December 30th, 2024
TO ALL:
As I get ready to change the calendar from 2024 (Where in the heck did it go?) to 2025 I start reflecting on what has happened this last year. Knock on wood, fortunately, there was no major issues or vandalism occurring at the field. The FPV group has made significant progress on completing their airplane systems. Some have been flying FPV a significant amount. This interest has spread to many other members, especially some of the younger flyers. Kesten designed and built his own goggle system that was working just great. Many of the younger flyers have also participated in the Warbird Fly-in and in several of the events. This does my old heart good. The EAA Young Eagle program has formed it’s second group of young builders. They are building ‘The Old School Model Works “Fifty Six”. The New Year will have a change. The old Park Zone T-28 will be upgraded to use the E-Flite 1.1m T-28. As Rick Fuller mentioned, it’s time to retire the old girl.
I want to thank everyone for all of their support and participation for this past year. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas with your families. I look forward to seeing everyone this coming year. I hope and pray you all have a safe, healthy, joy-filled and prosperous New Year.
KC
September 24nd, 2024
TO ALL, Sunnyslope road is OPEN again! Please be careful when leaving the field as there will once again be traffic on the road
July 31nd, 2024
TO ALL, especially new members:
ALL UAS (unmanned aircraft systems), This includes fixed wing Radio Controlled model airplanes, must be registered with the FAA and have the assigned FAA number affixed just like your AMA Number to your aircraft. You may register/renew your FAA registration at this site:
DroneZone
June 25th, 2024
ATTENTION: George Bieda has contacted the Navy Museum and they are willing to pay the fee for a booth during the Bremerton Air Show. This will be a joint effort between the Museum and KARCS. This fee will pay for 4 tickets to the Air Show to man the booth. The only cost will be for the attendees to pay for the vehicle parking. George suggested carpooling to reduce cost. George is confident that he can get 2 Museum members per day to man the booth. We need two KARCS Club members per day to man the booth.
If anyone is interested please contact either me or Duane. We’ll forward your names and contact information to George. KC
January 17th, 2024
Good morning everyone. I guess I should really say – GREAT MORNING everyone!
I received this from the Federal FAA. This our ‘OFFICIAL’ Letter of Authorization, allowing us to fly our RC airplanes ‘WITHOUT’ Remote ID at our flying site.
Letter of Authorization
I have been in communications with the AMA and they’ve agreed that this isn’t a “FRIA”, but it’s ‘Official’ and thus they also recognize this as a CBO. The AMA stated that most of the clubs that had been denied in the FRIA request received these letters instead.
Additionally, I just received the below from the AMA Webcast. The map lists our area as being an ‘officially recognized’ FRIA. Have a GREAT day everyone.
KC
FRIA Map Now Available
FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA) status has been extended to more than 1,500 AMA club flying fields. AMA staff continue to work hard on behalf of clubs to process a few hundred more and appeal and reverse those that were not granted FRIA status. The FAA has published a map that identifies FRIA sites throughout the US.
FRIA sites
December 6th, 2023
Hello everyone,
I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving with family and friends. I’ve renewed
my membership to the gym 😊.
Just a reminder for those that are planning to attend the December 12th club meeting:
If you desire, we’ll be having our ‘White Elephant’ gift exchange. As in previous years,
the price ceiling is set at $15. At this meeting, we’ll be voting in the 2024 club officers.
Additionally, we’ll be soliciting names for the “Most Crashes” and also Arc of the Year.
KC
December 23rd, 2023
I just finished wrapping a 12’ gymnastic balance beam for my granddaughters. It looks more
like Dolly Parton’s coat of many colors. How can you disguise this? Do you think that the
kids will know what it is? 😊 By the time I completed it, it looked more like one of my
models that I tried to Monocote. But I’m also aware of how happy they’ll be.
I hope and pray that all of you are able to spend Christmas with the family and friends. If
you’re traveling out of town, I hope you have safe and uneventful travels. I’ll be looking
forward to seeing all of you out at the field soon.
KC
November 9th, 2023
I just received communications from the AMA Government Relations Representative. This provides
more clarity to my previous announcements.
“The email from Ms. Stewart is correct in that your FRIA application was likely automatically
denied due to location in a 0’ grid. This denial will not affect your LOA or future 7711 AA.
