Can two clubs co-exist if they are less than 3 miles apart?

[ddierking]

I need everyones experiences and opinions. Here is the situation. I am starting a helicopter club and we are in search of land. One of the local cities has agreed to get us a spot in a new 300 acre developement. The problem is there is an airplane club down the road from the developement. Depending on where the city locates us in the developement, we will only be one to two miles from the airplane club. I was on AMA's website and they had some info about doing a frequency glitch test and a frequency management agreement between two clubs.

Does anyone have any experience with this agreement? Also with all the new spektrum technology, can this become a nonissue? The city is going to let us use a temporary site until the new site is ready which could be two to three years.

I plan on giving AMA a call tomorrow to get their take on it.

[WayneBrown]

I've seen interference up to 5 miles with aircraft at altitude. If there is a natural structure (rock laden hill) between the sites, you 'may' be able to pull it off. Best if you could get two cheapo aircraft on the same frequency to fly at both locations at the same time, with two spotters on cell phones to report interference.
It'd be a shame to bust up two nice models just to realize that you are too close.
Another option is to split frequencies between the two places, outlaw several channels for use at one club, to allow the other club to have them, and vice versa.
as long as there is no overlap, there is no problem.

[Bayou Talker]

Or just allow 2.4ghz at the new field. That should take care of the problem. Of course that will mean that everyone will have to spend some money to new electronic gear.

In any case, I would not take the chance of flying that close to another field on 72 mhz. It just would not be worth the risk of possibly hurting someone.

Another option would be to combine the 2 clubs on the new field. Of course that could open a whole new set of problems.

[ddierking]

Here are the reasons we can't combine. First of all we are a helicopter club and the other club is an airplane club. I have nothing against airplanes, I used to fly them, but airplanes and helicopters don't have the same flight pattern and I have heard the two don't always mix. It doesn't matter anyway for the next reasons. The airplane club has a membership cap that is always full, so we couldn't become members even if we wanted to. Third, the airplane club is located on some farm ground and there has been talk that they can loose the flying field anytime due to land developement. I have heard they don't expect to have the location more than a few more years.

[Bayou Talker]

Those are all valid reasons but there are clubs where both types of aircraft co-exist peacefully. It just takes some cooperation on both sides. The worst problems are with some of the older flyers that just can't accept change.

The fact that they are on "shaky ground" might just make a good bargaining point in working out a solution. Is the land you are talking about a good, long term prospect? If it is, then it may be in their best interest to work with you for a compromise.

Either way, good luck with the new club!

[ddierking]

Thanks guys, the VP of the club heard through the grapevine about our club getting the land near them. I explained we had not contacted them yet due to the fact I just found out two days ago and nothing was set in stone yet. We had a very nice conversation and he told me he had already talked to AMA about it. He said when we were closer to finalizing plans with the city to give them a call and we would work out the frequency issues. He also mentioned it was a good time for their club to update their frequency list.

BTW Bayou Talker, the land is a good long term prospect. It is in a 300 acre park development with a 140 acre lake, a dog park, archery range, boyscout facilities, an RV park, boating, fishing, camp grounds, hiking/biking, and much more.

Thanks for eveyones input.

[Bayou Talker]

Sounds like it should work out for everyone. Good luck with getting things going with the new place. Sounds like a great opportunity. This hobby needs more places like this.