FFA takes away wings from local flyer

It’s a bright Friday afternoon, and Tom Seliga is putting together a six foot long model airplane that can soar over 400 feet in the air and fly as far as the eye can see. But unfortunately, Seliga and his plane have been grounded.

“I’m a pretty easy-going guy until something ridiculous like this comes about,” said Seliga.

Seliga, a retired Superior resident, started flying his model airplane at the Mineral County Airport with Donald Bauer. Bauer has bee flying planes at the airport since 1959.

On August 1, 2007, Seliga and Bauer were out at the airport flying. Seliga said that they usually fly on weekends because there are only full-sized aircraft in the sky.

On that particular Saturday, the Missoula Model Airplane Club was visiting because their private airstrip was shut down because of a fire in the vicinity.

On of the members of the Missoula Model Airplane Club had a photographer with him who wanted to take pictures of the airplanes. Seliga said that one model in particular was taken out onto the runway of the airport so that the photographer could get a picture of the plane near the windsock.

“That was our violation,” Seliga said.

He said that usually they used a taxiing runway for takeoffs and landings and that way they were never in the way of any airplanes that may be coming in, although airplanes rarely land there on the weekends they fly.

Seliga said that Gerry Geske, a former member of the Mineral County Airport Board, who had watched them fly at the airport on several occasions reporter them to the Federal Aviation Administration in Helena.

Gary Gates, the airport engineer and planner for the FAA in Helena, told the Mineral County Commissioners that they object to model airplanes flying on the Mineral County Airport.

In an email to the commissioners he wrote, “We would view this as a safety issue and in conflict with the airport’s Federal Airport Improvement Program grant assurances.”

Seliga said that there have never been any accidents with models on the property.

“Safety is number one, whether you’re using a gun or a model airplane,” said Seliga, who is also a mussel-loading rifle enthusiast.

He added that most modelers are members of the American Modeling Association which provides them with a $2.5 million liability insurance policy that covers model planes, boats, cars and rockets.

“That’s probably more than any pilot out there with a regular airplane,” Seliga said.

He said that were there any pilots who were not members of AMA or otherwise insured flying out at the airport he would have asked them to leave.

Seliga said that model airplanes can legally fly anywhere they want as long as they are not interfering with real airplanes. He added that they have to report to the nearest tower if they fly above 400 feet in elevation, but there is no tower at the Mineral County Airport.

Model Airplanes can fly about as far away from their controller as the eye can see.

Seliga feels that the FAA acted to quickly and there is not enough traffic at the Mineral County Airport to warrant them being banned form the premises.

According to Seliga the models are no real danger to planes flying into the Mineral County Airport and they can get out of the way of any incoming aircraft.

“We talked to all the pilots and they watch out for modelers like we watch out for them,” Seliga said.

He said that the airplanes are fragile and cannot land on grass or dirt or they can be damaged and the Mineral County Airport is the perfect place for the activity.

Seliga has been building model airplanes since he was a child. His father was a pilot who built the models in his spare time and Seliga picked up the hobby from him.

Since being banned from the Mineral County Airport Seliga has been talking with the Mineral County Commissioners in an attempt to fix the situation.

In a meeting with Seliga on Wednesday, June 18, Mineral County Commissioner Judy Stang told Seliga that the FAA funds their airport and if the county does not abide by their regulations their funding could be cut and they would have to pay for the airport themselves.

She said that until the FAA was notified of the situation it really was not an issue, but now that they know about it the county has to abide by their laws.

Seliga asked who would be enforcing the FAA’s demands and Stang told him that while there probably would not be anyone out there arresting him for flying on the premises, if something were to go wrong the county could be liable.

Seliga has since met with Jessica Anderson, a representative for Denny Rehberg, and drafted a letter to Rehberg asking for his help with the FAA. He has also contacted a high ranking executive with Delta Airlines, who he asked remain nameless, that said they would help him write letters and lobby for the right to use the airstrip.

“It’s hard talking to somebody that has never seen a model or has never been around pilots,” Seliga said.

Seliga said that he has been slowly working his way up the chain of command to find someone that can help him with the situation.

“I’ve hit everybody I’m supposed to before I told them ‘Do you mind if I go ahead and contact someone over your head on my own,’” Seliga said.

For now, Seliga has to fly at the airstrip owned by the Missoula Model Airplane Club. He said that the drive is so far that with rising gas prices it is unfeasible for him to actually get to fly much.

“I’m hoping this is going to get settled,” he said.