Nice one Marty! It would be great if there was more "made for battling" ponds out there. One of my retirement dreams is to get a house on 5 acres of land and build a battling pond and a model airplane airstrip on the land.
Well I believe a guy in Louisiana has done just that. He made a purpose built pond on Property for the guys out there and I think from what I have read and seen in pictures it is even ideal for hosting a MWC NATs in. We need a good pond to use up here in Atlanta so we can have a few local battles and maybe host a region battle again.
Yes there is a custom build pond by an MWC member in Louisianan. We're having a winter NATS there is March. There was also a custom build pond by a member in Arkanas. But the city got bigger and he was forced to sell the land. It was sad to see the pond emptied and turn into homes.
there's a nice pond near where i live, but i dont know if i could get a permit to battle there. Its pretty big, almost 1/2 acre and not to deep either, however, it is mostly frozen now : (
I've thought about that quite a bit. To make it viable economically, it would need a good source of capital such as a grant or some nice, deep-pocketed sugar daddy. Then, some operating model that provides a source of revenue to keep it going. But, people get grants & subsidies all the time for athletic facilities, arts venues, etc. I've got no personal experience writing grant applications, but I've got to believe there's a way it can be done. Has anybody ever seen indoor tennis courts, soccer fields, golf centers, hockey rinks, etc.? Those kind of things do manage to get built & operated somehow, & what works for them could work for us. I'd expect such a facility would need to be shared among all potential R/C water users including racers, scale modelers, etc. Combat might end up being only about a 10% user, or so, but that would be OK. Setting a schedule, with different clubs/groups at regular times would provide a sense of consistency & reliability that's a big help for recruiting. I think that a bowling center provides a good business model. Besides the basic facility for the sport (water vs. lanes) it could offer a "pro shop", food & beverage concessions, arcade (with the latest & greatest naval-themed video games), meeting facilities, washrooms, shop, etc. catering to the needs of all water-oriented R/C enthusiasts. Besides providing services to users, each would also provide a source of revenue to operate the facility. Equipment rentals could be used to help entice people to get involved; instead of house balls & shoes, provide rental ships to use in supervised "rookie-level" battles (just like the house balls & shoes at a bowling center aren't exactly what tournament bowlers would want, but good enough for the occasional casual user). Instead of league nights, there would be various formats of battles plus racing, regattas (industrial fans could even provide enough breeze for sailboats?), maneuvering events, & "open" sessions for practice. Technical aspects of the facility wouldn't be difficult to build or manage. An enclosed space of about 1/2 ac. or so (approx. 100' x 200') with an open span (i.e. no supporting columns to get in the way) would be ideal & not hard to find. Plenty of aircraft hangars are a lot bigger than that (not to suggest that an airport might be an ideal location; just pointing out that building technology isn't an issue). A defunct skating rink might be just the ticket, if there's one around. Also, semi-rigid & even inflatable structures are used all the time for taking traditionally outdoor sports indoors. 4-6 courses of cinder blocks on a concrete slab could create the pond perimeter. That would allow launch & retrieval at a nice, convenient 32-48" height & provide a water depth that gives good sinks & easy retrieval. Islands, peninsulas, reefs, ports, beaches, etc. could be built in modular, collapsible form so that they could be moved around or removed entirely depending on the current need. Of course, the 1st thing that would be needed would be a group of people committed to making it happen. JM
I agree with this. I like to compare it to RC cars or airplanes, which I have experience with. You can go out and buy a hobby to professional grade RC car/airplane for, say, anywhere between 100 and 300 bucks, and be succesful with it. However, the pros who compete tend to modify or build their own models, meaning that their is still that learning curve and the advantage of building your own ship.
