Superfund Sites Now Open For Flying (Sort Of…)

Plenty of pilots got their first introduction to controlling an airplane via remote-control models, and it seems that despite the advent of desktop flight simulators, the sport is still thriving. Now, under a new federal agreement between the Academy of Model Aeronautics and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RC pilots will have more places to fly from. The group has been granted free access to EPA Superfund sites around the country for use as model airfields. The first site likely to open under the program is in Altoona, Pa., a 57-acre former landfill, flat and open and covered in grass. “It’s a perfect place to fly airplanes,” EPA official Romuald A. Roman told The Washington Post.

Plenty of pilots got their first introduction to controlling an airplane via remote-control models, and it seems that despite the advent of desktop flight simulators, the sport is still thriving. Now, under a new federal agreement between the Academy of Model Aeronautics and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RC pilots will have more places to fly from. The group has been granted free access to EPA Superfund sites around the country for use as model airfields. The first site likely to open under the program is in Altoona, Pa., a 57-acre former landfill, flat and open and covered in grass. "It's a perfect place to fly airplanes," EPA official Romuald A. Roman told The Washington Post. Some environmentalists have raised concerns about the safety of the contaminated Superfund sites, but the EPA insists they are safe, according to the Post.