The White Hills Eagles Radio Control Club can officially fly, with a few strings attached.
The Planning and Zoning Commission set the boundaries of the no-fly zone and hours for the club, which uses a field on Birdseye Road as a takeoff and landing zone. The club had to seek zoning approval to continue using the field after neighbors complained about noise and errant planes.
The unanimous decision came Tuesday at a special meeting of the commission. Club members packed the small meeting room in City Hall, along with one of the neighbors who left the meeting shortly after the decision. The neighbor was unavailable for comment afterward.
“Obviously this was a compromise. It was difficult for the commission,” said Zoning Administrator Rick Schultz.
The new rules allow the electric-powered radio-controlled planes to fly from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Fuel-powered planes can fly until 1 p.m. weekdays and until 12 p.m. on weekends.
The club mostly flies electric planes, which are quieter at less than 55 decibels, less than the police department’s noise standards, said club president Dr. Carmen Luciano. A spotter, who acts as the co-pilot, stands next to the pilot to watch the aircraft. A maximum of three planes, which have about 50-inch wingspans, can fly at once.
The rules also require a third person to stand outside of the no-fly zone to watch the plane, something not done in any other club in the United States, according to club vice president Rich Roberts, who is also an FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) judge.
Still, Luciano approved of the panel’s decision.
“We did make concessions that were reasonable. We can always come back and revisit this in the future,” he said after the meeting.
