SLOPING OFF...
...the Newsletter of Christchurch and District Model Flying Club for...August 2026
FLYING OFF WATER
BY MIKE ROACH
September 2008, Christchurch Harbour, IP Catalina by MR
Trevor and me on the Harbour sandbank with his Sealand (still flying) and my Catalina, May 2009
Finally at the Harbour, my first Super Scooper and the Islander, 2009 and 2011
At about this time Trevor and I decided we needed a fresh-water flying site and after some fruitless searching, were told by the then leisure manager at Longham that the second gravel pit was being flooded and would make an excellent model flying site.
On the left is the Lake 2 being filled from the River Stour in 2009 and 2010 and on the right, Trevor and me giving our pitch to Andy and Jon from Bournemouth Water in January 2011. The weather wasn’t good enough to fly but we had coffee in the new Study Centre and described what we would like to happen. For some reason we were turned down that year but later we got permission to fly and in January 2012 we had a “Grand Opening” with the Chairman of the company and Trevor’s Lazy Bee doing a fly-past
We were the first of many to fly at the lake. To date, 51 fliers and 166 models have made their first Longham water flights. You can see the whole museum of flying here with loads of articles and pictures in the body of the thread.