Electric RC = Motor Vehicle?

[JeremyH]

Well, I am not sure if Shelby will see this, so I'll post his email here....hopefully he doesnt mind. He had several more pictures included with the email, but the links are now broken. If memory serves me correctly, they were from larger comps and showed the competitors in the image....and showed that they were NOT just young punk kids. Here is the email...this was after he had spoken to her (Tara, the city manager) on the phone:

Tara,

Thank you and everyone in your office for allowing us to hold our event at Big Rocks Park. I do not think we need any resources, but it is very kind of you to offer. All that we would ask is permission to use a bright colored rope that we may lay down on portions of rock that we are using. That way other park users will be conscious of what is going on, and have a good idea of where is a good place to spectate from. Also it is come to my attention that the park does not open untill 8am. We were hoping to get started setting up a little earlier, is there any chance we could be granted park access at 7am?
Here is some event information:

The Texas Radio Control Rock Crawling Association is hosting the 5th annual Texas State Finals at Big Rocks Park here in Glen Rose on Saturday, June 23rd, 2012. The competition involves radio controled vehicles "Rock Crawling" through a course. Competitors try to avoid penalties and the lowest score wins. The competition will crown a Texas State Champion, and also on the line for the top four competitors is a chance to compete at the United States Radio Control Rock Crawling Association's Nationals in September. That competition will be held in Centre, Alabama and crown the 2012 National Champion.

About the cars and competitions themselves:
They are not very large, just a little over a foot in length. They are electric and battery powered. They are near silent. We will 3-4 classes with 3 courses each class. These will not be run concurrently, but sequentially. That way we only take up less of the area at any given time. We also intend to stay futher from the water and higher traffic areas.
Here are some pictures from other competitions:

Thank you very much, we look forward to spending the weekend in Glen Rose and hope to support local businesses to the best of our ability.

Sincerely,

Shelby Burns
713.xxx.xxxx

 

[The Crawl Space]

On another note, we have been hosting our TTC at the local (1.5 hours away) ORV Park... no problems.

Thats cool, might be a long drive for some but personally its worth it to me.

Now that summer is here we plan our events about an hour and hour and half drive into the mountains at the national forests. Some might see it as a long drive to play with toy trucks but its nice drive and even better weather when it 90+ degrees in town :evil:

@JeremyH Thanks for posting it up "thumbsup"

 

[Kylar]

Well I got a reply back, took long enough!

"Thanks for your inquiry. Park Ordinance section 10.2 does state under Prohibited Activities “operation of motorized or non-motorized model airplanes, cars, boat and rockets.” So, unfortunately the answer is they are not allowed. Thank you,"

This applies to practically every decent park with something worth driving over within an 1, 1.5 hrs of me.

Going to have to start going in peoples back yards and asking permission.

Should have checked first before buying, I live on a flat piece of land with 10 stones, bwhaha!

It is interesting though, troops of people on mountain bikes going off trail is a perfectly legitimate activity, but this is not. I suppose there's the hazard of a battery blowing up and catching the entire damn mountain side on fire. Then again I've seen people smoking and jogging in the woods.

Thats rediculous. Welcome to communist america...lol

Where do you live so i know not to move there?

 

[viper6171]

Thats rediculous. Welcome to communist america...lol

Where do you live so i know not to move there?

hey kylar we got kicked out of one of our local comp spots at an area park ( the club has been going there since the start of the club ) , never had any problems before ( even had rangers down there watching us and talking to us about the hobby ).

 

[Charlie-III]

Me too. "thumbsup"

On another note, we have been hosting our TTC at the local (1.5 hours away) ORV Park... no problems.

One of our comp spots is the same, actually, the North East Qualifier is running there next weekend. It's kind of fun when the 1:1's are also running.
It's about a 2 hour drive for me but great courses can be built.

 

[Calderwood]

Do you remember the name of the movie?

"pedal-driven"

 

[THX_138]

I can't speak for trails, but I can share an experience of a State Park.

2010 St. Andrew's State Park Gulf of Mexico Panama City Florida.

Riding the awesome sugar white sands of the beach my buddy decides he can't resist the "Off Limit" well marked sand dunes between the beach/water and the parking area.

The dunes around there and actually a lot of beaches I have been to protect their Sea Oats that grow in the dunes.

Well anyhow, within 5 minutes of him crawling a few dunes and along comes Ranger Rick. He stands off a distance for a moment, then makes a B-line directly for my buddy once he figured out which of us was controlling it.
End result was irrevocable confiscation of his $1,200 truck and $300 controller and a sweet little $2,500 fine.

