Flying Field

As mentioned in the previous article, we have been in talks with the owner of the farm where we fly and it can now be confirmed that an agreement has been reached for us to rent an acre of the field.  This gives us space for parking, allows us to cut and maintain a landing strip and also has room for a helicopter hover/practice area and pits.

The cost of the rent and maintaining the area will be split among all those using the site.  Chasing people for money is never a pleasant experience, so if anyone is still to contribute then can you speak to Grant the first chance you get and he'll let you know what the deal is.  The farmer has already been paid, but we will have some kind of ongoing cost for cutting the grass etc.  Keeping it clean and tidy is everyone's responsibility, so if you're down flying and there's any litter or such, take a moment to pick it up and dispose of it properly.

Pilots are asked to use a bit of common sense when flying at the site.  We don't have too many houses close by and we've never had any issue with the neighbours...and long may that continue.  Please also bare in mind that the rest of the field is still a working farm.  It's currently being used for producing silage, but will also be used at different times for growing crops and/or grazing animals.

We're extremely fortunate to have such a great flying site, and now that we have our own wee corner with a maintained landing strip then hopefully it will encourage people to dust off their more precious R.O.G. models that we've not seen for a while...or indeed to purchase/build new ones.

Last Sunday (12th June) was a wonderful sunny day for the most part and, as you can see from the picture, pilots cracked out a fair spread of models.  Hopefully the weather will settle a bit more and we can get down there more often to make full use of the site over the summer.

One last thing, can everyone please make sure they have insurance.  Most of you will be familiar with the BMFA (£29), but after our trip to Stranraer and becoming a bit more aware of the SAA (£27) and what they do for the sport north of the border, you may want to consider joining them instead.  The Insurance cover provided by both is largely similar with the only main difference being £10 Million Public Liability with BMFA and £5 Million with the SAA.  The SAA is fully affiliated to the BMFA so membership of one allows you access to events/sites being run by the other.