mastermalpass
Elite member
Today I ventured over to Blackdown flying club to see what it was all about - my first ever visit to an actual flying club of any kind. No idea what to expect - I came down to see a number of other people and a tonne of other aircraft! Turns out they're always there on weekends, I was expecting it to be empty like Jeff's club normally seems to be, but it was fairly busy, with some members having brought campervans and caravans (That's RVs and Trailers for those across the pond) and the chairman said they'll be flying until they can't anymore.
So, I have an actual busy club near me now! I'm happy about that. First time I've ever landed this plane on a concrete runway and wow is it easier than landing on grass! The tape that was holding a broken wheel together gave out though.
Felt like a real junior rocking up with my foam electric to all these balsa-gas guys haha! The white plane you can see from my picture was a big Extra 300 like what @SquirrelTail messes with. I think my Bipe was the smallest plane at club! But the other members were impressed with how it and I handled the wind and performed aerobatics (what they don't know is that in half the manoeuvres, the plane was deciding and I was following, not the other way around lol).
What was also interesting was as I parked outside the gates and questioned which gate I go in, a Steerman flew over - a real one. Made me think this airfield was used by real planes - they explained it was a friend of theirs flying over to wave to the guys.
God, I was there for less than an hour and I could talk about it all day! The club is free on your first three visits - and they didn't count this visit as they were apparently having an open weekend. Talk about lucky timing! I hope the club is always that busy - or at least has the chairman present most weekends. Rules don't allow 'free flying' unless you've got an A-Class certificate, so I'm going to need senior flyers present whenever I want to fly.
So, I have an actual busy club near me now! I'm happy about that. First time I've ever landed this plane on a concrete runway and wow is it easier than landing on grass! The tape that was holding a broken wheel together gave out though.
Felt like a real junior rocking up with my foam electric to all these balsa-gas guys haha! The white plane you can see from my picture was a big Extra 300 like what @SquirrelTail messes with. I think my Bipe was the smallest plane at club! But the other members were impressed with how it and I handled the wind and performed aerobatics (what they don't know is that in half the manoeuvres, the plane was deciding and I was following, not the other way around lol).
What was also interesting was as I parked outside the gates and questioned which gate I go in, a Steerman flew over - a real one. Made me think this airfield was used by real planes - they explained it was a friend of theirs flying over to wave to the guys.
God, I was there for less than an hour and I could talk about it all day! The club is free on your first three visits - and they didn't count this visit as they were apparently having an open weekend. Talk about lucky timing! I hope the club is always that busy - or at least has the chairman present most weekends. Rules don't allow 'free flying' unless you've got an A-Class certificate, so I'm going to need senior flyers present whenever I want to fly.
