James40 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Due to a lack of any flying sites in my area, I've been on the hunt for a nice plot of land to fly models safely. At the moment I go in the field behind the cottage and throw a foamy into the sky for half an hour. On my search of Google earth and god only knows why I haven't seen this plot on approach into Brize Norton there is Broadwell Airfield . Now this is perfect, it's a WW2 disused airfield with a concrete slab runway, the concrete isn't perfect but with a brush and some weed killer between the slabs, it would make a superb flying site for RC aircraft, nice flat area, no big trees, plenty of runway and more importantly, no one in the area to annoy. Now how do I find out who owns the land and how do I go about seeking permission to fly there. Is it done through the council, BMFA or just the land owner. Ideally it could become a club flying site to try and get the hobby going again in this area, I think Witney used to have a club but it seems to have died a death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn sharp Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 James dont brize have a club any more ? use to be a big one . there is a flying club that flys out of down Amberly nr fairford. i think the air filed use to belong to the mushroom farm at one point brize ops should know all the land owners around there for noise abatement reasons Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James40 Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Hi Martyn, I'm a member of the Brize flying club but it's become very restrictive due to the amount of aircraft movements and it's location not far from the active runway and I fear for it's future now that Lynham has started it's move over and every spare patch of land is being built on! I've managed to fly off the Brize site twice in a year. That's why I'm looking to relocate the Brize clubs flying patch off base out of the way of aircraft and buildings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Ive just had an enjoyable time looking at this airfield on google, what a short, but superb history it has, it was a Dakota station, and also towed gliders, i hope you ge onto it, it seems model flying was on there in 2002, so perhaps your local area BMFA could assist? someone must know someone who flew there, i have the names of the partys that owned the site in 1943, but i doubt thats of any relavance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James40 Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Superb isn't it Alan, it would be nice to see some warbirds flying over it again, maybe not a Dak but WW2 warbirds non the less. It wouldn't take much to get the concrete up to scratch, a day with a handful of guys and some stiff brushes and a bucket of weed killer will do it. My work mate Paul Luby is on the BMFA as the RAFMAA representative so I'll see if he can sort anything out with the BMFA. Guys from Brize Norton used to fly RC aircraft back in the 1990's and early 2000's so it's possible we can do it again, it would also be nice to combine the RAF club and civilian members if it were possible to get a club at that location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James40 Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Broadwell's History if anyone wishes to read a little on one the forgotten airfields. I'm ashamed to say I've lived next to it for 11 years and didn't even know it existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 is the usable runway anywhere near the tower? what a club THAT would be!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James40 Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 The majority of the runway is usable, just requires some sorting, the tower is around 100 yards from the runway. I think it would take a lottery win to make the tower into a club house but it certainly makes for a nice backdrop to a flying site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazygit Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Posted by James40 on 16/03/2011 17:42:22:Now how do I find out who owns the land and how do I go about seeking permission to fly there. It looks like there is a big house in the south-west corner. I would go and ask. If they are likely to object you might as well know. Take a quiet, scale four-stroke powered a/c in case you get the chance to give a demo flight. If you're brave have a buddy box and lead with you. (Just in case). I suspect Brize ATC will need to know too.Edited By Lazygit on 16/03/2011 21:04:22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 James, Have a look at this link:Cornish Jack used to fly RC at Broadwell, perhaps you can contact him for help Hope this is useful for you. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W-O Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 What about a land registry search? Or park a couple of caravans on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Beaumont Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Re; Land registry Apparently land that has always been owned by the same person is not necessarily registered.There is a move afoot to make it compulsory when it changes hands (as in the case of our farm which was only ever owned by 'er indoors' dad before he passed on ) How this applies to MoD land though,I wouldn't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Walters Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Hi James, Another mate of mine - a retired long service Chief Techie and Carterton resident says:- Re Broadwell.Parts of the main N/S instrument runway remain.It's bisected by a public road. There is public accessto the south side (bridleway) but the fact that it's publicand there's an adjacent house might preclude R/c activity.The farmer on that side is a bit of a pain as well.The north side runway is not public but is easily accessed(by foot anyway...loads of dog-walkers use it) and has more isolation than the South side. I don't know who owns that sidebut it's clear they tolerate access so long as it's only on thehard and the unuseable areas of the former taxiways and pans.In the 80's ther was a model club flying frequently from formerspectacle pans on the eatern end of the site adjacent to wherethe lane now exits the airfield site......those have now been removedand i haven't seen any futher re-incarnations of that club.As i mentioned before...i saw some r/c flying there recently onthe south-side hard, but i think they were just upportunists and haven't been seen since. I would guess the N side hard would be the best bet. If you have a look on Google/Bing maps about2miles west of Brize you will clearly see the layout. I'll try and find out the N side landowners details....can't promise on that tho !!Cheers.....Rick. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James40 Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Hi Terry, There are a couple of guys who fly from the North strip, I bumped into them last summer when I was flying a foamy on Cartertons cricket field, they had a few foamies too so flew from the cricket pitch for a few weeks. They had asked permission to fly from the runway and were told it was ok. I popped back to Broadwell today and flew my P-47, it was really nice, clear blue skies and the back drop of the old control tower in front of me, ah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 i think its accurate to say that i would give my fost born to have the chance of a site like that, as for the control tower clubhouse, its doable, grants can be a way forward, we dont try enough for grants, we are a sport, its not unknown for quite a lot of money to be shoved our way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Halton Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'm sure if you restrict it's use to electric powered models you will no get any grief from people living nearby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Walters Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Hi James - best of luck with Broadwell - if I get anymore info I'll pass it on! Envious of your flying today - here it has been wet, wet, wet and very grey and misty - yesterday the wind was high and we had a torrential downpour. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Walters Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Hi James, Not good news from my Carterton friend re Broadwell - he's made enquiries and says.... "With ref to your Brize modeller and the old Broadwell airfield.It's a no-goer. The landlord is building a 10 acre solar-panel array on it...so bye-bye airfield !" 10 acres is a bit small for a whole airfield isnt it so maybe there will be some left over? Risk of damage would be a bit of a put off tho' Hope you ok wherever you are at the moment! Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James40 Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 I wonder if that's just one half of the airfield Terry? I could always ask and see if they would save me a little section. Just out of interest, who made the enquiry ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Walters Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 10 acres is small for an airfield - I've got an acre out here and 10 of them won't make a landing field for the big boys IMO. My friend is a grumpy old ex Chief Tech (they are all grumpy aren't they?) who now drives satellites for C+W helping you boys out sometimes. If you want his contact details I'll e-mail you direct if you PM me with your direct e-mail address. He lives in Carterton and one of his sons work airside at Brize as a civvie. Cheers Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James40 Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 PM sent Terry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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