What Bickley is now

Bickley Model Flying Club has been in existence now for more than 25 years. Its 150 members fly all types of radio controlled aircraft and helicopters from electric gliders to jets and Members have been successful in national and international competition. many are also heavily involved in the show circuit.

Bickley has one of the best facilities in the southeast which enables it to hold a series of invite events throughout the year. See the location section for an aerial shot of the patch, and see the events section for more details on what Bickley offers throughout the year.

But how did the club start?

Early in 1970 it was suggested that in Normans Park in Bromley might be available for model flying. This came about mainly through the efforts of Dick Langridge who was a modeller and a employee of the council. After discussion with the council a demonstration of model flying was performed for council officials by John Veasey, Laurie Murton and
Tony Lunt.

In anticipation of getting permission the club was formed. The name was chosen because 'Bromley' could not be used as there were already two clubs using the name, and as Dick Langridge lived in Bickley hence the name.

In June 1970 the Bromley Borough Recreation committee gave permission for the Bickley club to fly in Normans Park on two evenings a week and Sunday mornings for a experimental period until September 1971.

The general reaction of the park users was good but, unfortunately, there were complaints. The end result of this was that the council decided that they wished to ban model flying in the park. The Home Office rules were such that, if they so wished, the council had first to host a public enquiry. Despite support from BMFA, IC powered flying was banned although electric and control line flying are still permitted!

As a result, the club started the search for another flying site. After knocking on lots of doors in the area another field off Cudham Lane was obtained. Flying here continued until 1979 followed by a brief period at Hockenden Farm.

Our present site at Sutton-at-Hone is located at the end of a metalled road cut short by the building of the M25 motorway. This site has recently been doubled in size to accommodate the current generation of jet and large models.