Kids Can't Fly Model Airplanes When Trump Comes to Bedminster

BEDMINSTER, NJ — President Donald Trump is planning to spend Labor Day weekend in Bedminster, according to flight restrictions issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. And the impact is not only affecting local airports but also model aircraft and drone hobbyists and children.

Trump recently spent this past weekend in the area and prior to that an 11-day "working" vacation at his Trump National Golf Course last week.

Each time the President visits Bedminster, it creates a VIP Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) that prevents manned and unmanned aircraft from flying in certain places.

• See Related: Trump To Visit Bedminster For 18 Days, Will 'Devastate' Local Airports

“The frequency and length of the President’s visits have caused a negative impact on nearly 2,000 model aircraft and drone hobbyists in the area, including many kids,” the Academy of Model Aeronautics’ (AMA) stated.

Negative impacts include the cancellation of a recent boy scout event and an event at the Somerset County 4-H Fair.

Due to the temporary flight restriction issued during President Trump’s June visit to the Bedminster area, The Washington Crossing RC Flyers in Hopewell was forced to cancel its Boy Scout Rocket Launch event June 10 at the last minute, the AMA noted.

Members of the Broken Props Airplane Club, a model airplane club associated with 4-H, were also not able to fly their model airplanes and rockets at the Somerset County 4-H Fair in Bridgewater in early August due to Trump’s extended visit.

Michael Wong, president of the North Jersey Soaring Society and a member of the AMA, talked about the effects to the nearly 200,000 model aircraft hobbyists across the country.

“Our members know where to fly safely and responsibly and don’t pose a security risk to the President. Many members believe the President should make an exception for hobbyists, similar to what happened with the hot air balloon festival in July," the AMA stated.

Wong and the AMA is hoping the Secret Service will offer the hobbyists an exception to fly.

“Model airplanes are not very big and don’t go very fast, we only fly them within line of sight. A majority of the airplanes probably don’t go more than 20 mph,” Wong said. “The planes don’t fly very high with most of them under 400 feet. The reality is, how much of a danger are we? We are trying to petition the secret service to at least have a waiver.

Wong also noted how many of the hobbyists are retired and having the ability to fly on the weekends is very important to them.

“This is their day out, they come out with friends and hang out,” Wong said. “When they don’t fly, they get depressed.”

Additionally, Wong noted the impact to children. Wong grew up in Manhattan and as a kid was fascinated by model airplanes. In junior high school he built many model airplanes before moving to Mahwah. Now he uses his opportunities to fly in Morris County to encourage other children to join in on the hobby and educate them about it.

“When kids see me fly or at our events it gets the kids interested in aviation,” Wong said.

And getting kids interested is the first step towards a potential career. Wong became an engineer because of his “fascination” for model airplanes.

“Model airplanes are pretty much my life and it encouraged me to apply for the space shuttle program for NASA,” Wong said.

(Image via Academy of Model Aeronautics)

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