Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / May 2004

West Alabama?  Good luck!

We had that problem once.  They would come at night and do burnouts on the
runway.  Have you ever seen the tack strips the police use?  They work!  A
couple in the longer grass at the approaches to the runway did the trick.

--
Paul McIntosh
http://www.rc-bearings.com

Efulmer <efulmer@aol.com> bored us with:

Start laying out caltrops in the grass when you're finished.  At around
$400/tire, they'll soon start looking elsewhere to 4x4.

   WTH

Depends considerably on local laws, ownership of the property, etc., etc.
Most places would require input from the land owner to get the police
involved.  If the land owner doesn't care, you could be out of luck.
Whatever you do, don't do anything that may damage the vehicles, puncture
tires, etc., until you check with local law enforcement.  That kind of
irresponsible and immature activity does nothing but make you the bad guys
and you could find yourselves facing criminal charges and/or a law suit as a
result.

Check with your land lord and with local law enforcement and see what can be
done.  In the meantime, you might try having a couple of guys spend a night
out there to get the culprits on film.  That alone may be enough to chase
them away.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Chuck

"Crop Circles"?

A little dis-information can go a long way. One of the bike paths in
town was having trouble along the same lines. Every time I saw a
vehicle nearby I would approach in an overly friendly manner and
sympathetically "warn" the drivers how the authorities have been
cracking down on folks driving where they should not be. Mention one
or two guys you "saw" get $800 fines and an "impound" on their
vehicle. Word of mouth will eventually get back to most of the problem
people, and you have recruited others in your cause. I was amazed at
how quickly this worked in this case. If it works for the CIA, why not
us?

How about contacting a local 4 wheel drive club? These folks are
responsible hobbyists and might have some good ideas and knowledge of
local problems. Many clubs are associated with local law enforcement
agencies for search and rescue, giving you some inside avenues to
pursue the problem.

Tom

It happens at ouf field constantly - we are putting up a chain.  Another
area field has trenched all around their field.  We can never seem to catch
these morons.

If it were me, I'd take a clue from the terrorists in Iraq and set up
some IED's....
Regards,

Ya know - your post got me to thinking....

I'm assuming this is happening at night.  What about burying a few
well placed steel pipes in the ground - short sections about 2 feet
long and an i.d. of about 2".  these could easily be capped so
aircraft tires pass over the top of them.  When the field is secured,
take the caps off and place some cutoff sections of steel fence posts
(like those used for electric fencing) into the holes.  Cut them off
so they stick up about 18".  Anybody that drove over them with a four
wheel drive pickup would end up with serious repair bills.  If anybody
asks - you used them for balloon breaking masts for RC events.

This assumes that you OWN the property the field is on...
Regards,

We had a similar problem. Our field is accessed by going up an road
that serves as an irrigation canal access. We had problems with guys
doing the circle cut, playing "Hide-the-weenie" with their girl
friends, etc. We solved the problem by getting the county to let us
put in a gate. Pretty much solved the problem. They can still get in,
but they have to work at it.

The old timers in the club told me an interesting story. The guy who
used to own our field (He GAVE us the land about eight years ago)
found a stalled car in the middle of the field one early Saturday
morning. There was no doubt that at the time they broke an axle, they
were cutting some fine circles in our grass. They also left long
burnout strips down the asphalt runway. This car had been seen doing
this on at least four other occasions.
The guy proceeded to take a baseball bat to that car. Windows, head
and tail lights, and various body panels received the "Custom by
crunch" treatment.
THEN, he waited around for the guys to collect the car. When they
finally showed up, they were arrested. (They got a slap on the wrist
for tresspassing and vandalism) Nobody ever found out who tore up that
car, though.
Bill

On 5/16/2004 5:42 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these
great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

One thing you can do, however this will require some manpower, is dig a
trench about 3' - 4' wide x 5' - 6' deep across the width of the field.
 Put some 1/4" ply over the trench and place the sod you removed on top
of the trench.  If the ply sags from the weight of the sod, place some
2x2 vertically under it about every 3' - 4' for support.  During the day
 the club members can see where the trench is and not walk on it, and,
unless you are flying VERY HEAVY planes, you have use of the field.  You
should find some 4x4s "lawn darted" in the morning.

As far as anyone is concerned, The trench is for providing protection
for a camera man who is (will be in the near future) taking action
photos/movies of the planes.

Since you lease the flying field and maintain it (cut the grass, seed,
fertilizer, roll it, etc), you should be able to do what you would like
(within reason of course) at/on the field.  Obviously, the "camera man's
pit" will have to be filled back in "at a future date".