Batavia Radio Controlled Flying Club (BRCFC) is a general interest aero modeling club first organized in 1976 by Ed Winslow, Bill Rood, Bud McDermott, Don Moynihan  and other individuals who were passionate about aviation.   The club was officially NY State incorporated in 1980.   BRCFC a not-for-profit organization to promote the sport/hobby of Radio-Controlled Aeromodelling throughout the community. Situated at a private full-scale airstrip in Leroy, NY we have the space available to accommodate all makes and sizes of radio-controlled aircraft.  Our membership is open to anyone with an interest. 

Over the years the membership came from all walks of life from doctors and lawyers, from pipe fitters and carpenter and everywhere else.   Anyone can be a member, the only defining common trait is we all are passionate about aviation.  Many of our members have also come from the full-scale aviator ranks and continue to fly both model and full-scale aircraft.

The first flying site was at Genesee Community College way back in the 1970’s.  BRCFC enjoyed the use of a couple of different locations on the college grounds until 1999 when we moved offsite to another location.  The years at GCC were allot of fun for both club members and the community.  Being in a public space like GCC it was common to have spectators on an almost daily basis while the club members pursued their trade.  After GCC, the club tried a handful of other flying sites in the Leroy / Stafford area until finally landing on the use of Heddon Field (20NY) on Randall rd.   Ray Heddon was an avid aviation enthusiast and as such built himself a full-scale grass runway complete with multiple hangers for full scale aircraft.  It was a perfect match for BRCFC.  We have enjoyed the ability to call this airport home for the last 20 years.   The airport is currently owned and operated by the late Ray Heddons’ grandson, Aaron and Collen Gardner.  For more detail on the history of Reddon Field please visit here.

Over the years the technology used in RC aircraft improved with the times.  In the early years it was mainly smaller scratch built planes utilizing a wingspan of about 5 feet and AM radio electronics for control.  Today the technology has evolved to using state of the art spread spectrum radio technology that is almost jam proof. With the increase in reliability the models have gotten bigger and more complex as well.   Today it is not uncommon to see a model aircraft with a 10+ foot wingspan.   Even better, with modern radio electronics it is possible to have first person point of view video relayed from the model aircraft.  Please visit our Facebook page as there are regular videos of this type of video being posted along with many regular photos as well. 

A few details about our flying site and how it is we are allowed to fly with all the hype you can hear regarding those ‘nasty drones’.  To begin BRCFC is a club that has received a NYS incorporation and as such is governed under an established set of by-laws and Board of Directors. We hold regular meetings and the Board of Directors is voted on by the membership yearly.  We are an AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) sanctioned, FAA recognized FRIA flying site.  The AMA is a national organization of 100,000+ members that serves to organize, promote, and advocate at the governmental levels for model aviation.  Membership with the AMA is a requirement for membership to the BRCFC.  It is through the AMA that we receive additional insurance for both ourselves and the property owners. You can find out more about the AMA here:

The airspace above all of us is governed nationally by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) which means they have some say in our activities.  The FAA has a variety of rules that vary depending on how drones are flown.  Specific to our model aircraft flown at our flying field much of the rules have been simplified.  Our flying field has been designated as a FAA FRIA site which means that when our models our flown in a traditional line-of-site manner we have been exempted from the electronic reporting and identification rules that everyone else has to comply with. We are still required to register as a drone pilot with the FAA.  Over the years there has been allot of AMA lead advocacy as it relates to how the traditional radio control hobby can co-exist in the modern national airspace.  With organizations such the AMA advocating for the hobby as well as direct advocacy by congress, radio control modeling will be around for a very long time, and so should the Batavia Radio Control Flying Club be as well………………………