Topic: Stow Maries Airfield

Just found out about the ambitious and unique project to restore this virtually untouched, original WW1 airfield.   

What a challenge!

Well worth looking into -Stow Maries Airfield

Alan

Some video.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkpn8mlfxE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkpn8mlfxE</a>

I'd like to be involved with that!!

Ian.

What a fantastic project there is going on there. Somehow contact needs to be made and try and get as large DP involvment as we can.I would love to see something come of this, Exactly what form of involvement ime not sure but ideas from anyone are welcome, Is it too late this year to do anything?if so next season?Has there been any contact at all and if so to what result?.    regards Ken  ;copper;

Or even a large Dwarf Patrol presence 

I am up for that, having two camels to decorate I am sure one could be done to represent one from that airfield, be dawn or dwarf....

Seems there is already a good model presence on the site.

http://www.stowmaries.com/faq7.asp

And looks like they are going to get some really good facilities.

Woow, facilities 

Beginning to sound like a place to have a great ww1 get together to me.

Simon

Beginning to sound like a place to have a great ww1 get together to me.

Simon

My thoughts exactly Simon

A proper Dawn Patrol event, any aircraft from 1918 or earlier


Mark

Gentlemen.

I've watched this thead develop with interest.

I'm the Membership Secretary of Anglia Model Flying Club - we've been flying at Stow Maries for 40 years, or more. As you can see from the airfield website, Russell Savory is investing a huge amount of time and money to refurbish the site and establish it as the premier WW1 facility in the country. He has planning permission for  a limited number of full size movements per day and intends to base classic and historic aircraft in hangars yet to be built.

The good news for us is that he would like us to stay and be part of the activity. We will be operating on the active part of the airfield, sharing the same take-off and landing area as the full size aircraft. This is different from, say, Headcorn, where model flying is on a field adjacent to the full size runway. You can imagine that the operating rules that we are developing require strict control of our activity to ensure safety. The airfield is not operational yet, but we are seeing full size arrivals without prior permission. We have just recommenced model flying after a 4 month break whilst the entire airfield was levelled and had land drainage installed. The surface was scarified,harrowed and seeded, but the lack of rain meant that the grass is very slow to establish itself.


Anyway, to the point. Russell has delegated the management of all model flying to us - there will be no model flying at Stow Maries outside our control. He will judge us on our ability to control model flying and guarantee safety - our long term residence on the site depends on our performance! A group of you seem to be keen to visit and fly on our site. I'm sure that this can be achieved. However, I would suggest that it is best to defer this until next year, when we've got our working practices fully developed, AND we get no surprise full size arrivals.

In the meantime, if you want to visit the airfield for a tour contact Russell or his Curator, Ivor Dallinger, using the contact details on the website.

If you want to start discussions about how and when you can visit to fly models, please PM me for initial contact. I'm sure we will make you most welcome from Spring 2010.

I would appreciate it if discussions about a Dawn Patrol visit/fly-in were channelled through one person - do you have a lead organiser when attending the shows?

Mike

A very sensible approach.

All to many are losing good sites due to others inconsideration.

Gentlemen.

I've watched this thead develop with interest.

I'm the Membership Secretary of Anglia Model Flying Club - we've been flying at Stow Maries for 40 years, or more. As you can see from the airfield website, Russell Savory is investing a huge amount of time and money to refurbish the site and establish it as the premier WW1 facility in the country. He has planning permission for  a limited number of full size movements per day and intends to base classic and historic aircraft in hangars yet to be built.

The good news for us is that he would like us to stay and be part of the activity. We will be operating on the active part of the airfield, sharing the same take-off and landing area as the full size aircraft. This is different from, say, Headcorn, where model flying is on a field adjacent to the full size runway. You can imagine that the operating rules that we are developing require strict control of our activity to ensure safety. The airfield is not operational yet, but we are seeing full size arrivals without prior permission. We have just recommenced model flying after a 4 month break whilst the entire airfield was levelled and had land drainage installed. The surface was scarified,harrowed and seeded, but the lack of rain meant that the grass is very slow to establish itself.


