SLOPING OFF...
...the Newsletter of Christchurch and District Model Flying Club for...September 2024
Indoor flying 3rd June at Broadstone
By David Bicker
Although there are plenty of outdoor opportunities to fly at Oldfield or on the slopes during the summertime, there are flyers who, for various reasons (mobility, age, eyesight, convenience) still enjoy indoor flying this time of year. As Durlston is unavailable throughout the summer, the only available option is The Junction Sports & Leisure Centre just off the top of Broadstone’s “The Broadway” high street (Lower Blandford Road).
Get to the roundabout at the top of the Broadway and take the 4th exit, then directly left off the side of that exit to turn down Station Approach. You can park immediately to your left, in front of the sports’ centre’s swimming pool. Parking here is charged by the hour and can be topped up if you run out of time.
Or alternatively, if you drive past the centre, and up into the next parallel road (Tudor Road), all of the parking in that road is free for a maximum of 2 hours. As the flying session runs from 12:00 to 13:15, 2 hours is ideal, and gives you time to visit the canteen overlooking the pool, as well.
The canteen staff are very accommodating and often bring food and drink down from the canteen to the less mobile flyers, so refreshments are allowed whilst you are attending the flying session.
There is also a lift straight outside the entrance to the sports hall that can carry you up to the level where the canteen is. Great if you don’t get on with stairs.
This week’s session saw a wide variety of models in use. I counted 6x Night Vapor, 4 helicopters, 5 drones of varying sizes, and 2 monoplanes.
There is sufficient room that, depending upon how busy the airspace is, you can either circulate around the entire hall, or, as it’s big enough, the planes can circulate in one half while the helicopters and drones use the other half. We ended up flying a mixture of both, switching between those options whenever it got a bit busy. It worked out well.
