[Matchless]

Getting a place to fly indoors......

I'm writing about this because maybe something about my success yesterday will help someone else to get into a facility for themselves.

I've been working on getting a new place to practice my indoor flying as of late. Unfortunately, the facility I used last year is booked solid every aftershcool hour for the next 3 months.

Yesterday I managed to get a new place to practice indoors on a regular basis. Its a good facility with a half basketball court gym and a high ceiling. I managed to get the use of the place for 30 mins each morning, 3 days a week. On top of that, its on my way to work!

The facility is a city owned parks and rec run community center in my hometown.

So how did I get into this place? I should first mention that AC and Albert Glenn had paved the way for me on this one. They had used this same facility last year for AC's ETOC practice, but the facility director they worked with then has moved on and a new person is in that role. The fact they had used it before still helped me in my quest however.

When I showed up, I thought through what I was going to say. I was still dressed in my work clothes (I work in a business casual environment). After introducing myself to the director, I explained what I wanted to do - I wanted to use a gymnasium 1/2hour, 3 days a week, in the mornings for the next 2 1/2 months. I showed a brief video of me flying one of my indoor planes to explain what I was/am doing. Finally, I offered to provide a show or lesson during the summer to the kids that attend summercamp at this center.

I answered some more questions about what I was doing. Some were simply so the director could understand exactly what I was doing. Some were to address whether or not what I was doing could harm the building in any way. Of course, I explained that the airplanes I fly are very slow, very light, and have very little momentum to damage any of the facility.

The director picked 3 days each week for me to practice and we arranged a date on which I could do the presentation. I'll be doing an airshow for kids 8-12 yrs old- Should be lots of fun! I need to finish a flyer on the 'Indoor Airshow' for the director by the end of the week and plan ahead on what I'm going to do there.

I thanked the director profusely and headed home with a big smile on my face.

This morning, I burnt 4 packs, practicing precision in a gym on my way to work - how cool is that!

I think anyone can go do this. There is no harm in asking, as the worst thing the facility administrator could say is 'no'. When you approach someone about this, put the hobby in a positive light. Talk about how important safety is to you. Be extremely polite and be ready to be flexible - you can't always get a facility exactly when you want it.

I hope this inspires someone else to find a great place to fly indoors!