About Us

Hello from the Grantham and District Model Aircraft Society (GDMAS)!

Congratulations on finding our website, which we hope will give you a good feel on what our club and sport/hobby is all about.

GDMAS originally started life as the Grantham Zoomers back in 1947 and is probably one of the oldest model clubs in the United Kingdom.

The club has enjoyed flying from several locations over the years, including the use of the fabled RAF Barkston Heath since the early 1960s.

The club enjoys and supports multiple types of flying, including all free-flight disciplines, control line, and all radio-controlled disciplines, including gliders, helicopters, and powered fixed wing (sport, scale, and jet). The club also has several willing instructors and examiners available to mentor newcomers to our sport and hobby, including access to club-owned basic trainers for those interested in and just starting out in the hobby.

Unfortunately, things do change with time, and the recent worldwide increases in conflict have changed views in security risk and management, resulting in our loss of use of Barkston Heath in 2024. We are working to resecure use of the site, with active support from the BMFA to do so, and which we hope will happen in the not-too-distant future.

We have, however, searched hard to find a new flying site for our members, and in 2025 secured the long-term use of a beautiful flying site near the village of Fulbeck in Lincolnshire, some 10-miles Northeast of Grantham. The club has sole access to this secluded site, 365 days of the year, and we have spent the last 6-months preparing the access route, and cultivating, hoeing, and seeding the large grass runways. The runways, which we anticipate being ready for flying in early spring 2026, cover approximately 4-acres, given us a large east-west runway of approximately 750 feet by 75 feet, and a slightly shorter SSE-NNE runway of approximately 380 feet by 75 feet. There is also a large hard standing area, which we plan to use for car parking, installation of a portable building as a club room, and installation of an ISO container for storage of club equipment. The site is currently suitable for radio-controlled flying disciplines, and we plan to apply for a NOTAM to include glider towing above 400 feet in the next few months. It will be a fantastic site to fly from with the big Lincolnshire skies and balmy summer evenings.

If you are interested in learning to fly, or would just like to visit to find out what it is all about, please don't hesitate to contact us using the link below.