Welcome to the information page of the Royal County Aeromodellers & RC Flying Club. We are a group of radio control model aeroplane enthusiasts mainly from the County Meath area but with members from adjacent counties also. Our flying club site, N53.5757, W7.0607, is located not far from the small village of Ballivor in Co Meath. Our Radio Flying Club times are generally Sat afternoon and Sun morning during the winter time with the addition of a couple of midweek afternoon/evening flying sessions during the summer months. New members are more than welcome and will be given full flying tuition and help absolutely Free of Charge. We do have annual club fees and insurance costs but Flying Tuition does not cost anything.
We fly a mixed variety of Trainers, Gliders, Scale, Sport, Ducted Fan and Hellicopter models all of which can be either electric or petrol powered.
If you are interested in taking up aeromodelling as a hobby, do feel free to contact any of the committee and let us know when you may be in our locality. We will show you what is involved in getting started, learning to fly and progressing past the initial stages. We always have a club trainer onsite which is controlled via a buddy box system (dual control) so you can even have a free flight under the watchful eye of an instructor.
The club is affiliated to the Model Aeronautics Council of Ireland (WWW.MACI.IE) which is the governing body for all model aviation activities in Ireland. As part of their role, they organise national, provincial and, in some cases, local events and competitions for the various registered club members around the country. The most important item that MACI look after is the provision of 3rd party insurance for all registered club members.
How Much Does it Cost?
A beginner normally buys a trainer package which consists of a ready built trainer style model aeroplane either petrol or electric powered, radio control equipment, engine, fuel and all the associated items required to get flying. We would be most happy to advise you on what and where to buy all these items. Typically, you can expect to spend between €350 and €500 depending on the level of equipment purchased. Once the model has been assembled and the radio and engine fitted, the normal procedure is to bring it out to a recognised model flying club and let an experienced flyer check that everything is in order, test fly the plane and proceed to teach the beginner the rudiments of flying. It can take anything from a couple of flights to a number of months for a beginner to be able to safely fly a model un-aided. The actual take-off and landing can take a lot longer and the beginner will be shown how by an instructor and only allowed to perform these manoeuvres when he/she is able to. It is possible nowadays to start flying with an electric powered plane if one does not want to get into petrol engine models. There is some small saving to get had and one also ends up with a slightly slower style of flying which may suit some people.