Anyway, to the point. Russell has delegated the management of all model flying to us - there will be no model flying at Stow Maries outside our control. He will judge us on our ability to control model flying and guarantee safety - our long term residence on the site depends on our performance! A group of you seem to be keen to visit and fly on our site. I'm sure that this can be achieved. However, I would suggest that it is best to defer this until next year, when we've got our working practices fully developed, AND we get no surprise full size arrivals.

In the meantime, if you want to visit the airfield for a tour contact Russell or his Curator, Ivor Dallinger, using the contact details on the website.

If you want to start discussions about how and when you can visit to fly models, please PM me for initial contact. I'm sure we will make you most welcome from Spring 2010.

I would appreciate it if discussions about a Dawn Patrol visit/fly-in were channelled through one person - do you have a lead organiser when attending the shows?

Mike

Hi Mike. PM sent 

Mat 

Hi Mike. PM sent 

Mat 

Well volunteered 'Flapmeister

Local man for the job too

Ian.

PM received.

Once we get communications up and running I'm happy to use direct e-mail and 'phone.

Mike

Thanks Mat and Thanks Mike.

   will wait patiently

  chris

         

I'm the Membership Secretary of Anglia Model Flying Club - we've been flying at Stow Maries for 40 years, or more. As you can see from the airfield website, Russell Savory is investing a huge amount of time and money to refurbish the site and establish it as the premier WW1 facility in the country. He has planning permission for  a limited number of full size movements per day and intends to base classic and historic aircraft in hangars yet to be built.

Hi Mike,

What a fantastic project and site for your club. 

I must say that I hadn't appreciated that there was a resident model flying club when I discovered the Stow Maires website yesterday.   Thank you for your kind offer for the opportunity for the DP to be guests at the site at some point in the future.     I'm sure I speak for others when I say it would be much appreciated and I for one regard the opportunity to fly at such sites as yours, Coltishall, Scampton and the like a great privilege.   

I look forward to developments - both in the restoration and development of the airfield and a possible future opportunity to visit

Alan

Isn't this at Flambards Farm of novel and TV series fame?

Yes and no according to this, it contradicts itself.

world war 1

Mud

Isn't this at Flambards Farm of novel and TV series fame?

The lady who wrote Flambards did indeed base this on the Airfield at Stow Maries or Flambirds Farm as it is known round here.
She lives in North Fambridge just down the road from the old airfield.
I flew models from there for some 32 years, joining in 1967 when flying had started their, with what was the original Chelmsford club, that became Anglia MFC.
At that time we flew all types of modells from Free Flight through to RC, up to 1999.

The church at Stow Maries has a cross that is illuminated at night as a tribute to the flyers there, in 1921 by the CO of 37 Squadron that flew from there & a satellite field at Goldhangar near Maldon. There are some graves in the church yard of flyers from the airfield.
By a coincidence my partners brother flew with 37 Sqd in WW2 when they flew Wellingtons in the Meditteranean. He then went on to run the Cricketers pub in Goldhangar & never knew about the landing ground near his pub

The lady who wrote Flambards did indeed base this on the Airfield at Stow Maries or Flambirds Farm as it is known round here.
She lives in North Fambridge just down the road from the old airfield.
I flew models from there for some 32 years, joining in 1967 when flying had started their, with what was the original Chelmsford club, that became Anglia MFC.
At that time we flew all types of modells from Free Flight through to RC, up to 1999.

The church at Stow Maries has a cross that is illuminated at night as a tribute to the flyers there, in 1921 by the CO of 37 Squadron that flew from there & a satellite field at Goldhangar near Maldon. There are some graves in the church yard of flyers from the airfield.
By a coincidence my partners brother flew with 37 Sqd in WW2 when they flew Wellingtons in the Meditteranean. He then went on to run the Cricketers pub in Goldhangar & never knew about the landing ground near his pub

Hey, Essex BOF, Did you ever fly from the Rettendon R/C site?

