District II
New Jersey, New York, Europe
Finding and keeping flying sites is an unfortunate problem for many clubs. I received the following from Dan Yaeger of Brauer’s Aviators in Pendleton, New York, proving that with hard work and determination, clubs can find a new beginning and a new flying site.
“In 2016, the writing was on the wall as houses kept being built closer and closer to our flying field. After 30 years at our original location, the property we were leasing for our flying field was sold to a developer. The new owner was nice enough to allow us to fly there for another year, rent free, while we looked for a new field.
“We formed a field committee, headed up by Joe Suarez, and looked at lots of locations. We thought we had a new field a couple of times, but the deals fell through. After a year of searching and no new home secured for the club, we lost access to our original location. We ended up sharing a field with another local flying club for the 2018 flying season.
“In early 2018, with the help of the Town of Pendleton, the AMA, and connections from our club president, we found a landowner who was excited to lease us part of his property. We signed a lease with the owner of the property. Unfortunately, to access the field, we had to work out easements with the Town of Pendleton, the Wendellville Fire Company, and a local business.
“That took us an extra 6 months or so to get done. Our new landowner was gracious enough to not charge us rent for the first year since for most of the year, we were unable to get back to the field.
“In September 2018, with all of the agreements in place, we finally tilled the ground and planted grass seed in the hope of having a runway the next spring. When we were able to get back to the field in the spring we had a place to fly, but no shelter or any extra amenities.
“We slowly started working on improving our site. We applied for and received an AMA Flying Site Improvement Grant. With the grant, we were able to finish our shelter, build some flight benches, and make some improvements to the road that we put in the previous fall. We had lots of help from the club members, local businesses, and even neighbors to assist us with moving stone, tilling the soil, and rolling the field.
“Local businesses donated the roofing materials for our shelter and provided us the use of a Bobcat to move stone for the road! Without the community involvement, our task would have been much more difficult, not to mention expensive.
“On June 12, 2019, Joe Suarez took off for the first official flight at the new home of Brauer’s Aviators. Hopefully this will be our home for a long time to come.”
Congratulations to Brauer’s Aviators for all of the members’ hard work. And remember, it’s not about what you fly, it’s about the friends you make.
