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all good things eventually come to an end !


Stuphedd
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Our club has lost its site .

Way back in 1964 a few of us enthusiasts of the Rocket Dept of Bristol Siddeley decided to form a club for flying model aircraft. The Company agreed to lets us use the airfield where we worked , Ansty.

The facilities were excellent , a sports field within the drome which was meticulously maintained , all FOC provided we had 3rd party insurance and as the site was in part MOD restricted we needed to be security cleared , in other words , employees or family .

We have enjoyed this facility since then but the writing was on the cards a few year ago when the Company , now Rolls-Royce ,started selling off the airfield bit by bit .

We survived with the help of Rolls- Royce up to this month when our site began being prepared for a large office block ..

So times up for the Roll-Royce Ansty MAC based at Ansty . It has been an excellent 50 or so years as a few members of this forum will remember ,

There are just two of the original members left .

BUT we aim to carry on !! somewhere ??

cheers

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Stuphedd, I can appresiate the pain you're feeling. At RAE (Royal Aircraft Establishment) Farnborough we had much the same, with the use of taxiways as runways and large grass areas for thermal soarers, There was enough space that the gliding club and aero club could use the appropriate into wind runway without us getting in each other's way. The bi-annual airshow did put a damper on things for a few weeks, but we could live with that. The change from an MOD airfield to a business jet airport was the death knell for the club. Weekend operations were the beginning of the end. Nowadays a row of hangars stands on our usual site.

Looking on the bright side, the fact that the majority of powered models are either electric or four stroke these days, it should be much easier to find a site that can accommodate you. Club fees which cover the cost of field rental, site security and cutting your own grass are all aspects that take some getting used to.

Are the Bedworth and Burbage Aeromodellers a friendly bunch? They look like your nearest established club.

Edited By Robin Colbourne on 24/02/2020 21:25:42

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It is with teary eyes I write this hearing the news. Rolls Royce Ansty Model flying club has been a big part in my life, from the age of 6 in 1978 being taken by the old fella to get me out from under mums feet. I was taught to fly and was teaching new members at the age of 10. It was there I learnt to drive a car around the field, I will never forget at the age of 12 being given the keys to an Astra GTE in White to drive it around the field.. my head nearly exploded!!. The site has changed greatly over time, but my memories are more of those members who have passed through over the years.. many of whom are sadly no longer with us.. Great characters and so many stories to tell. Life goes on, and the crazy gang will continue..

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I may be wrong - memory is a bit hazy, but I think the Coventry & District MAC flew from there for a short while back in the '60s. We had a couple of members who worked at Ansty and they managed to arrange it when the club were short of a field. I don't know how the security clearance worked, but we were a fairly small club back then and perhaps things were a bit more lax back in pre-history! I have fond memories of flying from there with a Goldberg Mini Falcon using single channel RC with a rubber powered escapement driving strip ailerons.

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So sorry to hear that your long established club has had to finish, I really hope that something can be done to keep you flying elsewhere. Unfortunately, so many of our clubs are operating on very shaky terms with the risk of losing use of even pretty rough land being quite high because of all manner of pressures beyond their control. My two clubs have been very fortunate up to now with quite stable arrangements for many years with our landlords, but who knows what might come up 'out of the blue'?

Not easy starting from scratch again after time and money, not to say effort, has been previously lavished on getting a field up to some sort reasonable state. I presently know of two other large clubs under threat of losing their sites - quite where they'd start up again here in the SE with all the pressure to build on any old bit of land is becoming far too much. With the age demographic, the fear is that many may just fade into history, which will be tragic.

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To Pete Collins !

Yes the Coventry Club did fly at Ansty for a very short time , and the chairman of the Cov club worked for BSE/RR so he was entitled to fly there . However they , the Cov club , did an article in the Cov evening times with photos of the site and their planes . There were big signs on all gates NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED .So when the security guys saw it in the local paper they put their foot down ! and only key holders then had access after signing in .

To the rest of you guys

Thanks for all the advice , we are working on it !

we have been offered a place , but it appears to be a pond at the moment !smiley

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