It seems likely that the Worcester Model Aero Club is the oldest model flying club in the world. It was formed in 1909; the same year that Louis Bleriot made his historic 40-minute flight across the channel from Baraques near Calais to Dover in his monoplane powered by a 25-hp engine.

According to the magazine ‘Aero Modeller’, a local Worcester man, Mr S Pollard, built his first non-flying model around 1908 and considered that this ‘showpiece’ was the starting point for the club a year later..

In 1912 the club members were photographed with their various models which were powered by rubber bands. A few seconds of flight was a great achievement. By 1913 they were building models which could fly for over 30 seconds. They also started to hold club meetings and their President was Earl Beauchamp.

World War II stopped them flying but once that was over the club got going again. Now the planes had engines but were flown attached to hand held wires. Radio controlled models did not arrive until later. The great leaps in aircraft design, which the war brought about, were now reflected in the scale models that the club members built.

In 1993 Worcester City Council made the club aware of their intention to extend the municipal golf course and gave them immediate notice to quit. The club obtained a stay of execution during which time efforts were made to re-locate. Unfortunately the Council was unable to offer a suitable alternative site. Despite appeals to local MP Peter Luff, who was unable to sway the Local Authority to allow the oldest model flying club in the world to stay on Perdiswell, on the 31 December 1995 Worcester Model Aero Club ceased flying in Worcester, membership fell with the loss of Perdiswell from around 300 to 50 but the club managed to continue to exist, having used fields at Upton Snodsbury, Oddingley and Tibberton in the years since the eviction from Perdiswell.

We currently fly in the Rushwick and Hanbury areas. Winter evening meetings which were once held in a Nissan hut on Perdiswell are now held at the Barbourne Ex-Servicemen’s Club. 

In 2009 we celebrated our 100th anniversary with a BBQ and a fly in of a massive amount of WMAC members and their families. In 2019 we held a BBQ and a fun fly, inviting other local clubs to join us.