A message to the membership of OCMA from your Safety Officer.
As most of you may already know, I was voted on and confirmed as the newest safety officer for OCMA. As you’ll hear me say repeatedly, the three most important aspects of membership are having a safe and fun flying environment, following and adhering to the rules set forth by OCMA and the County Parks administrators, and keeping the field open to our club by not making any egregious mistakes that would invite negative scrutiny by the parks commission.
Bearing this in mind, OCMA has a set of rules which members have signed a waiver confirming they have read and understand them. The rules can be informative, such as where to find certain pieces of information, or flight boundaries; onerous, such as having proper identification on your flying device; or even rules for disciplinary action. The rules are written and are updated as necessary in response to both external and internal events.
Keeping that in mind, it is anticipated that all members will fly in a safe and friendly manner that allows both themselves and fellow pilots to enjoy flying at our site. The job of the Field Marshals is to ensure that the rules are followed, point out when rules are broken, suggest corrective action, and discuss the event with the person flying at the time. When approached by a Field Marshal who has input into a particular event they witnessed, the Marshal should inform you of what they saw, investigate why it happened, and then anticipate that the event will not be repeated intentionally. You should anticipate a friendly demeanor from the Field Marshal. We anticipate a friendly demeanor from you as well. A response such as “You’re wrong” or “It wasn’t me” is not appropriate. A simple “thanks, I’ll improve on that” is all it takes. Marshals are volunteers trying to keep the flying environment safe and fun. If you see a Marshal videotaping you, it may simply be a case where they are trying to show you what they and others are seeing. Don’t jump to the conclusion that you are in trouble and being picked on. You are always welcome to come to a board meeting to complain about the behavior of any Field Marshal. That is your right.
With all of this in mind, let’s all have safe and fun flying together. See you at the field.
Thank you,
Dave Kadonoff
OCMA Safety Officer
kadonoffd@gmail.com
The complete field rules (PDF) are on Field Info as well.