Matt Carlton Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 That's rather sad news and effectively spells the end of the NATS permanently. Not many non-MOD venues around and looks like we won't be able to use any MOD property now. Big thanks to the Station Commander for what feels like a rather arbitrary decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Not sure that is quite what the letter from the BMFA Chairman says.....He does say that he has enquired about other airfields, which are presumably RAF owned, since he is ex-RAF and maintains links with the RAF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 4, 2022 Author Share Posted March 4, 2022 I was reading the "other airfields" as being civilian ones. I can't imagine that other RAF airfields will be forthcoming when BH is not. Closed ranks and all that, if someone else says yes, doesn't it undermine the BH decision somewhat? Hopefully you are right, but it just feels a bit terminal, especially as the "excuse" was Covid last time, now all of a sudden it is "operational". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Ah well, I feel an Open Weekend coming up. ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 4, 2022 Author Share Posted March 4, 2022 Well that would certainly be rather nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Acland Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 A big shame as I was really looking forward to going to the NATS at Barkston this year. I think that this might be terminal and the BMFA will need to find another venue if we are to see it in its original form ever again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 4, 2022 Author Share Posted March 4, 2022 Realistically, the best option would be a civilian airfield/airpory of a reasonable size, but I suspect that would come at a rather high price. Nottingham City Airport or something of that sort of size would possibly work for a more "compact" NATS. Nice layout as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Calcutt Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire might be worth a try,one of the longest runways in the Country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 4, 2022 Author Share Posted March 4, 2022 (edited) Bruntingthorpe is an excellent idea, but is it not used as a storage facility for car sales places? Looks that way on Google, but could be way out of date. It is absolutely massive though... In terms of RAF, I think Syerston would be a good option. Used mostly by glider training units, it has a decent amount of space and is pretty centrally located. CL might be difficult to arrange but not impossible, and FF would be amply catered for with all that grass. Edited March 4, 2022 by Matt Carlton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zflyer Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Manston in Kent. Location not great but sure camping could be arranged. Recently bought bu consortium to use as cargo airport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Duxford might be worth investigating? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 It's a shame, but it gives opportunities for other things to be held elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 33 minutes ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said: Duxford might be worth investigating? Cosford? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Can we move up North lads, you seen price of fuel. ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 Baltasound? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan M Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 11 hours ago, Matt Carlton said: Hopefully you are right, but it just feels a bit terminal, especially as the "excuse" was Covid last time, now all of a sudden it is "operational". I'm lost for words reading this. The entire world is incredibly nervous about "sudden" extremely destabilising events in Eastern Europe (think August 1914, September 1939, August 1945, the 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Adi Amin, Osama Bin Laden, Super Covid, the Spanish Flu, the Black Death, and the extinction of the dinosaurs 60 million years ago all combined into one very nasty "terminal" possibility), and you think an RAF Station Commander is just looking for excuses to stop a bunch of British children in adult bodies having fun with their pretend aeroplanes this summer. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 (edited) My tongue was rather firmly in my cheek about that. It probably didn't come across that way, but it was sarcasm. Obviously I am entirely aware of the global political situation and the rationale behind the decision, I'm not a complete idiot. Edited March 5, 2022 by Matt Carlton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan M Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Fair enough Matt. For some reason I'm feeling a bit tired and distracted at the moment. But given the nature of the (online) world we now all live in its worth looking up Poe's Law... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 I completely understand and I think we are all, to some extent, rather bewildered and concerned about the state of the world. Maybe it is part of our British stoiscism to underplay the seriousness of things. Poe's law is definitely an issue online, and the lack of nuance or body language is definitely the cause of more than a few raging arguments. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Bmfa will just have to hold the NATS at the NFC, just have events over several weekends and not all at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Nobody should be surprised at the RAF's position and TBH, I find in quite understandable given the current situation. Nothing stays the same and the Nats as they were and as we like to remember them are not immune from outside influences. The event has been refreshed by coming away from the notion of it being only competition based, and the introduction of the showline has been a great success. For me, the loss of the indoor flying and evening entertainment in the hangar has put me off from spending a full weekend at Barkston and of course the trade area has been a shadow of its former self for a number of years now - but that is true of many other model shows as well. Sadly, I fear that we've lost the Nats as we have come to know them because of a number of factors that the BMFA simply don't have control over. I get the impression that many younger modellers don't go in for the old weekend away camping break that those of us of a certain age would enjoy. Certainly the wonderful Modelair events at OW have become smaller and 'greyer' over recent years. Perhaps the time has come to return to the original competition focused Nats format that can be held over a number of smaller suitable venues but develop a more general showcase event or events along the lines of that which is being tried out with IWM. I'll be visiting the IWM BMFA events this year if all goes well, but I do feel the cost of entry to the venue is going to be too expensive for many and in particular for families at £22.50 per adult and £12.50 for a child 5-15 years (IWM should have waived the child entry fee on this special event IMHO). Obviously not everyone is interested in looking at static airframes in a museum setting but might like the idea of a model aircraft show - but at seventy quid for two adults and a couple of kids at a time where many ordinary households are struggling with rising costs, I do wonder at the numbers who will attend and especially from just the target audience that we need to attract to keep the hobby going into the future. As an IWM member I get in FOC. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 OW = Old Warden ? IWM = ❓ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Imperial War Museum ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Sorry, yes Old Warden and Imperial War Museum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cooper Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 IWM = Duxford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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