LMA Fly-in at Cheddar By Tony Hooper, All Photographs were provided by Clive Hall
Our thanks for this event (our first in the West Country for some years) go to Ron Bellinger, his son Paul and the farming family at Warren Farm who made us all most welcome at this hill top site in the Mendips. When inviting members to attend this event I did warn that it was an isolated, unspoilt, beautiful area of the country and gave explicit instructions to follow the recommended route and not the Satnav. All this information was well heeded, except by our Chairman, who found himself negotiating the back roads and all the issues that arise from doing that with a caravan in tow. To add to the confusion the site was a very poor area for mobile phone reception and his pleas for help with directions got lost in the “ether”!
This was a “laid back, relaxed event” with about 20 caravans in attendance supplemented by a good number of local daily attendees – it was also blessed with good weather for some of the days which meant that there was a fair amount of flying taking place together with quite a bit of socialising.
There was a good variety of models ranging from the twins of Paul Bellinger (German WW2 HW179) and Tony Hooper’s Wellington to a number of WW2 warbirds and LMA trainers. Although this was a West Country event is was good to see Bob Hart and Rick Stevens bring along their well-built models all the way from Sussex. LMA members from the West Country included Steve Morris and Pat Cuss of the Dawn Patrol team whose formation flying against the backdrop of the Mendip Hills was very evocative of the World War 1 era. Making the trip from Cornwall were Dave and Glynis Tregaskes who spent quite a lot of time socialising rather than flying – one of the reasons being that Dave had a problem with his engine which was eventually sorted out by a visit to the local lawnmower shop!
A very impressive model suited to the grass flying site was the Piston Provost built by Mike Lee who is membership secretary of the Baldock Club – Mike also brought along his Lowley. On Sunday we were entertained by the sheep dogs who were used to round up the sheep for shearing that weekend – the task was quite intricate as they had to separate the adult sheep from the lambs and some of the antics were quite hilarious until the task was completed.
All in all this was an excellent LMA fly in – we really felt that we were in the “heart of the country” so look out for the event again next year. However, I must flag up the fact that in view of the limited numbers that can be accommodated (this is a working farm) first refusal will be given to those who supported this years event.
Please click image to enlarge.
Cheddar Fly-in 2011
our first in the West Country for some years it was a “laid back, relaxed event” so look out for the event again next year.
For event tickets, merchandise and more visit our online shop.