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BELFAST MODEL FLYING CLUB Carrying on the pioneering work of the Ulster Model Aircraft Club before and during WW2, the Club was formed in 1945, developed rapidly in the enormous surge of enthusiasm for Aviation following the War.

FLYING SITES The club has used many flying sites over the years, many in the Inverary area. It has enjoyed the use of a purpose built flying site, provided by the Belfast City Council, at Blanchflower Park on the Holywood Road, Belfast. This was opened in 1986 and used until 2000. Re-alignment of the Sydenham By-pass has required that our activities be transferred a short distance, to a new purpose built site, in the Alderman Tommy Patton Park, also on the Holywood Road. This location is now our permanent home and as such was officially opened on 1st. June 2002, by Councillor Jim Rodgers, The Lord Mayor of Belfast.

CLUB ACTIVITIES The mainstay of the Club is our general flying sessions every Saturday afternoon, and regular meetings are also held on Wednesday evenings in the summer months, and on other evenings when the weather is favourable. The main activity of the Club is Control Line flying, however we also hold regular Indoor Flying sessions in the winter and Free Flight sessions in the summer, whenever suitable flying sites can be found. Control Line flying consists of three main categories, namely, Aerobatics, Team Racing and Combat:- Aerobatic models are quite large, about 5 feet wingspan, fly relatively slowly, and are designed to fly a schedule of loops, bunts and figure eights, accurately and smoothly. They are powered by engines of up to 10 cc and fly at about 50 mph. Team Racers are smaller and faster, competing over 100 laps, with three models racing against each other simultaneously, in the same circle. The team element arises because the models must land to be refuelled and restarted by a pitman. The models have 2.5 cc engines and fly at about 100 mph. Combat combines these two elements, as the models are both fast and manoeuvrable, two being flown together and each trailing a paper streamer. Each flier tries to cut his opponent’s streamer with predictable avoiding action and great excitement. The models have 2.5 cc engines, fly at about 70 mph and are strongly built to survive collisions with other models or the ground. The Club is pleased to provide Static or Flying Displays, to support other sporting events or to benefit charities. We regularly provide a static display at the North Down Model Railway Society Model Show, held annually in Bangor. We have undertaken flying displays at Ravenhill Rugby ground, the Mary Peters Track and Windsor Park, and in Ormeau, Orangefield and Lady Dixon Parks. Displays at Campbell College and Fleming Fulton School were for charity. The club benefits from all these displays, as they serve to raise the Club’s profile with the general public, and to bring model flying before a wider audience.

COMPETITIONS The Club has an established tradition of participation and success in many Competition Classes. Club events have been run regularly and members have flown in the Ulster and Irish Championships with distinction. Members attend the British Championships every year and have won their Classes on several occasions. In the classes we fly, a significant proportion of the membership of Irish Teams competing at International level has come from the Club. Members have competed in the European and World Championships on a regular basis, and have travelled to Sweden, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and Spain as well as the United Kingdom. Home International for Control Line Aerobatics This event is an important activity in the club calendar. Teams from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales compete in a Control Line Aerobatic Competition. This competition was inaugurated at Blanchflower Park in 1986, and has now returned three times, as it has rotated round the Home Countries. The Club has provided the full Irish Team of three fliers on each occasion, and the Team has never been placed lower than second, winning on three occasions.

BRITISH AEROSPACE CHALLENGE This event is run by BMFA for Junior Teams, using BMFA Darts, Helicopters and a Chuck Glider. These are flown Indoors, and the highest flight score in 30 minutes of hectic flying is the winner. The Club has supported a Team from Lagan College which has competed in the Finals in England on three occasions, coming second twice and finally winning in 2000. MEMBERSHIP The membership has reached 50 on occasion, but new members are always welcome. The Club is open to all and has had every creed, age group and social stratum in the membership at some time. The interest in flying model aircraft can be generated in youngsters as young as eight years old, and there are types of flying which can be enjoyed by people with limitations, no matter how old or handicapped. Our past Chairman is disabled but has flown with enjoyment and no little ability for many years. A former Junior is now an Astrophysicist at Farnborough, and most professions, trades and walks of life have been represented in the membership.

RELATED ORGANISATIONS The Club has had a long association with the Model Aeronautics Council of Ireland (MACI), and was a co-founder of the Northern Ireland Association of Aeromodellers (NIAA). The latter started with two Clubs in 1971 and has risen to 24 Clubs, representing more than 400 active aeromodellers. The NIAA has evolved into the Northern Ireland Area of the British Model Flying Association (BMFA).