Complaints From A Neighbor !

[Jay I Watkins]

Hi Guys,

This morning I spoke to Sgt. Watkins (no relation) of the Delaware County Preservation Parks Police about an incident that occurred on Father's Day.
One of my club members was flying at Havener Park and went South over the Deer Haven park. There is a new set of Purple Martin nests there and some volunteers were counting birds.
These volunteers felt that the sailplane was stressing the birds and called the park police.
The officer had an entirely civil conversation with the volunteers and the flyer.
In my conversation with Sgt. Watkins he said the magic words “I have no jurisdiction over the airspace above Deer Haven”.

I would note two things:

- The rules of Preservation Parks section 25.1 specifically forbids flying RC gliders “within the confines of the park”.
- See Wikipedia for the sad tale of Purple Martins in America.

The nesting season for Purple Martins ends in July and then they migrate to South America. In the meantime, let’s be good neighbors and not annoy the Purple Martin enthusiasts.

I gave Sgt Watkins my name and number and asked him to call me if there are any future concerns.
I added that we only fly gliders; if there were quadcopter complaints, it’s not MOSS.

See and avoid problems !

Regards,

Jay Watkins