### Early Barnstormers Model Flying Club History
#### By Gavin Lundie
In 1970, my dad, John Lundie, and I first witnessed radio-controlled model aircraft flying at the old Pretoria Radio Flyers club site near the famous Flying Saucer Roadhouse in Pretoria. This sparked our interest, and we soon visited Redley’s hobby shop in Eloff Street, Johannesburg. There, Hal Snow and Dave Norman recommended a Carl Goldberg Snr. Falcon as our training model, along with an Enya .60 engine and a Futaba radio. We also met Jack Immelman, the owner of Redley’s, marking the beginning of our journey.
A few weeks later, we rolled out the model and attempted to taxi it around our front lawn in Kempton Park, hitting numerous objects in the process. It was clearly more challenging than we had anticipated!
We then headed to Grand Central Airport in Halfway House, where the Redley’s hobby shop flying club was located. The site was near the current Gautrain station, west of the existing FAGC airport. John was about to take off with the new model when Jack Immelman arrived and stopped him, advising that he needed instruction. Jack performed the maiden flight flawlessly, and lesson one began. Jack suggested that I, Gavin, should learn to fly first, as John struggled to control the model. John never did learn to fly.
I remember several people flying at the Grand Central venue, including Dave Norman, Bill (from Redley’s), Hal Snow, Jack Immelman, and Luigi De Polo.
In September 1970, after 12 weekends of instruction, mainly from Dave Norman, I soloed. John decided that driving to Grand Central was too far, so he scouted for a suitable venue and found an open field in Birchleigh, where the current Birchleigh North shopping centre is located. He and our gardener, Piet, cut two runways at right angles to each other.
I conducted the first flights at the new venue. Soon, we were joined by Eddie, a flight engineer at SAA, and Colin Jones, among others. A chap named Peter joined us and remarked that I flew like a barnstormer! The name stuck, and soon everyone called the venue the home of The Barnstormers. Dave Lambrechts joined the club shortly after, and I taught him to fly. He had two little kids, one of whom was Davon, now an accomplished RC jet pilot and a retired SAA captain.
The club grew rapidly. My brother, Mike Lundie, designed a club logo featuring a side view of a WW1 SE5 biplane. Membership cards were printed, and The Barnstormers became affiliated with the old SAARF. The Barnstormers was born.
From 1970 to around September 1971, we were crowded out by developments in the Birchleigh area as the suburb grew. John was on the hunt again for a flying site. He went from farm to farm asking for land use, and eventually, a Mr. Erasmus obliged. The field was next to the R21, north of Kempton Park.
In a short time, Keith Nichols, John Mee, Mel Barber, “Chick” Henderson, and many SAA technical staff and pilots joined the club. That venue was in use for many years until a local farmer started objecting to pattern ships flying over his farmhouse, producing photographs as proof.
The club then moved to the venue opposite the ERWAT facility, and finally moved to the club's current location.
In later years, the committee of The Barnstormers officially granted John Lundie (posthumously) and Gavin Lundie Honorary Life Membership.
Hi Colin great reading the past
I can add a few details the the first clubhouse was a yellow prefab erected by Dave Norman Gavin and myself with the Barnstormers logo in front of the clubhouse of the plane which was chasing a chicken and you just saw tailfeathers fly
The agreement with the municipality was granted by a man named Brian Till
Before I got permission from old man Erasmus for the unused strip of his land, we flew off the highway next to the strip of land while it was being built so that is how we ended up in the mielie fields because we knew one day the highway would open - David Lambrecht
### A Brief History of Barnstormers
*By Colin Butler*
The Barnstormers club was born when a small group of enthusiasts stumbled upon an open field on the north side of Modderfontein Road, where the Birchleigh North shopping centre now stands, east of Johannesburg. They carved out two runways in the veld, which served as their flying field for nearly a year. Naturally, their activities soon attracted spectators, and within a short time, five or six locals joined them, eager to learn to fly.
Early on, the group adopted the name "Barnstormers," inspired by their field and the daring, often risky manner in which they flew. However, urban development soon encroached on their space. Fortunately, one member connected with a maize farmer, Mr. Erasmus, who farmed much of the Kaalfontein area. After some negotiations, Mr. Erasmus offered the Barnstormers a section of his land for the modest fee of R38 and a bottle of brandy per year.
The club's establishment was somewhat haphazard at first, with no facilities. Eventually, they marked out a parking area and acquired a disused prefabricated building, which became the Barnstormers clubhouse. Notably, every summer, the farmer used the club's landing strip for crop spraying. During summer, the club and landing strip were surrounded by 2 to 2.5-meter-high mielie plants, making "dead stick landings" a crash-prone affair among the tall mielies and intrusive kakibos. By the mid-1970s, the club had attracted several South African Airways pilots and maintenance personnel, boosting membership to 25-30 pilots, either flying or learning to fly.
In 1983, the Barnstormers secured a piece of land from Darling and Hodgson, a subsidiary of Murray and Roberts, across the R25 highway, slightly west of the present ERWAT water treatment plant. With no lease agreement and uncertain tenure, the members agreed this would be a temporary home. At that time, the club had around 50 members. The ground was leveled, and runways were scraped and leveled in the existing soil. Later, about 144 drums of used oil were spread over the surface to suppress dust, and a makeshift scraper with a hessian skirt was used to level the runway after storms. In 1984, a disused container bought for R100 was placed on site alongside the now dilapidated prefab clubhouse from the previous field, and long-drop toilets were dug. The facilities were primitive, with little shade, no grass, water, or electricity, and plenty of dust, especially when the wind blew.
Finally, in 1986, as a member of the Kempton Park Sports Liaison Committee, the Barnstormers Radio Controlled Model Flying Club submitted a presentation to the chairman of the Sports and Liaison Committee, requesting the use of their current flying site, owned by the Kempton Park Municipality. The municipality exceeded all expectations by laying two tar runways, moving the container, erecting a lean-to, scraping a car park area, planting a small patch of grass, and building a toilet block. In August 1986, the mayor of Kempton Park and his wife officially opened the Barnstormers Radio Controlled Model Flying Club field.