Tamworth is best known for its famous breed of escaping pigs (the “Tamworth Two” made headline news a few years back when they escaped from their abattoir.) However, this area of Staffordshire has news of far more relevance to us.
It is the home of the newly reformed Midland Helicopter Club, and the first event of 2009 is taking place on June 14th.
In fact, there are two June events, with the second booked for June 28th. June 14th is geared towards 3D pod and boom RC helicopters, and the 28th is for scale models only. The site http://www.midlandhelicopterclub.org.uk has full details of these and other events.
Both fly-ins will be at the club’s “home field” which is located right next to Twycross Zoo, just off the A444 (Jcn 1 of the M69 – full directions can be downloaded from the website) Flying starts at 10am, finishing around 8pm on both days. Camping is available by prior arrangement and toilets and refreshments are available.
The open fly-in on 14th June is open to pilots of all genres and abilities, but is predominately a pod and boom event. This means lots of electric helicopters and plenty of stunt flying. Some of the top 3D pilots in the country will be demonstrating their skills on the day, so if you’ve ever wondered what those FIA Internationals are all about – now’s your chance.
The 28th June will be given over entirely to visiting pilots of scale model RC helicopters – which means you guys, if your tastes are more Co-Comanche than Honey Bee. Scale events are more sedate affairs than P and B – much more about the helicopters themselves than their pilots’ skills. As with the 14th there will be raffle prizes, refreshments and camping on site.
Just remember to take some sausages home with you.