Why It's Worth Spending Money On Your Flying Field

[PETER BRUCE - Eastchurch Gap]

Bartons Point Model Flying Club - Kent.

I did a post a few years back so I thought it would be good idea to share it again together with a follow up of how our flying field looks now after all the work and a few years have past by.

To that end I am listing TWO videos which clearly show the condition of our site when the work was being done and how it looks now so look at both videos.

Note our club chose to refurbish the whole site rather than do a strip and although it was more work its been better in the long run.

On the second video you only need view the first part to see the field condition but some of you must have come to our event as many passed comment on the quality of our billiard table.

See what you think!

Regards Peter

[Mowerman]

Great. if only our club was big enough, rich enough and owned its field.

Long term it could all be for naught if the current trend of concreting over the countryside to provide houses

for ??? continues or some determined killjoy moves in near the field.

Sorry to sound like a doomsayer but I do applaud your efforts and wish you a long future at that magnificent site.

[PETER BRUCE - Eastchurch Gap]

Just to put the record straight. We - as a club don't own the flying field - its council. We don't have any lease or any security on it and our club is not cash rich.

The club members got fed up with the flying fields humps an bumps breaking U/C and throwing models into the air just before you had enough air speed... So we took a vote at a meeting to do something about it. We approached a number of farmers for help with our problem and found great sympathy for our cause. We rented all the equipment and we supplied all the labour and by using the club members the cost was kept to a minimum. Some expense can't be avoided like special grass mix for the ground conditions of your field and the amount of diesel tractors get through is horrific and the rental costs agreed for the equipment hire was not low but when you look at all that equipment we had it was a great deal. It's the MEMBERS of our club who did this and now they all reap the reward.

Anyone can pay to have something done but there are ways to achieve the results with the memberships labour and goodwill and that's how our club did it. I hope the video will help other clubs to take a leap of faith as the strength of any club lies within its members. Regards Peter