About Us

We have a family friendly atmosphere and we encourage spectators to come and interact with the members. We have a paved 780′ x 40′ paved runway with a paved apron and pit area. There are two 20′ x 80′ covered areas with setup tables within each area. We host all forms of R/C flying including jets and helicopters. We also have members flying control line models. Also as part of our field, a lagoon behind the field is used for periodic float flys.

Regular Club Meetings are generally held on the second or third Saturday of each month. All interested persons are encouraged to come to the Club Meetings or out at the field.

We also have various events at the field, and at times, other locations. For any non-club member only flying events, you must possess a current AMA card to fly. Please look at the events calendar for event times and locations. All are welcome to come as guests at any time.

History

To give you a little idea of how this club came about, we'll have to go back the year 1992. The Modesto R/C Club was looking for a nice place to fly, that would not interfere with other businesses or people around them. In this search, Woodward Reservoir seemed to be a likely spot. As you will note, Ward Hendricks field sits on a hill with no real obstructions, do to the great insight and thoughtfulness of Ward Hendricks (one of the original members). Ward would come out to the sight and watch wind directions and imagine possible layouts of the landing strip, long before any grading was ever done.

Once county approval was given to the Modesto Club, grading of the large runway and parking lot took place. In 1995 paving of the runway would have to wait for a short period of time until funding and cost estimates were gathered for the 650 foot runway. Ideas for the site included having two runways, to have one runway build to run north and south, and the present design. Prior to construction of the runway, planes had to takeoff and land on a dirt runway. The main problem with this was the planes got dirty by the end of the day of flying.

The runway area and parking area were constructed using the funds received by a one time special assessment fee. This fees was and is still assessed as a one time charge to all members. This is to allow further improvements and upkeep to the flying site. About 5 months after the proposal to pave a runway, members were enjoying taking off and landing from one of the nicest paved runways in California.

A few years later during a hot summer in 1999, the members at the field stated that something had to be done about being under the hot sun all day. After seeing what other flying fields used to keep out of the sun, the membership decided to build large and solid sun shades. The shades were build by the members of the club to save money and had them build on only about a month. The members built two 20′ by 80′ open sided shade structures with a 20′ high ceiling. The large size allowed all flyers to be out of the sun and the high ceiling prevented the radiant heat from reaching the people under the shade.

Club Officers