Captain America Film Set-Piece...Wisley

[haze]

Hey guys,

I flew over Wisley yesterday and they have the Captain America World War 1 Set still there from when they were filming a few weeks ago.

Note the World War 1 tank in the large trench. It was very cool to fly over...

It kinda felt a little like a model diorama from above.

Cheers

[aquatix]

Excellent pics - looks as close to the real thing as I would ever want to get .....

Is the airstrip still used by microlights or anyone ?

[haze]

Unfortunately not.

It's farmland (and the movie set area) either side of the runway, and the runway itself is totally disused. They have barriers across to stop drug dealers from landing planes there.

It's a real shame, because it would be perfect for me if the farmers weren't growing crops there...If it was grass either side, I'd ask them if I could use it.

[morgy]

I used to fly my models from there and i used to have permission to use my kite buggie on there with a friend of mine.

I use to know the farmer but i think he has died and the land had been sold to another farm/farmer If you go to a farm called pound/pond farm "i think its called" you might be able to ask for permisson to fly from there. The farmer is/was john maitland.

you can get on to the runway where the hangers used to be just of the A3 elm corner or you can get close as there is a locked gate up the road from the black swan in ockham..

[brock88]

It would be very handy for me, if we could fly from there. I live in Ripley, the village beside Wisley. I plan to train with Steve starting next week but doubt if the set will still be there by the time I can fly that fare from Redhill. Pity, as it is studying World War I aviation that has always inspired me to fly.

Robin Brockman

[savage]

I wouldn't get too excited about Wisley, you are not missing much.

Allegedly and unofficially, I may have used it. It was an emergency!

The main runway tarmac has strangely very sharp chippings on it, despite being 65 years old, perhaps because it hasn't been warn smooth with a lot of traffic. As you move your wing around, it sounds and feels like 100 pins unpicking individual threads in the fabric. I never tried it again.

Then there is the old hanger concrete area which is regularly topped to remove the growth from between the slabs, unfortunately this makes the the 1cm thick (perhaps sycamore) shoots grow horizontal along the top of the concrete and it takes ages to untangle the lines from them.

It also has a lot of light air traffic flying directly over it too as it has a radio navigation beacon at one end.

Then there is the worry of leaving your car at the end of a quiet wooded lane just off the A3, not far from a burnt out wreck.

The police walk their dogs there (which is probably a good thing) and the (grumpy) farmer who rides a quad bike is used to throwing people off his land (he's had a lot of practice), according to the electric model flyers i spoke to (they're allowed to stay because their planes are quiet).

Apart from all that, it's great!

Although I do thoroughly recommend a walk up and down the runway, it's massive, desolate with a fantastic views and you can really imagine the activity there in WW2.

[haze]

Interesting to hear about the conditions there. Shame that it's not a good site for us.

Also...I don't think that was the Captain America set that I flew over, by the way...

Spielberg is filming a World War 1 film called War Horse: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568911/

I've been told by Paul Green, one of the local pilots who knows the farmer, that it was that film that they were filming there.

We'll be sure to make that one of your Nav tasks, Robin. To go and see if it is still there.

We'll be doing our actual first flights and most of our flying from Guildford and Wisley is a good landmark for us to head off to.

It's going to be fun. (The nav tasks are my favourite part of the teaching process, as I get to come and fly alongside for the first one!)