How local is your 'local flying field'?

[Mick SMFC]

hi the club is situated on the outskirts of snodland  at the moment weve only got 5 members we were lucky in that we found a local land owner that is interested in the sport   weve been trying to find somwwhere away from the village to fly because of the usual complaints of noise ect and hes let us rent a field up on the downs well away from housing ect ,as its in a rural area were restricted to certain flying times and stringent restrictions on noise emissions ie elecrtic or 4st with efficient silencers as thats the main concern with models in this area ,the actual flyimg field is a large grass strip as u can see from the picture its in a prime location over looking the medway valley with parking nearby and entry via a metal gate, we are very lucky to aquire this site and warmly welcome any new members to the club but we must stress that anyone joining must abide by the restriction imposed by the landowner as failure to do so will lose the site to everyone involved ,as it is its taken months of talks with the landowner and a flying demonstration with a couple of models so he could asses the noise levels needless to say he was very happy with the cessna flybys and mild aerobatics .grinning from ear to ear were still shaking from the experience  nerves.... even now, but anyway we got permission hes even given us premission to fly at a private field near the farmhouse i think its so he can watch the flying.....anyway were here and if you want to join give us a bell ...... before i forget one last word a big thankyou to rob and ali newman of avicraft for all their help and assistance and advice in everything modelling without which we would not have got this far a big thanks to all.

dear david if u could send us youre emaill ill send the pic of the field taken with windragon model

[David Ashby - Moderator]

You're just up the road from me

[email protected]

[david coward]

Hi all. any one flying a GAS BOBCAT-50, tried to fly it today from short grass freshly mown strip, plenty of ground speed but refuse's to rotate or fly of strip,Suspect U/C location could well be contributing to problem as the mainlegs are 150mm behind C/G. I am thinking of changing this to 25/30mm which I believe will enable the model to rotate into a flying attitude.

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

David

[Mick SMFC]

Hi David Ashby

was the information enough or do you want any more details and did you recieve the photo of the flying site

 Thanks Michael

[Mick SMFC]

Snodland Model Flying Club

NOW ACEPTING NEW MEMBERS

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Michael, I got one pic but can you give me a call or drop me an email with full details, specifically your contact details so folks can get in touch with you.

 I'm at home today (Wed) so would you mind calling Thu?  01689 899259

Thanks

David.

[jantrit]

I fly in london so i travel about 25-30 miniutes depending on the traffic, the club is very nice in a great location with great people, waht more could you want.

[Julian Beckett]

Weeelll,

 when I was living darn sarf, I was about 20 mins from the patch, and 25 from the slope.

Recently moved oop north, now the power site is about 2 minutes away, but the slopes are more than two hours away!!!!!

[Tentpeg]

What a lucky lot you are. My local field is exactly 25 miles away, but well worth the drive. Unfortunately, Thames Water are going to build a vast reservoir to make up for all their incompetence and leaks.

We were thinking of converting everything to floats (my Fokker DR1 will look a bit out of place), but I don't think even that will be allowed because of the possible pollution. Maybe someone can tell me if methanol and oil are beneficial in the diet?

The only other local field is shared with Joe Public and their dogs, which I consider just too dangerous.

Regards,

Tentpeg. 

[Jan Olof Stenberg]

My Club field is 5 mins away by car, and I get there in 10-15 mins with my bicycle.
Should I prefer a walk it'll take me some 40 minutes through the town.

We're neighbours to the Local aeroclub, which means that we have acces to big lawn mower, tractor, etc and we share a snow thrower too.

We are lucky indeed, since we rent the area from the town administration of Köping (Sweden)
Our cost is below £100 per year. 230 Volts provided by the Aero Club to a cost of approx. £300 per year.

[Flyerjo]

Ower club is about 8 km from my house. We owne the field now for about four years. Before we had to pay rent to a farmer. The club exists for 30 years now .So I can say we are very lucky indeed. Just take a look at www.mvsb.nl

But all is in Dutch. Not for every one is this

[Alastair Place]

 2 minutes walk so I feel very lucky, the filed is owned by the local parish council and have no problems with me flying there, but I would not fly anything bigger than a .25 sort of size there.

[Chris Channon]

Hi all, i have a field literally 30 seconds away, which is good for the smaller aircraft ( .40 size) . Used to be a lot better but the local council decided to build a BMX track on is so now it is restricted somewhat!

