BONSALL -- Down a small dirt driveway off Highway 76, several dozen hobbyists gather at the "Bonsall International Airport" every weekend to send remote control airplanes into the sky over the San Luis Rey River valley.

It's a 40-year-old tradition that will come to an end this fall, when Caltrans prepares to widen the highway by claiming the land above which the Fallbrook RC Flyers have flown since 1968. Club members said last week they're more concerned with finding a new piece of land for an airstrip than fighting Caltrans.

"All we need is a strip of dirt for a runway, and somewhere to park a dozen cars," said John DePierro, who has been flying with the Fallbrook group for a year and a half. "This is a public place. People come in here all the time and watch us fly the planes. We get new members that way."

The airstrip is situated just south of the highway between Olive Hill Road and North River Road, a highly visible location where small aircraft can be seen buzzing around overhead most Saturday afternoons.

Mark Phelan, a project manager for Caltrans, said last week that the state is planning to buy the model airplane site from the county, which acquired it from Vessels Stallion Farm three years ago.

"We are not in the position to provide them with any kind of financial assistance to relocate," said Phelan.

Because RC Flyers doesn't own or have a legal claim to the property, the club isn't entitled to the same relocation assistance as local businesses that will be displaced when the four-lane Highway 76 goes through, he said.

"I know they were looking at areas in the vicinity," Phelan said. "Unfortunately, there's not much open space around for them … so I haven't been able to provide them any leads on other places where they could fly."

A serious hobby

DePierro said the average wingspan of the planes flown in Bonsall is about five feet, with entry-level models starting around $250.

Before a new member can start flying at the airstrip, he or she first has to master a flight simulation on the computer.

"When you can land the plane on the computer, odds are you're not going to crash when you get out here," DePierro said.

With the skills come bragging rights, but as with full-size aviation, the real passion for many hobby pilots is the aircraft itself.

"We've got one guy who can build planes from scratch -- you've got to see the workmanship to believe it," DePierro said. "Scratch builders are few and far between these days. These guys are artists."

Everyone else buys a kit plane. The average cost is around $500 to $600, although some models run into the thousands, DePierro said.

Most of them run on nitromethane, although electric models are starting to emerge.

While there have never been any major accidents at the Bonsall airstrip, the club has liability insurance and is sanctioned by the national Academy of Model Aeronautics.

The only Federal Aviation Administration requirement is that the club notify local airports within a certain radius if its members are going to be flying their models above 400 feet. Fallbrook Community Airpark is the only field close enough to fall within that requirement.

"We don't generally fly above 400 feet, but if we do, they absolutely know about it," said RC Flyers president John Aslanian.

Besides the dirt parking lot and dirt runway, the Bonsall airport sports a couple dozen work benches and shade canopies for hot days, all separated from the airstrip by a fence.

Aslanian said the club charges $45 to join and $20 in annual dues -- figures he said may have to increase when the group is forced to move.

"You would have to pay dues at our club for, I think, about 10 years to equal the cost of playing golf for a weekend," he said. "Even when you factor in the cost of the airplanes, it's still cheaper than a lot of hobbies."

History, and the near future

When the RC Flyers carved out a strip of earth south of the highway in 1968, Vessels agreed to let the club use the land without having to pay, members said.

Forty-one years ago, Interstate 15 hadn't been built and Bonsall was a sparsely populated outpost. Folks couldn't have imagined a time when the RC Flyers would have trouble finding open land for a well-mannered group of hobbyists to fly.

Eventually, though, the airfield's proximity to the highway was its undoing.

The arrangement with Vessels lasted almost 40 years, until 2006, when the county purchased the land to include in its proposed San Luis Rey River Park, a vast network of trails and protected land that would stretch along the river from I-15 to Oceanside's eastern boundary.

In early maps of the river park, the model airplane site was plotted as still having a runway and room for the club to operate.

But that plan didn't last, and Caltrans now intends to build the new highway alignment directly over the runway and parking area.

Phelan said the club is going to have to stop using the airstrip in October, or possibly sooner.

"Once the state takes ownership of land, the state doesn't allow any other uses on the land for liability and other reasons," said Phelan.

Aslanian said the flying club is researching various locations near Fallbrook, including the more rural Highway 76 corridor east of I-15.

Wherever the club ends up moving, it will probably not be as centrally located as it is now, and depending on the costs associated with a new site, dues may go up.

"Maybe there is something we'd be able to offer someone who has property," said Aslanian. "We could probably pay them something, I don't know how much. Where we end up will dictate how many members we lose. If we go too far east, we'll lose most of the Oceanside contingent -- they're not going to drive out to Valley Center or Pala."

Rough landing

Aslanian said that if the club doesn't find a new location by the time Caltrans puts a fence around the airfield this fall, the operation may be grounded until a new site is found.

"I'm sure we could raise a big stink, but that's just going to cost everybody money and time, and ultimately the Highway 76 project is going to go through," Aslanian said. "So the best thing is probably to take the high road and see if we can find another location. Somebody had to be displaced."

DePierro said he is hoping his career as a hobby pilot doesn't end after just two years with the RC Flyers.

"I've wanted to fly these things my whole life," he said. "It's just a great bunch of people."

Despite the hard times, Aslanian said he's confident there will be a new home for the Flyers.

"We had a lot of fun while we were there -- a lot of great times," he said. "And we still will, wherever we end up."

The Fallbrook RC Flyers can be reached by visiting www.fallbrookrcflyers.com, or most weekend afternoons at the airfield.

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 740-3516 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.

Local model airplane clubs

Fallbrook RC Flyers

- www.fallbrookrcflyers.com

- Airfield is south of Highway 76 between Olive Hill Road and North River Road in Bonsall

Palomar RC Flyers

- www.palomarrcflyers.org

- Airfield is located at the northeast corner of Interstate 15 and Highway 76 in Fallbrook

Wingmasters RC Club

- www.sdwingmasters.com

- Airfield is off North Twin Oaks Valley Road between Deer Springs Road and Gopher Canyon Road in San Marcos

Temecula Valley Flyers

- www.temeculavalleyflyers.com

- Airfield is off Pulgas Creek Road, north of Highway 79 near Vail Lake, in Temecula