I didn't fly out of Rettendon RC field on Lorry Potter's field which I think Jan Foster used to let to the club after Lorry's death. My parents fields were just across the way so I occasionally flew out of them. However I was always a bit nervous of doing that as everyone was on 35mHz in those days.

I didn't fly out of Rettendon RC field on Lorry Potter's field which I think Jan Foster used to let to the club after Lorry's death. My parents fields were just across the way so I occasionally flew out of them. However I was always a bit nervous of doing that as everyone was on 35mHz in those days.

i flew there when Jan was the landlord, from 95 to 98...

Hey, Essex BOF, Did you ever fly from the Rettendon R/C site?

I do still fly from the Rettendon site, which Jan Foster still owns. But due to the problems with the neighbours with noise & other problems, we only fly Electric or gliders, having been there some 10 years now. Known as Essex Quiet Flight Association.
We hold 6 comps ayear their for electric gliders or E Soaring whatever under the name of the Bartletts League.
First one is on 4th April

I do still fly from the Rettendon site, which Jan Foster still owns. But due to the problems with the neighbours with noise & other problems, we only fly Electric or gliders, having been there some 10 years now. Known as Essex Quiet Flight Association.
We hold 6 comps ayear their for electric gliders or E Soaring whatever under the name of the Bartletts League.
First one is on 4th April

do the likes of Doug, Teacher Tom (electric) or Logical Jim still fly there? 

do the likes of Doug, Teacher Tom (electric) or Logical Jim still fly there? 

Tom seems to have taken up other things, don't know the other two?

A bit of an update

Good news that Russell Savory seems to be on the mend.  I look forward to visiting sometime soon(ish).

Alan

Have just spent  a fascinating 3-4 hours at the  airfield & museum, with old buddies PB & ND. We all have flown models at Stow or Flambirds as we knew it, since 1967, in my case, a little less for the younger 2!!!

As we all remarked there is an aura about the place that no other site gives you & us in particular. The museum part is open now & the tour of the RS workshops great if you are into cars etc. When this project is finished it will be a tribute to all involved.
We had a job trying to fathom out where things were as much has changed since we flew there on a regular basis, as lot has been cleared, or taken down, in the case of the modern barn that was a feature of the site for a long time. This is to return it to how it was in the early part of the century.

A must visit for all aircraft boffs.

It was a brilliant day!

As Brian says there is an Aura about the place that has never diminished for me, in fact now that it has to the greater extent been cleared of follage it has increased.
I think they have done a fantastic job in what is a short space of time and it is definitely going to be superb when it is done, nice also that Brenda who was looking after the museum yesterday I knew from my Woodham days.

I remember cycling up there as a Lad and spending a lot of my days during the summer holidays there, and on Sunday I found it quite emotional going back with all the very happy memories of greats times with some great folks!

For my part I flew there from 1971/2 I think Paul was the same although he will claim that he wasn't born then, but that is what he tells all the girlie's, but we know different.

I remember a large Be2e being flown there, around 120"? sometime during the early to mid 70's and when Anglia was a great club and held well attended scale days my undying memory of Pete Neate bringing his Ju 52, I still have the pictures somewhere, he did not fly it unfortunately as the square just was not big enough!!

Happy days!! Anyway Thanks Brian for a great weekend I really enjoyed it, you will be glad to hear I convinced Paul he has to have a WW1 model and he is settling on the SE5a!! as if he needs anymore projects, I however will have to do the same and talk about it!

But my Be2e plans I enlarged to 120" and 140" are now covering the lounge floor!!

   
 Nige.

Gentlemen.

I've watched this thead develop with interest.

I'm the Membership Secretary of Anglia Model Flying Club - we've been flying at Stow Maries for 40 years, or more. As you can see from the airfield website, Russell Savory is investing a huge amount of time and money to refurbish the site and establish it as the premier WW1 facility in the country. He has planning permission for  a limited number of full size movements per day and intends to base classic and historic aircraft in hangars yet to be built.

