly to share with others. I wouldnt see it as "my" group, as the members involved would shape and form the club in general.

As for the site Im half working on, I would like to have maps, of locations that are both OK and not OK to fly at, and concerns or comments on each location. Regular scheduled get togethers, both flying, and as needed, the not so fun legality side of things. Other than that. Im not sure how all the members would like it to grow. I know I dont have the best Ideas right out of the box, and Im sure that through time it would become more evident as to where the group is headed. We have a few Gas fields, and 1 soaring club that I know of. As for Electrics, im not sure. All I know is the Clubs I know of, are all in SW Washington, and have their own field. Im thinking starting as more of a less formal, informative (locations, possible workshops, ect.) common meeting ground for those interested in all RC flight.

I have private property thats 20acres square, lined with trees. Its a huge open field. Its 30min outside of Portland.

30 minutes which way, N,E,S, or W? I had a 5 acre field, and I still have my tractor, and I used my tractor to build my own runway ....just an idea

Its in the beavercreek area, so that would be south of portland. Its a raw field, so it needs a runway put in, and a full field radio check. I havent found any dead spots yet, like i so often do at the parks in the city.

Let me know when you get something going ,I live in Oregon City and that would be a close place to go for me

Ok a whole hour into the project, and probably a million more to go. This is just part. Of course I would like to get the Club part of this going ASAP.

http://portlandrc.nexuswebs.net/index.html