JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

A new event for the calendar which will hopefully become a regular feature. Thanks to Keith Whidett and the Fakenham model club, a two day jet meeting has been arranged for the weekend of October 5 & 6. Sculthorpe is a huge airfield and is situated in Norfolk only a few miles away from West Raynham. The runway is still retained by the MOD and plays host to military exercises annually aswell as regular training missions.

As usual booking for this event will be via the JMA secretary.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Hi To All Sorry but this time is a ONE DAY ONLY JMA Jet meet the 6th October 2013.We have 1 3/4 mile of runway at Sculthorpe which is an MOD property, ex second world war and has not been used for full size for several years,there is no security as such just a combination lock on a gate so no ID required.If things go well and there is the demand I can sort some weekend events for next year. Sculthorpe is close to Kynns Lynn in North Norfolk Hope to see u all there regards Keith Whiddett

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Keith, thats a shame it's only a one day meet as it's a too far for some of us to travel for just one days flying. Looks a good site though.

Jason

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Keith,

Can you get in touch with Roger as this is not the info i was given. cheers

As Jason has said, it is a long drive for one day but will serve our members in northern parts quite well.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Well I for one intend to come as it is local for me! We have flown there several times before, great location.

I went to CJ last week and drove 5 1/2 hours to get here and 4 1/2 to get back. I should have thought Jason and the other youngsters could cope with an outing to Norfolk though I doubt it would take as long. Just avoid the M 25.

John

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Have done it before to West Rayham, 496 mile round trip for me.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Jamie I gave Roger the dates way back in March,dates for every month of this year except april as I was away on Hol,s some of which were week ends,the JMA committee chose not to use any week end dates and I was told oct 6th would be ok fine with me but it never was two days. It baffles me that long marston at £750 ago gets three meets and sculthorpe at £125 a day gets throw in at the end of the year when the weather is quite lightly to be crap!!As for traveling I travelled to Long Marston 6hrs round trip,£100 worth of diesel and was then told it was an extra £10 to fly,Wyton was Thirty pounds for one day,it is getting beyond the joke and very expensive if you do not live in the midlands Keith ps I would have rather have kept this to email but since you have posted it I have replyed.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Conversely it is the same for us in the south. Finding locations if VERY difficult and we try to get a good spread around the country, unfortunately we cannot please everyone. We try to avoid meetings to close together and also the major shows as well as other non jma meetings. Long Marston is about as central as we can get and is cheaper than the £1000 a day plus ablutions that the DIO charge us for meetings at RAF airfields.
Cost is always a driving factor but the dates for Long Marston, Merryfield and Shawbury were worked out last year when we did not have Sculthorpe dates and Wyton got the go ahead at the beginning of this year so unfortunately we had to squeeze Sculthorpe in at the end, not that we are not grateful for the use of the field, it is just that we could not change what had already been organised. Next years calendar is already being discussed so if anyone has any ideas/new venues please get in touch.

At the last AGM the membership agreed that subscription must go up and charges introduced to combat the dramatic increase in cost, we get nowt for free anymore.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Jamie,
Gotta agree with Keith on costs it is deterring people! It is now becoming very expensive hence not seeing us no more at meets! £100+ on diesel then JMA fees, hotel fees, food costs!
I think you will see and have seen a lot of people go due to these costs, it wouldn't surprise me if slowly the JMA dispenses!

Laura
<br type="_moz" />

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Jamie I appreciate what you are saying and the thank less work that you all do,if the JMA would like to pick a weekend for next year in may,june or july I will do my best to get those days booked,it would be at a cost of £250 for the two days if the charges remain the same regards Keith

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

What do you suggest Laura? the fuel costs depend on where you are coming from and going to which is why we try and spread them around the country. The cost of a venue is unavoidable, how do you propose we pay for it?

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Cheers Keith, we will be in touch asap as we need to sort the calendar soon. As you have said, the cost is VERY reasonable when compared to DIO charges and this will sit well with the members. Cheers

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

All I'm saying the costs are heavy!
But what is the point of the JMA if you are paying heavy cost every time you go fly?
It was once you joined JMA you had meetings like Odiham, Kemble Elvington - you received newsletters with new up and coming things, things for sale etc!

Laura
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RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

I didn't rejoin the JMA this year due to the cost and the limited number of events up north - I know others from my area that also haven't rejoined. If I pay £40 membership and attend 2 single day events throughout the year that works out at minimum of £40 per day (plus fuel/accommodation). As a case in point regarding locations, this decision was made at an AGM that was too far away for me to attend. I'd be interested to know how many people voted and also if there has been any reduction in membership or attendance at events this year.

Maybe the JMA needs to look at cheaper venues? If Sculthorpe is being offered at a much lower cost than, for instance, Wyton then cancel Wyton and use Sculthorpe for the whole weekend. Elvington is a cheap venue (and one of the only ones up north) but has been very poorly attended by JMA members over the past couple of years. I'm sure there are other 'club' fields that could be used to reduce costs.

