Lynn Garnand began building remote-controlled airplanes as a child before serving and retiring from the U.S. Air Force.

Now the Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, resident and the Chain-O-Lakes Eagles R/C Club want to teach other young people how to build and fly radio-controlled model airplanes.

But to do that, the 50-year-old club also needs a permanent airfield where its members – young and old – can fly model airplanes. If they can lease an airfield near a school or public facility, that would be even better, says Garnand, the club’s president.

( Photos: Chain-O-Lakes Eagles fly remote-controlled airplanes )

“A community, a location, a school … a place we can build a long-term relationship with” would be ideal, Garnand said, adding that a location near a school or community college would be great because remote-controlled aircraft have a connection to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

In recent days, about a dozen club members have been meeting at their new airfield at 8915 Kemman Road, southeast of Hebron. They have been flying there since July 1 after losing the property they had rented for the past 20 years near Ringwood. The property’s owner had died and his widow wanted to lease the land for farming, Garnand said.

Therefore, the club started looking for a new location.

“We found this property (for rent), but it’s probably not permanent,” Garnand said. “We can use it for this season … but we’re looking at ideas for permanent fields.”

He sees the connection to science when he talks to young club members Charlie Missak and Andrew Durik, Garnand said. Charlie is one of the club’s younger members. He got his first remote-controlled airplane as a Christmas present after getting into the hobby thanks to Andrew.

“Charlie is an electrical engineer and is 12 years old. Andrew is a mechanical engineer” who could talk to him about increasing the power, displacement and torque of one of the aircraft, Garnand said.

“It introduces kids to engineering and technology,” Garnand said of the hobby.

Charlie described the pastime as “fun and entertaining.”

His father, Mike Missak, also joined the club this year. He had flown remote-controlled planes with his father as a youngster, but he started again this year when Charlie showed interest.

What Charlie doesn’t include in his “it’s fun” assessment is the time he spends tinkering with his plane and electronics or practicing flying on a simulator, his father said.

Garnand started tinkering with control-line aircraft, which were connected by cables to a controller, as a 9-year-old in South Bend, Indiana. The technology has improved over the decades, Garnand said. These aircraft were the forerunners of drones and NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter, he said.

They would like to have 3 to 4 hectares of flat, level land, which is necessary to get the planes into the air.

“We need a field with open space … and a long-term lease,” said club vice president Larry Erbach. The club can and will handle mowing and maintenance “at its own expense,” he added.

Erbach said there are several R/C airplane clubs in northern Illinois, including many that use forest preserves or other county park lands. There have been recent discussions with at least one municipal park district, but a request to the McHenry County Conservation District was denied.

According to minutes from the MCCD’s June 20 Committee of the Whole meeting, Executive Director Elizabeth Kessler mentioned the club’s request, but “the district’s current comprehensive administrative policy … prohibits these types of activities,” she said, referring to the recently updated Recreation Support Policy.

The decision was “based on several factors, including environmental impacts, safety concerns and compatibility” with the district, marketing manager Caitlynn Martinez-McWhorter said this week.

The MCCD sent the club a letter on July 11 offering a meeting to further discuss the request, Martinez-McWhorter said.

“We have a lot of stakeholders coming to us asking about potential uses. Right now the district is in maintenance mode, taking care of what we have,” Martinez-McWhorter said.

Any property owner or agency spokesperson wishing to speak with the Club about a possible long-term lease is asked to contact the Club and Garnand via email at [email protected].