I did join PADMAC this year, the flying field is 13 miles away, really nice flying site but the weather, work, commitments seem to have all conspired against me so not actually flown there yet.

Wonder if i will get a reduction in club fees next year??????

Chris.C

[Old Geezer]

My own field  at the bottom of the garden - only problems are some tall[ish] trees in one hedge and some local power lines diagonallyacross the middle  - still - if it's not windy I enjoy the challenge of flying leccy EPPs of one sort or another at home.

Otherwise there are 3 fields [two mown] within 15mins drive.

The icing on the cake is Long Mynd 35miles  [1hour]  away.

Gurth. 

[Owen Hailey]

Hi all.

I am so lucky, as I have a 1 acer meadow next to the factory where I work and can fly in side or out, subject to the wind and weather, and also there is a five acer set- a -side Field just across the road from my house suitable for hand launching so I think I must be blessed.

free as a bird Owen. 

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Owen Hailey]

Hi all.

i new there was something else I was meant to do at work they have got so used to me flying no one seams to care.

happy days Owen. 

[Fog Dart]

15 minute drive for me to the local club patch and there is a council owned playing field nearby which is popular and suitable for the smaller stuff

[Mr Sam]

just over 10miles of back roads to the clubflying patch

ive got a field about 2 miles away although theres ruddy horses in it

[Kelly]

10 minutes down the motorway to my local club or 10 minutes walk to a local field for a bit of free  flying.

I free fly all the time at the moment, bad weather and lack of the A cert makes it more practical for me to free fly  

[Owen Hailey]

Hi Kelvin.

You are a man of my realm as I just love to fly this way in my local field and try to land in the long grass with out doing to much mowing and striming the grass is about three feet tall at the moment so it is a  bit of a challenge.

happy days Owen.

[Alan Dunstan]

Living in mid Wales among the hills and the mountains my "local" club site is a 70 mile round trip. An hour each way but as it has some old tarmac as well as grass is ideal for aeroplanes that have delicate undercarriages, retracts or need lots of speed to get off the ground. I do have a field available a 5 minute walk from the house for my helicopters but the field isn't suitable for anyone not able to fly them already as there are lots of big trees and wire fences around, and it isn't flat. For slope soaring the Long Mynd is a 50 mile round trip. Another hour each way. So given the cost of fuel these days I only go fixed wing flying or slope soaring if I am pretty sure I will have a good day of flying weather and can take at least 3 aeroplanes with me. Not very economic in time or money terms otherwise. Before I moved to mid Wales my local fixed wing flying site was less than 5 miles away and helicopters was 8 miles. The nearest slope was about 20 miles but the best sloping sites were 70 miles away down the M4.

Earlier in this thread David Coward asked about getting a Bobcat off the ground. Not really the subject of this thread but as I have one and love it here goes.

The "secret" is having enough positive incidence on the wing. Given where the main wheels are you will never have enough elevator power to rotate it. You need at least 1.5 degrees positive and then when it is going fast enough it will lift off by itself. If you try to heave it off it will jump into the air and then just as likely stall itself back into the ground unless you are super quick at pumping in the down elevator. I found the supplied u/c nose leg really wasn't quite long enough or strong enough so wound myself a new one with enough length to give about 5 degrees positive if I wanted. The down side of this of course is when landing you really have to bring it in nose high and slow otherwise you will bounce your way down the runway but if the CofG is in the right place (about 10.5 inches back from the leading edge at the root) it won't bite but will slow down nicely and mush in nose high. See my video at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwlWQbv39NE especially the practice approaches. On the landing I actually did exactly what I am saying you shouldn't. I apologise for that. Oh and make sure your runway area is stone free. Pushers are very prone to stones nicking propellors and at £4.50 minimum a prop that makes each flight pretty expensive. Guess how I know and how many props I have got through..... But it is a super flying aeroplane and I love it.

Alan

[Sheldon Holy]

Hi all.

My local site is all of 2 minutes away! http://www.brightonradioflyingclub.co.uk/ It's not as big as sussex, but we have a very smooth east-west facing strip and can fly almost anything there. Even most jets!

Sheldon

[Chris Channon]

Katie, do you fly model aeroplanes?

Chris