A little stiff ??? In a way I guess abso-freekin-lutely, but in all honesty the dunes are more then well marked to keep off in every way shape or form.

Is a 5 lb. RC that serious of a danger to those dunes or any forest situation? I guess it can be argued with good standing in either way for each side. What I can attest to is that my buddy wasn't "tearing it up" with an F-Off rig, it was just a scale crawler..... BUT.... It pretty well carved tracks wherever it slow spun all the way up the dunes, and in all reality, I bet come the first rain those tiny little tire tracks quickly directed the running waters and help excel the erosion in a most undesired manor.

In end it's their law that we need to abide by no matter if we agre or not. I have seen long uncongested sections of highway with speed limits of 40mph that should easily been 65mph... But try telling the cop That the reason you were going 65 mph in a 40mph because you simply don't agree with what the posted law is.

If they say a RC is a vehicle in their eyes... Then it's a vehicle. I personally don't agree, but if we don't own the land, we are just guests there anyhow and should carry ourselves as guests.



.

 

[c0bra]

i dont have a park experience, only one at a local mall. last year i went to the mall with a brushless sprint 2 and mall security came up to me and said to be careful. a few weeks ago i went to the same mall, this time with a brushless cyclone s. within 5 minutes of running in a clear area i was kicked out.

so personally i believe it also depends on the people who are there at the time when you drive your rc


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[Calderwood]

I can't speak for trails, but I can share an experience of a State Park.

2010 St. Andrew's State Park Gulf of Mexico Panama City Florida.

Riding the awesome sugar white sands of the beach my buddy decides he can't resist the "Off Limit" well marked sand dunes between the beach/water and the parking area.

The dunes around there and actually a lot of beaches I have been to protect their Sea Oats that grow in the dunes.

Well anyhow, within 5 minutes of him crawling a few dunes and along comes Ranger Rick. He stands off a distance for a moment, then makes a B-line directly for my buddy once he figured out which of us was controlling it.
End result was irrevocable confiscation of his $1,200 truck and $300 controller and a sweet little $2,500 fine.

A little stiff ??? In a way I guess abso-freekin-lutely, but in all honesty the dunes are more then well marked to keep off in every way shape or form.

Is a 5 lb. RC that serious of a danger to those dunes or any forest situation? I guess it can be argued with good standing in either way for each side. What I can attest to is that my buddy wasn't "tearing it up" with an F-Off rig, it was just a scale crawler..... BUT.... It pretty well carved tracks wherever it slow spun all the way up the dunes, and in all reality, I bet come the first rain those tiny little tire tracks quickly directed the running waters and help excel the erosion in a most undesired manor.

In end it's their law that we need to abide by no matter if we agre or not. I have seen long uncongested sections of highway with speed limits of 40mph that should easily been 65mph... But try telling the cop That the reason you were going 65 mph in a 40mph because you simply don't agree with what the posted law is.

If they say a RC is a vehicle in their eyes... Then it's a vehicle. I personally don't agree, but if we don't own the land, we are just guests there anyhow and should carry ourselves as guests.



.

I would expect similar reprimand for disturbing the dunes here. They are VERY protected and for good reason. When your friend is willingly breaking the law and putting a bad face on the hobby that you care about then it seems irresponsible to sit by idle and not say anything. Don't be afraid to tell your friend how serious what he is doing is and that it affects more than just him. We need to all be as responsible as possible or we will soon be facing the same land use issues the 1:1 wheeling has been experiencing in recent years... I guess we might already be there.

 

[Charlie-III]

To sum all this up:

1-We are guests, we should follow the rules regardless if we find them "stupid" or not.

2-Who you meet 1st has an element of "luck" involved. Sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you get a "prick".

3-Whatever the case, calmly state your case (explaining "with no emotion" [see #1] why "you think" it's a non-issue) but DON'T argue!!!

4-Talking to the controlling authority beforehand (sometimes hard to find.....frikkin government......) and calmly stating your case (like in the letter posted earlier) may go miles to a decent solution.

5-If you get permission to use a site, leave it CLEANER than you found it!!! I'm a smoker, but when at sites, I keep a small bag for my butts. I will even pick up butts from others just so it's cleaner. A friend of mine (Dezmoon) had a comp at his house a few years ago (when my son 1st started......). Many people dropped butts all over Dez's yard. We were banned for a couple of years since Dez was pissed (I don't blame him...).

Remember, you may get tossed from a site, but you also make it VERY hard for the next guy. It all depends on what & how you conduct YOURSELF!

