No sign of turbulence

COSTA MESA — Model plane enthusiasts who fly their aircraft at Fairview Park soon will have to follow new rules, but most still expect smooth sailing for their planes.

Model planes have been flown at the park for more than 30 years without regulations, but most cities require pilots to have liability insurance, one of the key pieces of Costa Mesa’s new rules. City Council members voted in the first-time rules on the sport Jan. 2, and they’ll get a procedural second vote on Tuesday.

The hobbyists also will be required to get a $20 city permit once they show proof of insurance. That’s likely to be accepted by those who fly at Fairview.

To Harbor Soaring Society President Jim Hanson, following the new rules is the responsibility that comes with being allowed to use the park for his sport.

“The majority of the people I’ve talked to say it’s fine,” Hanson said. “Flying out here is a privilege that’s been granted to us by the city. There are very few places that allow this type of activity.”

Members of the Harbor Soaring Society, which numbered 122 in 2006, aren’t the only people flying at the park, but the society is the biggest organized club that’s based there.

Also among the new city rules are a 400-foot ceiling for model aircraft, which was requested by the Federal Aviation Administration because of Fairview Park’s proximity to John Wayne Airport, and a 10-pound weight limit for model planes.

City officials said the goal was to make the sport safer and give the city more control over park activities. Fliers said the hobby is growing in popularity, and some of its newer fans are kids.

“The first time I tried it I was scared to death,” 15-year-old Alex Gray of Huntington Beach said on a recent day at Fairview Park. Now he’s been flying “a little over a year, and I have 16 planes.”

For the older crowd, part of the fun is building the planes, said Jim Ward, a Harbor Soaring Society member who lives in Anaheim. It can take from a couple of hours to several years to build a plane, he said.

Ward said he’s curious to see how the city implements the new rules, and whether they’ll drive people away from Fairview Park.

“The first time I came down here, if I had to go down to the city to get a permit, I wouldn’t have come back,” he said.

But permits and insurance requirements are quite common at model aircraft fields, said Wes De Cou, Western regional flying site director for the Academy of Model Aeronautics, a national organization for sport flying. The Harbor Soaring Society is the academy’s oldest member club and is insured through the academy.

Park rangers will check permits and enforce the rules.

Most people seem to accept the new rules, but one flier has been asking the council for more restrictions.

Hugh Broesamle, who flies sail planes, has urged the council to tighten the rules on electric-powered planes, which he said travel at dangerous speeds and cause injuries.

Hanson said there haven’t been any serious injuries at Fairview Park, but Broesamle said he will continue to ask the council for tighter rules.