Gastineau Aeromodelers Society

Here’s a nice article from our only hobby store going away 😢 we all love the things Mike and his store have done for our club and have a hobby tote full of memories!

https://www.ktoo.org/2025/12/24/after-more-than-50-years-a-family-run-shop-in-downtown-juneau-is-closing-its-doors/?fbclid=IwZnRzaAO8P6dleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEefk7CCuMiirQwC97yIS2KWXTp0Rep3msg23Jfquc0Rpts7LJaptzJecg-vNw_aem_k1JOmJsuDABZYx7IQelL2A

After more than 50 years, a family-run shop in downtown Juneau is closing its doors The owner of Ben Franklin said the store has been a part of the town’s history — and his own — and closing is bittersweet.

Got a few flights in today now that the ships are basically done. Very nice air and blue sky. What a treat after this last month of rain.

Looks like the gate got smashed in, a fire pit developed on the runway, trash everywhere, car doughnuts through the runway, ect. Guessing the USFS manpower is so low that there just isn’t much of a care lately.

To all,

Let me start by saying what a great group we have! I’m truly overwhelmed by the support we've received for the road repairs. Thank you all. We plan to begin work on the road in August, once the Point Mackenzie roadwork has slowed down. We’ve exceeded our fundraising goal, and with that, we should be able to make long-lasting improvements.

Now for the fun part—announcing our first annual “Ganza Week!”

We’ll kick things off with a week-long campout starting Saturday, July 19th, beginning with our Scale Contest. The pilot meeting is scheduled for 10:00 AM. The club will be providing hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, and condiments. If you’d like to bring additional items, they would be appreciated by all!

Please reply to this email if you plan to attend and let us know if you'll be bringing any supplies. It’s important for us to get a headcount so we can purchase enough food for everyone.

The campout will continue through the IMAC contest on Saturday, July 26th. Let’s hope for good weather so we can get in some quality practice during the week. The field will remain open for free fun flying, except during contest hours on the two Saturdays.

Come on out and let’s have a great time together!

– Don Fuller

Club/Public Swap & Giveaway Meet Anybody?

We’re due for a get together, and a few folks have been asking if anyone would be interested in their gear so this would be a good opportunity for anyone getting into the hobby to get some airplanes and to try something new!

Let me know your thoughts!

Quick update on the flying field. Runway looks good. USFS trimmed the bushes on the rock barrier which opens up a lot of space for us.

The massive eye soar of a boat was derelict from the campground last year. They had to hold it for six months before getting rid of it which they still have not done. It sits next the runway because our permit is the runway. It’s kinda rude they didn’t move it when we asked and offered to move it ourselves so there it sits.

First no ship day is September 21st!

This reminds me of the current ballot for no ship day Saturdays. This would give us one day a week to fly rc planes from April to October at this location. Some food for thought.

Often people ask me why I can’t go fly my gas RC planes. It’s because the field I fly at is a bus parking lot overtaken by tourism. We used to have a paved runway with a handshake agreement 20 years ago, and as our government became more organized they developed site plans and eventually a special use permit. We were the first in the state to have an official aero modeling park/playground nomenclature. We will eventually loose this place for USFS infrastructure and expansion for the tourists. As of now April-Oct we can only fly after 7:30pm.

The club has been perusing other options but it’s tricky fining a place outside class D airspace and flat/long enough in a mountainous valley that drops into the ocean with tall trees!

Looks like the city is leveling the bus lot 🤙🏽

April is around the corner which means the cruise ships are just around the corner. First ship is April 9th 😱

Here’s the 2024 schedule for Juneau:

claalaska.com

Still untouched

We’ve been trying to get a club meeting together, vote for officers, and talk about our future some more. Lots of roadblocks with schedules and other life events. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, I drove down to our flying site to see how the snow storage is looking. There is a truck every few minutes bringing snow from the city to here.

Looks like we’ve been overrun but snow operations and for whatever reason a boat put by the approach end of the runway this late fall that was never moved. There is a berm in the middle of the runway as well. I am beyond dissapointed in the USFS/City with our shared user group agreement. This will be brought up and corrected. It’s astounding that we even pay to fly here with the lack of care from our permitters. Our options to fly else where at a similar capacity are close to non-existant so we will continure to make this place sustainable.

I apologize for not being more on top of it, but life gets in the way of the hobby sometimes and there was a snow apocalypse event. Second snowiest month on record ever with 76.8” 😮

I believe we will loose our model airplane flying site due to the increased tourism. Been flying here for over a decade. Who knows the exact construction timeline, or date we will be pushed out, but they’ve used the lot as a staging area for projects and it appears they have decided to not provide any relief for us. I’m very dissapointed.