A new runway keeps Doddington’s model flyers together

For some members of Doddington Model Club, flying has been a hobby for half a century. Losing their runway could have meant giving it up.

After being asked to leave their Cambridgeshire base by the end of October, the 25-member group appealed through the BBC. Businessman Kevin Burke responded with space at Fenland Country Park and Event Centre, which he had recently bought.

The club has already held a successful flying session there. Members are willing to pay £500 a year for the runway area.

That rescue still depends on access to someone else’s land: the previous landlord, the RSPCA, needed its site for changing operational requirements. The episode shows how vulnerable a long-running shared hobby can be to losing its base.

There is practical value in keeping flyers together. The British Model Flying Association recommends joining a club to learn from experienced people. Doddington’s members now have somewhere to keep flying, meeting and sharing what they know.

Sources

• BBC — Doddington model flying club finds a new home
• British Model Flying Association — learning through a club