Cygnets Model Boat Club
Maidstone

Southern Model Air Show 2008 - Gallery

We will need to find out who the Southern Model Air Show paid, and how much, for the gorgeous weather that we had, it couldn't have been planned better.  This year the boating area moved away from the area that has been home for the last few shows and it seems to been a resounding success with the public.  The following pictures were taken on Saturday, unfortunately I wasn't able to attend on Sunday, so I'm reliant on my colleagues providing some detail and hopefully some more pictures.
Before going on special thanks have to be given to all the clubs and people that helped support the Cygnets MBC, here is a list, apologies if we have missed anyone: Black Park MBC, Ramsgate Vikings, AMBO, Chantry, Eastbourne, Southend, Moorhen, Dover, Capstan, Broomfield, MMMS, Crowborough, Nationwide Club, Dolphins and the RNLI.
The children, and some parents, enjoyed the have-a-go-boats, the boats worked continuously from around 10h00 right up to closing time at 17h00. Some 130 children passed through and a big thank you to Jack and Simon for the pre-service the boats had beforehand.  It wouldn't have been possible to run the have-a-go-boats without the dedication and perseverance from the teams of Cygnet members.   The big pond managed to hold its water, however, the small pond had a few leaks which required a constant stream of filling up during the course of the day, the leak made a fine splash area for the kids, who just loved the mud.
The pictures on this page only provide a taster as to the atmosphere of the day and I only hope that everyone that attended  on Sunday had a great a day as I did on Saturday; I even managed to catch up with some old friends.  I didn't get much of a chance to see the trade stands, but I did manage to look in on the few boating trade stands that were at the show.
There were a few new boats that took my eye, pictures above, I know we have had submarines at the show before, however, past photographs have been of murky water, but as you can see I managed to capture one just before it disappeared below, the bright yellow colour may have helped. This year I managed to keep my daughter's GT500 fast electric in the pond and even Hannah managed several rounds around the pond, with just a minor bump with one of the other fast electrics that were on the pond.
The above RNLI boat was almost complete and had a powerful set of motors, they kept washing the small GT500 of course.  The guys on the AMBO stand were very brave, one of them was putting on a live demonstration on how they were planked up, the Cygnets look forward to hosting their championship event at Mote park in a week's time.
   
If you have any comments or suggestions or would like to send me some additional text and photographs for use on the website around this year's event, please feel free to get in touch (contact details found on the front page) we would love to hear from you. Additional information can be found on the official sites of the Southern Model Air Show and on the Hop Farms website.

It was nice to see Phil Knell back at the show, Phil was missed last year due to illness, although I did hear he managed to get along on the Sunday for a little while.  Phil is very much involved in the setting up and organisation of the model boats and liaison between the Hop Farm and the Southern Model Air Show organisers. Thanks Phil
If you would like to have a look at last year's event, it has been necessary to archive the pages and photographs to make room for new content, but they are available if you click on the back button below.