I have been happy to accept the situation on the basis that there are many more members down south and maybe simple economics means that the events have to be biased in that area for them to be profitable. It is unfortunate, but a fact of life, that my location means that I can't fully participate in the majority of events. As such, I have been 'pushed' out of the JMA by circumstance. A daily attendance fee is fair enough but the hefty additional membership charge would need to be reduced for an occasional attendee such as myself to reconsider joining. What do I actually get for my £40 a year if I have to pay additional attendance fees on top? I accept that there will be running costs but £40 per person? Really?

p.s. Jamie, Sculthorpe is not 'easy' for northern members, although I accept that it is closer to us than Merryfield [&o]

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Cost and what is 'Cheap' is a point of view and depends on what you are asking for. If there is one thing that the JMA has persistently sought, is new venues. Quite a few will not entertain model flying and those that consider it impose unworkable restrictions. These facilities need to make money and with larger better financed organisations paying huge fee's which we cannot afford we have little to chose from in what remains. Suitable club sites are rare and those clubs are not to keen on a load of jets whizzing about for fear of losing there site. In previous years we have had meetings at Scampton, Honington. Coningsby and leeming all of which are much closer to you but one by one they have been lost due to local factors beyond our control. We looked at Bruntingthorpe but they wanted £2000 a day!

Many of the above comments have been from the individuals point of view, wanting meets on their doorstep which would be great and on occasion a few may be lucky. The JMA committee cannot look at it like this, we try and spread out events as much as we can but we are limited by the sites we can get access to, it may seem biased but venues are limited. Keith has provided us with an opportunity further north to replace west Raynham which is definitely a bonus! this event will very likely see a lack of attendance from members further south due to distance/travel/accom costs but will better suit members in northern areas. Merryfield is the JMA's most southerly event and see's very few participants from northern areas undoubtedly due to geography/costs. Whatever the distance and and whatever the cost, the choice to attend these events rests with the individual and the cost of organising these events will not go away.

There were many finance options discussed at the AGM and this was eventually voted on. When you have driven to the Shawbury AGM fly in, the distance from York to Long Marston is only a little more than York to Shawbury and like you (although the other way) i have been at a disadvantage being down in the south west especially when i was stationed in Cornwall, i had to drive long distances to take part but i chose to do so. These distances are not for everyone which is understandable, with increasing costs and limited venues we have few options.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Laura is right-we used to have fun at st-athan's and good old R.A.F Benson and odiham-Now at £30 quid a day its got to be -BICKLEY.

New on the menu is the Bickley Burger-

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

I think maybe the people posting here should take over the JMA and get a reality check.
£40 a year membership...plus the tiny fees now added for events for you to have a day out. Go to your modelling rooms now and add up the cost of your "toys" You are living in some parallel world to the rest of us.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA the work people like Roger, Jamie and Dick put in to allow ungrateful soles like you to enjoy a days flying for less than just about any days activity I can think of. Why are you jet modelling with thousands of pounds of models and worried about fuel and entrance fees?? . You burn in a toy jet engine fuel costs that would drive you most of the way to these events (Darren you set fire to additional money using a smoke system in your jets for what???) Get real.

No wonder the UK hobby scene is in such a mess with fools like you involved....disgraceful, thoughtless posts

Dave Wilshere
JMA Chairman

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

The Bickley banger's are superb-The bigger the banger the better-lovely jubbly.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Hobby scenes in a mess due to the rising cost! We are in a recession people aren't earning the money they were! Just putting heavy costs on things you will lose people! People are not desbuting work carried out by individuals and are not being personal in what they are saying to anyone!

Laura
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RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

After reading this thread I feel and understand some of the coments.
I am not really in a Position to coment as I am not a JMA member have considered it in the past
but don't really fancy the travelling when I can fly jets any time at my local club.
My club is even struggling to survive and we could soon lose our field due to lack of members and funds, we get told by our
landlord if you can afford these expensive toys then we should be able to find the &pound;1500 per year for the use of his land
but trying to recruit new members and raise funds is near impossible these days.

Hope you don't mind my imput

chris
Mansditch Jet Club<br type="_moz" />

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Adam,

If you do not have anything constructive to add then don't bother posting. You may have had fun at St Athan but that door is closed, the Welsh development agency own the runway and want a lot of money to use it, Benson and Odiham are also not an option for us anymore.

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

I just want to add a note of my appreciation of what Roger, Jamie, Dave and Dick do for us, they really deserve the hefty fees we (dont) pay them !! Thanks guys.

To the whingers who DON'T like the flying fees we HAVE to pay to get access to these facilities, let's have your alternative proposals and your offer to do some of the unpaid admin.

Be grateful, too, that we even HAVE these facilities at all. In Australia we had just two jet meetings per year, Wangarrata, a 10 hour drive from Sydney, and Temora, a 6 hour drive. My local club field, a90 Minute drive from home was a short grass strip, just long enough for aBobCat. We are very fortunate in the UK, enjoy it while you can, it may not last.

The world has changed from the days of free access to RAF airfields, the station commanders no longer "own" their airfields, they just run them. The bean counters at MOD have taken over and we have to live with that, or not, as you choose.

So, if you think flying is too expensive, try another hobby, perhaps not golf when you see the charges at some clubs, makes our flying costs look dirt cheap.

David Gladwin

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

£30 a pop-Ten of those and you can have just one of these-ALMOST........

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

I am offering an airfield at low cost and not asking the JMA for anything except that some people turn up to the event and have a good days flying,for that I get called a fool by the chairman and a whinger some of us have budgets to manage,we do not all earn thousands to spend on what ever we want, cheers at least I know where I stand.Keith

RE: JMA SCULTHORPE - OCTOBER 5/6
 

Keith, I don't read it that Dave's comments were directed at you. Your offer of Sculthorpe is much appreciated. Lets hope we can include it in next year's programme.
Regards,
David.