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Christchurch and District Model Flying Club |
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editorial |
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I attended North Haven Yacht Club’s 50th anniversary event last month at the invitation of a sailing friend, Derek Burdell, seen here with his Shrimper “Gem” on one of the many exhibits at this thriving Poole club. There was a catch to the invitation—would I take along my big flying boat model as an exhibit? Being something of a show-off, I could hardly refuse, especially as sausage-in-a-bun and unlimited free cups of tea were mentioned. I drove down on the Friday to set up and was astonished to find that the clubhouse was already packed with demonstrations, display boards, a power boat simulator and a large number of club members. Eventually, I found that the organisers had left me a space next door to the Poole Flying Boat Association display—exactly what was needed, because the plane my model was based on flew out of Poole during WWII on the East Africa run. By some miracle of organisation, the display board next to the model was devoted to its history.
On the Saturday I was on parade at 10 am for what I thought would be a long day, but in fact the clubhouse was so busy with visitors and members that almost every five minutes I was telling someone about the model, about flying at Longham and on a few occasions explaining how it was that four little motors putting out about 100 watts each at full throttle could get the thing to take off in less than 20 metres. I had taken my laptop along loaded with a slide show of the building process and a number of short videos of it actually flying. These proved a hit with everyone. Fortunately the landing back on the water was a reasonably smooth one...unlike some! The Sunday was much the same and included a visit by the Mayor. During the two days I was able to chat at length to the Poole Flying Boat people on the next stand and gleaned a number of “things I didn’t know” both about FB operations at Poole and about Golden Hind herself. Some of the older visitors remembered watching them taking off and landing at the harbour. One story I really liked was from a fellow who as a child used to be rowed out to a Sunderland hulk by his brother and then they would explore the cabin and cockpit, pretending to be pilot and gunner! More information at info@pooleflyingboats.com
All in all, a very worthwhile and eye-opening couple of days. Thanks Derek!
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