Even if the FRIA status is never given to the site, you would still be able to operate under
the LOA or AA with a broadcast module added to aircraft. However, we will do everything we
can to get you FRIA status at your site. Ilona Maine is our staff member working on your FRIA
application and she has already resubmitted your application to the FAA.”
This means that we’re back to our original stance in that we’re waiting for the results
of the FRIA application to determine whether or not we’ll need the ‘Remote ID’ modules
installed into our aircraft.
I apologize for any confusion or anxiety that I may have caused. I’m simply passing along
to you what the respective agencies are telling me.
KC
November 2nd, 2023
I’m actively attempting to answer all questions with regards to our recent FAA Airspace
Authorization. With the recent emails and phone calls that I’ve been on, much of the
information has been positive, while some of it has put a damper on the optimism that I had.
I’ve had many club members express concern with the wording and the omission of some
‘key terms’. A tremendous shout out to those members that are attempting to keep me
on the correct path. I can’t thank you enough. I’m attempting to be the mouth piece
primarily for our members.
I finally received this below email from the AMA Director of Government Relations:
“The AA is meant to replace the previous LOA but does not provide any exemptions for
Remote ID. You would still need to apply for FRIA status for your site.
“We are aware and agree with the issues that your club member has with the AA. All clubs
are receiving AAs with very similar language that does not fit our operations. We have
already had meetings with the FAA group leading this process and provided them with a list
of needed changes. They agreed in our meeting that the content of the cookie-cutter AAs
they were providing to clubs did not apply to our operations and were willing to make
changes. I am currently in DC meeting with congressional offices about FRIA issues but
will follow up with the AA team regarding this issue and get an update as to where they
are in the changes they agreed to make when I return to the office next week.
“Please let me know if you have additional questions.
“Best regards,
Chrystal Pearson, Director of Government Relations”
KC
November 1st, 2023
CHRISTMAS has come early!!!! We have just received an Airspace Authorization from FAA
Seattle TRACON. This authorization is effective immediately and valid for the next 2 years.
This document replaces our FAA Letter of Authorization and essentially takes the place of
the FAA FRIA. This means, that we don’t need to have a Remote ID in our aircraft. We are
mandated to ensure that everyone flying at our site complies with all of the requirements
that were in our original FAA Letter of Authorization.
This is a tremendous relief and an answer that we were all hoping for,
KC
September 5th, 2023
Here’s the latest on the Club’s FAA-Recognized Identification Area (FRIA) request.
On August 24th, I received two simultaneous emails, one from the Drone Zone and the other from
the AMA. The email from the Drone Zone was the FAA’s response informing the club that our FRIA
was denied due to our close proximity to the Bremerton Airport. This was about two weeks after
the Shelton Flyers received a similar denial for the same reason. I sent an immediate response
to the AMA including a copy of the current FAA Letter of Agreement (LOA) between the Kitsap ARCS
and the FAA Seattle Terminal Radar Approach Control (S46). I received a response back from the
AMA stating that they were going to resubmit our FRIA request along with our FAA LOA.
I also sent a copy of our FRIA denial to the FAA official(s) that signed our LOA. I’m attempting
to keep both the AMA and the LOA signatories informed of our appeal.
The following weekend I received a phone call from Paul Fleming. He was at the Wenatchee Scale
Flying competition. There were some AMA representatives there and Paul gave them an earful.
Based on the response from the representatives, it appears that any RC club that was within
five miles of an airport received a denial of their FRIA request. It’s like they sent all
applications through a filter and any application that failed to meet the 5-mile restriction
was automatically denied, regardless of the club’s safety record or how many years that they
had been flying from that site.
A member sent me an announcement from Horizon Hobby, offering a Remote ID module for
“pre-order”. The announcement further referred to the deadline for installation of
these modules for all UAS not operating in a FRIA was to be September 16, 2023. Although
there have been a couple of companies that are offering their Remote ID modules on a
“pre-order” basis, it is extremely doubtful that the manufacturers will have sufficient
quantities of these modules available by the September 16th deadline.
On Sunday, September 3rd, we sent the following inquery to the FAA UAS Support Center:
Has the Sept. 16th date been paused since Remote ID units still haven't shipped??
