Charmouth - the fun fly in Dorset
I think this is the fun fly in England, that you must attend at least once in your life. Because this is a special one. No, it is not the fun fly itself that is special, because this is still an event where good people gather up for a weekend, but it's not an everyday experience for most of us to fly over a gorgeous valley in front of a picturesque landscape. And much more...
When you plan your Charmouth weekend, plan ahead, because this location offers much more than a fun fly. Do you remember the TV-series presented on Channel 4 (and later on in many countries), the "River Cottage" series created by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall? Well, this cottage is only 8 minutes drive from Charmouth, and it is worth a trip.
The beautiful landscape with its restaurant and coffee shop in the middle of nowhere, far from any busy places provides a great opportunity to chill and get prepared for the fun fly, and no, it's not super pricey, a bowl of fantastic ice cream costs only 4 pounds, an apple crumble is 7, so it's an affordable programme before or after a fantastic weekend. Okay, you cannot get to the main building unless you have a booking there, but the local and natural tastes deserve a visit.
Or the main accommodation option, the holiday park behind Charmouth heli fly-in, the Newlands Holiday Park offers a calm, peaceful scene for a good lunch or dinner in the "Tow-bar", splashing in the indoor or outdoor pool, or just having a pint or two, and this is the main hub for all the pilots and people being at the event during the weekend. This is the place where most of the pilots spend the majority of their time, when we are not at the field.
The holiday park is roughly 3 minutes drive from the seaside and the beach, and only a little bit farther from the famous fossil beach in Lyme-Regis, so it's an ideal programme even for kids, whether you go in the spring or autumn when the water is too cold for a dip. And these are amazing places to see, although, on a windy day be prepared to get splashed by the huge waves.
Let's return to the fun fly. If I'm correct, this was the 41th Charmouth heli fly-in, so the event itself is very maturely organsied by the AHA (Association of Helicopter Aerosports), and more or less consistent in its form. It was definitely good to see that the event is growing over time, for example compared to the previous one. Many great pilots turn up during the weekend, there were more than 60 pilots registered on Saturday, and over 50 on Sunday.
Despite the warning issued by the organisers just days before the event, micro helis weren't crucial on Saturday, because the rain forecasted, arrived during the night before, and it dried up mostly for Saturday morning. The rest of the day was cloudy and a bit grey, but still flyable and enjoyable. All flight stations were busy throughout the day, but there were no long queues, so if someone wanted to fly, it didn't take too long to get there.
Seemingly, the number of scale helicopters is also increasing which is good to see after the years of RC heli depression. And yes, there are the young pilots, the new talents, next to the seniors, so there's a very good chance, our hobby won't go extinct.
Sunday was even nicer, just a few clouds covered the sky from time-to-time. The day was sunny mostly with moderate wind, and the mercury climbed up into the high tens, almost 20°C, which is above average in this part of England around this time of the year. Suncream was a must have.
The field where the event is located is quite long. Cars park parallel along the fence, and this year they filled the line from edge to edge, so if the event grows even further, the parking can be problematic in the future. And this year, there were outsiders, real spectators as well surprisingly, because this event is still not advertised to the public, this is an event for our community here in the UK.
And how we felt after the event? It's been fantastic, with many good people, with a fantastic vibe, with a great location, and we got really energized for the rest of the season. There were only two problems: the fun fly is short (only two days), and the time we could spend in Charmouth anyways was far from enough to see at least a portion of the places in the nearby we would like to see. We need to allocate more time in Dorset next time.