The good news for us is that he would like us to stay and be part of the activity. We will be operating on the active part of the airfield, sharing the same take-off and landing area as the full size aircraft. This is different from, say, Headcorn, where model flying is on a field adjacent to the full size runway. You can imagine that the operating rules that we are developing require strict control of our activity to ensure safety. The airfield is not operational yet, but we are seeing full size arrivals without prior permission. We have just recommenced model flying after a 4 month break whilst the entire airfield was levelled and had land drainage installed. The surface was scarified,harrowed and seeded, but the lack of rain meant that the grass is very slow to establish itself.


Anyway, to the point. Russell has delegated the management of all model flying to us - there will be no model flying at Stow Maries outside our control. He will judge us on our ability to control model flying and guarantee safety - our long term residence on the site depends on our performance! A group of you seem to be keen to visit and fly on our site. I'm sure that this can be achieved. However, I would suggest that it is best to defer this until next year, when we've got our working practices fully developed, AND we get no surprise full size arrivals.

In the meantime, if you want to visit the airfield for a tour contact Russell or his Curator, Ivor Dallinger, using the contact details on the website.

If you want to start discussions about how and when you can visit to fly models, please PM me for initial contact. I'm sure we will make you most welcome from Spring 2010.

I would appreciate it if discussions about a Dawn Patrol visit/fly-in were channelled through one person - do you have a lead organiser when attending the shows?

Mike

I was up the old Stow Maries airfield last Sunday 16th jan, Ivor dallinger told me that the Dawn Patrol are supposed to be flying there on 8th May. Should be interesting

That's not confirmed.

Mud 

That's not confirmed.

Mud 

tell us more... 

That's not confirmed.

Mud 

Is September 11th confirmed?

Yes, Dawn Patrol will attend on the weekend of 11th Sept, I believe we have about 9 models confirmed. In addition to the DP models I will be bringing Peter Neates Tiger Moth and you never know, we may see a return to the site of hisJu52 too as well as some other scale models 

I must confess, I'm really looking forward to this, and I just know the other DP crew are going to love it, the place is magic.

Muds

Yes, Dawn Patrol will attend on the weekend of 11th Sept, I believe we have about 9 models confirmed. In addition to the DP models I will be bringing Peter Neates Tiger Moth and you never know, we may see a return to the site of hisJu52 too as well as some other scale models 

I must confess, I'm really looking forward to this, and I just know the other DP crew are going to love it, the place is magic.

Muds

I was there when Pete Neate brought the Ju 52 to Flambirds as it was then but did not fly it as far as I recall as the take off strip was small then, no problems now though.

Cant wait for this one mudders

Will this event take place as the wind threatens to be a problem. Shame as the May date was blown out

Will this event take place as the wind threatens to be a problem. Shame as the May date was blown out

The Dawn Patrol are on site with their steeds..... Arrived yesterday

Stow Maries held its second Vintage Fly-In (Full-size) yesterday with numerous visiting aircraft scheduled to take part including the Great War Display team.  The Dawn Patrol group were also invited to attend.

In the event the conditions around the country made it impossible for most of the full-size aircraft to turn up however DP flew 3 slots plus a bit of glider towing by CeeJay and Idigbo despite very challenging wind and to an extent saved the day.  Hats off to all who flew and put on such a good show and to Simon, that well known Cornish Pixie, for the 700 mile round trip!

It was the first time I have visited SM - it won't be the last!  It is a truly magical place and the team there deserve all credit and support for the success of their vision to conserve the only remaining, intact, WW1 airfield.   
If you love WW1 aviation and atmospheric places, make sure you visit.   Don't miss an airfield tour with one of the very knowledgeable guides, their stories are amazing.   

I took the bones of the Tripehound along.  It was displayed in the original 1918 pilot's Ready Room throughtout the day

Here are a few photographs.

   
     
   

Alan

 

A BIG THANKS to Mudders for making this day happen.
I could only attend on the Sunday of this event due to being on my Holls, wish I came home a day early now!
This place has so much potential for the world wide WW1 aviation aviation nut.
Also, great to hear that DP are invited back.

Bonzey