As well as attending organised shows, the MHA also organises meetings for its members. These vary between technical meetings where we may invite a guest speaker to present a topic of interest, to fun days where we can get together and learn from one anothers experiences building and operating hovercraft, and of course 'play' with them!
Below is a selection of past meetings we've held which should give you an idea of the kinds of things we get up to.
A technical meeting held at the Hovercraft Museum near Gosport in February 2005 was enjoyed by members, where we were treated to a talk by Ralph Arrow on the design and construction of his model LCAC
We were also given a talk by Mark Porter on model skirt design
Members also got to show off their latest models
And there was plenty of opportunity for a general chinwag
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The MHA regularly visits Bournville Model Boat lake in Birmingham for a 'playday', thanks to the kind invitation of the Bournville Model Boat Club.
And it's not necessarily all hovercraft, particularly when the locals join in!
It can be a nice relaxing day out
And educational too
A chance to try out the latest creations without an audience of strangers
We nearly always get a good turnout
We even try a few games - this is a rather feeble attempt at hover football
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We were very lucky to be invited to Griffon Hovercraft's headquarters in Gosport
We were given a tour of the works, and got to see a 2000TDX under construction
John Gifford answered our many questions...
...and then he took us for a ride in the demonstrator!
What a ride!
Oi, get out of the way of the hovercraft, I'm trying to take a photo!
All at sea
So that's what it feels like to go sideways!
A rare view under the deck with the skirt off
Shiny!
One of the Royal Marine's craft in for a service, and an opportunity for Stan to check for accuracy on his model
What a happy bunch!
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We were treated to a talk by Jim Morley of Morley Helicopters
After the talk, Jim demonstrated a couple of his smaller models utilising multi-rotor heads.
The museum is a favourite venue of the MHA as it has good space for meetings, plus access to historic models.
Another of Jim's helis
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Another of our favourite venues, Season's has plenty of space for talks...
...like this one on hovercraft physics...
...and allows us to set up a large indoor operating area
We often challenge ourselves to steering competitions, which are tricky in a tight space - think shopping trolley on an ice rink covered in landmines!
More skillful driving
What a handsome team!
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