On Monday, September 4th, we received the following response:
"As of this moment, the RID compliance date remains 16 Sep 2023. We are considering options
with respect to relief from the 16 Sep compliance date. We will have more to share with you
in the near future on FAA websites and social media."
I am waiting from further correspondence from the AMA and the FAA. When I have more information,
I’ll keep you informed.
Thanks,
KC
July 24th, 2023
To everyone that normally volunteers to assist with the field mowing/trimming, I’m extremely
sorry about the short notice Saturday about the cancellation. I saw the forecast last
night, but with what we’ve experienced over the last couple of years, you can’t always rely
on the ‘weather guessers’ 😊. I was able to call Duane and go to Mike’s before they left
their houses. I tried to call everyone at 8am to catch you before you left.
I was sincerely hoping that we’d get in an hour or so of mowing. That’s all we needed to catch
up on all of the areas that we’d missed over the last month due to my mechanical breakdowns.
However, the weather guessers were correct and Mother Nature gave us some much needed rain.
I can’t express how much I appreciate everyone coming out to help keep the field in as good of
a condition as it is. We hear so many compliments from visitor, KCPD personnel, and the airport
Director. The first words out of their mouths are "WOW! This place looks great."
It’s all because of you and your efforts.
I am taking a golfing vacation for the next two weeks. I’m looking to have the next field
mowing/trimming on August 14th. Thank you all again for your help and I’m extremely
sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused.
KC
July 9th, 2023
The
local chapter
of the
Experimental Aircraft Association
has a special
Young Eagles program
for children of ages eight through seventeen. In the next couple of weeks, two airports
will have YE rallies, one with 200+ kids at Auburn and one with 400+ kids at Bremerton.
The rallies will help to assist with getting kids into the air.
The
Bremerton Young Eagles Rally
will be on July 15th. Amelia’s Hanger restaurant (Bremerton Airport Diner) will
be donating their net proceeds to the EAA 406 Young Eagles. This is where some of the
funds will come to pay for the YE Build and Fly kits and scholarships to send kids to
Osh Kosh’s weekly aviation camps for kids.
This is a great opportunity to try the food at the new restaurant and to also support the
EAA Young Eagles.
July 3rd, 2023
Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope you are all able to enjoy this Holiday with family,
BBQs and are able to share the fireworks.
But I hope and pray that you all take just a moment out of your celebration to remember
the efforts and sacrifices by those early great men. Even though the Declaration of
Independence was written on July 4, 1776, it was formally delivered to the Great Britain
about 1 month later. There wasn’t the fast means of communications that we all enjoy today.
The Revolutionary War actually spanned from April 1775 with the ‘Shot Heard Around the
World’ at Lexington and Concord and even though the British surrendered in Yorktown in
1781, the war would not formally end until 1783. Their fight was perilous, and many times in doubt.
KC
May 27th, 2023
This Memorial Day, I was looking to send the membership a “message from the president”.
I was thinking of the words to convey how I feel. However, I just ran across the below
message that says it far greater than I ever could.
In his 1983 message on Memorial Day, President Ronald Reagan, a veteran of the Army and then
a Captain in the Army Air Force during World War II at age 30, offered this simple tribute:
"Memorial Day is a time to take stock of the present, reflect on the past, and renew our
commitment to the future of America.
Today, as in the past, there are problems that must be
solved and challenges that must be met. We can tackle them with our full strength and
creativity only because we are free to work them out in our own way. We owe this freedom of
choice and action to those men and women in uniform who have served this nation and its
interests in time of need. In particular, we are forever indebted to those who have given
their lives that we might be free.
"I don't have to tell you how fragile this precious gift of freedom is. Every time we hear,
watch, or read the news, we are reminded that liberty is a rare commodity in this world.
"This Memorial Day of 1983, we honor those brave Americans who died in the service of their
country. I think an ancient scholar put it well when he wrote:
'Let us now praise famous men ... All these were honored in their generation, and were the
glory of their times. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.'
As a tribute to their sacrifice, let us renew our resolve to remain strong enough to deter
aggression, wise enough to preserve and protect our freedom, and thoughtful enough to promote
lasting peace throughout the world."
Message on the Observance of Memorial Day, May 26, 1983
(National Archives, Ronald Regan Presidential Library & Museum)
Please, if you see a veteran, shake their hand and thank them.
KC