Sorta related, I fly sailplanes. There are times things just don't work out & you land somewhere, no biggie. If you treat the land better than your own (keeping spectators out to NOT make more potential damage), talk to the landowner about the "intrusion" they are usually happy. This makes it a LOT better for the next guy to use the same spot.

YOU control what YOU do. You are a GUEST....don't argue, don't abuse it....."thumbsup""thumbsup";-)8)

 

[Meatwad]

For me the issue isn't that rules are stupid, it's that some of the rules don't convey what they intend... in some cases leaving massively obese holes for interpretation. Or that they're vague on purpose for interpretation as needed on a case by case basis.

But by all means the space should be respected based on the fact it's natural environment.

 

[THX_138]

I would expect similar reprimand for disturbing the dunes here. They are VERY protected and for good reason. When your friend is willingly breaking the law and putting a bad face on the hobby that you care about then it seems irresponsible to sit by idle and not say anything. Don't be afraid to tell your friend how serious what he is doing is and that it affects more than just him. We need to all be as responsible as possible or we will soon be facing the same land use issues the 1:1 wheeling has been experiencing in recent years... I guess we might already be there.

Heh... When one 43 year old man tells another 40+ year old man.... " hey dumbass, why do you think they post those signs?... For fun?... get the hell outta there" and then you keep walking in hopes he will follow.

There isn't much more one can do to control another grown adult except to make them aware they are an idiot. Do I still crawl with him?, No.
Well, I haven't been back to Florida since, but I wouldn't RC with him again either if I was back down there. (he lives there, I don't) which in my eyes makes him even more deserving of the loss and the fine because he should have been fully aware of the local rules.

Everything new takes adjustment. Overall humans in general have been an all consuming society without consequence or care for many generations. Tree huggers, ozone layer lovers, fawna freaks etc... have all been ridiculed as they appear in society, but gradually are becoming the norm.

Most tend to so strongly stand for their belief in helping that they end up over doing what they stand for, but I think there is something to be said for saving what we have left before it's all gone or destroyed.... But in the same token, there should be a happy medium that can be worked out without completely closing areas or making the fines so high it is absurd.

We will as a society get used to anything with enough time... Heck... Think back to the 70's... If someone then said a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas would both be about $5 they would have scoffed.... Or if someone had said people would be PAYING for a bottle of water in the cooler along side the soda, they'd been laughed at... Yet our upcoming youth take it all as the norm and don't even think twice about any of it.

The RC hobby has of late taken a resurgence of interest, growth and technology... Hopefully along with it comes understanding and willingness for people on both sides to educate and work things out to keep our hobby growing and spreading.

Protect, Respect AND Fun shouldn't be three things that are too hard to keep together but if they can be, it will surely go a long ways to keep our hobby alive and thriving"thumbsup"




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[Olle P]

... Park Ordinance section 10.2 does state under Prohibited Activities “operation of ... non-motorized model ... rockets."

I'd love to see the "operation" of a non-motorized rocket...

Agreed, presentation is key. ... pictures ... before I've met with ...

Why not also bring an actual crawler for a quick live demonstration of its noise and other "impact" on the surroundings?

 

[JeremyH]

I personally don't agree, but if we don't own the land, we are just guests there anyhow and should carry ourselves as guests.

Taxpayers are the owners of public lands.

 

[THX_138]

Taxpayers are the owners of public lands.

Noooooooo...... The States/Government are the rightful and legal deeded owners.

Taxpayers simply are granted a right-of-way to selected areas of selected parcels with provisional rules there forth.





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[JeremyH]

Noooooooo...... The States/Government are the rightful and legal deeded owners.

Taxpayers simply are granted a right-of-way to selected areas of selected parcels with provisional rules there forth.

Oh yeah, that's right....the government has no need for the taxpayers......except those pesky taxes that they need from us to fund "their land".:roll:

 

[Trubble]

I'd love to see the "operation" of a non-motorized rocket...

This?

High Quality Water Rocket

Much like a pellet gun, the compressed air would qualify as a propellant, but not a motor, I'd guess.

 

[Meatwad]

This?

High Quality Water Rocket

Much like a pellet gun, the compressed air would qualify as a propellant, but not a motor, I'd guess.

1 : one that imparts motion ; specifically : PRIME MOVER 2 : any of various power units that develop energy or impart motion: as a : a small compact engine

One could say the mechanism by which the compressed air causes motion is in fact a motor.

 

[Calderwood]

That's still a motor. The pressure vessel attached to a nozzle makes a motor.