RC Club Faces Uncertain Future After Losing Airfield of 30 Years

Washington State Parks said it is ending its agreement with the Flaming Geyser Flyers due to multiple alleged flying violations involving remote controlled aircraft.

Thursday, August 22, 2024 at 02:13 PM ET

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The Flaming Geyser Flyers RC club has operated at Flaming Geyser State Park in Auburn, Washington for 30 years. [Courtesy: Damian Floth]

Key Takeaways:

The Flaming Geyser Flyers RC club will lose its 30-year runway at Flaming Geyser State Park by March 17, 2025, as Washington State Parks will not renew their operating agreement.
Washington State Parks cited "ongoing safety concerns" for the non-renewal, including multiple flying violations (crash landings, tree entrapments), a past incident involving a club member and park visitors, and interference with local wildlife.
The club's president acknowledges the incidents but emphasizes their safety culture, the removal of the problematic member, and notes a park reclamation project conflicting with their fly zone, while the club actively seeks a new location to avoid dissolution.

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Closing a full-sized runway takes years. Closing a runway utilized by radio controlled (RC) aircraft takes significantly less time, as the members of the Flaming Geyser Flyers, a Seattle-area RC aviation club have learned.

For the past 30 years the club has operated from a purposefully constructed runway at Flaming Geyser State Park east of Auburn, Washington. Recently Washington State Parks notified the club that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) permitting its operations in the park would not be renewed. That means as of March 17, 2025, the field is closed.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.