The Venue

Ambrose Stadium is an international standard sports stadium.  It measures approximately 34 metres by 24 metres, giving us over 800 square metres of floor space to play with.  This is roughly five times the floor area of our old Halswell Community Hall venue.  

I'm unsure of the exact ceiling height, but as Netball, Basketball, and the Trampolining Champs are held there, it is certainly quite high, and much higher than our current venue.  At a rough guess I'd say it is about 9-10 metres high at the apex.

The stadium is large, well lit, and features an elevated viewing area, which I expect will be popular with both visitors and pilots alike.  Ample box seating runs the length of one side of the hall, with the second tier being a convenient height for parking equipment.  Power outlets are spread evenly around the whole stadium.

To give you some idea of the size of this venue, all the photos have a person pictured in them for size comparison.  It is HUGE!!!!

Rob and myself both had a quick fly in the stadium when we went to check it out.  Boy is it impressive to fly in!  The additional confidence you gain from being so far away from walls is amazing!

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Location

Ambrose Stadium is part of the Rolleston Community Centre, at 126 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston.

If you head south out of Christchurch on SH1, the map pictured here will be all you need.  Once you hit Rolleston, turn left onto Rolleston Road, and follow the road right onto Rolleston Drive. Keep going straight through until you see the supermarket, and the Community Centre is just a few hundred metres beyond that.

It might seem a long way out for some of you, but then again so is Halswell! 

Depending on where you are coming from, you may find that it takes you no longer than it does to get to our current venue. When Rob and I went out it took us about 15 minutes to get there from Halswell.  That time was including going via Hornby so that we could check the map accuracy from a SH1 approach!

And I can assure you that the size and quality of the venue will make it all worth while!

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Once you get there

Once you arrive at the stadium, you will need to locate one of the "Core Members" - Jon, Rob, Greg, or Shannon.

You will be asked if you are going to be flying on the Casual or Term rates. Casual charges are $10/Session, and Term Rates are $30/Term (Term 2 2006).
Please note that the "First Session Free" offer closed at the end of Term 1 2006. ALL flying sessions are now chargeable.

You will then be required to fill your name and email address on the appropiate form. This is so that we can contact you if there are any changes / cancellations / postponements of flying nights in the future. This also allows us to keep a record of your visits. Once your total casual flying payments in any one term equal $50, you will be upgraded to a Term Pass, free of further charges, for the remainder of that Term.

Once you have filled in your details and paid your charges, you will be issued with a frequency peg for your radio equipment. If your frequency is already in use, you will be introduced to whoever you are sharing the frequency with. Please note that fair play is expected in cases of frequency sharing.

At all times you will be expected to comply with any instructions or directions given by the core group members. This is an expensive, and potentially dangerous hobby, so please stay alert and fly safely.


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The Flying Season

We are now resident at Ambrose Stadium on a full time all year basis.   From an organisational and funding point fo view the year is broken into four parts, roughly matching the four Terms of the School year.

The breakdown for 2006 is roughly as follows:

Thursday 3rd February: Start of Term 1 (Confirmed)

Thursday 13th April: End of Term 1 (Confirmed)

Monday 17th April:  Start of Term 2. (Confirmed)

Monday 10th July: End Term 2 (Confirmed)

Monday 17th July: Start of Term 3 (Confirmed)

Monday 2rd October: End of Term 3 (Confirmed)

Moday 9th October: Start of Term 4, 2005. (Confirmed)

Monday January 30th: End of Term 4, 2005.


Please note that all of the above days and dates are provisional at this stage, and subject to confirmation.  (Confirmed) signifies a date that has now been confirmed.

For full details of all Term Dates, along with Core Group Formation dates, please check the Group Calendar.

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Costs and Funding

Ambrose stadium is charged for on a per term basis (Hence the mention of term dates in the flying schedule), and is charged in advance at the beginning of each term.

Obviously, the need to fund the venue "up front" requires a somewhat different approach.

Each term we establish a core group of flyers, that expect to be able to fly for most weeks during the term.  This core group divides the cost evenly between themselves for the start of the season and pay for the venue at that time.

Anyone not in the core group by close-off date will be classified a casual flyer for the duration of that Term.

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Casual Flyers

Please note that we will be getting tough on payments from casual flyers starting in Term 1 2005. 

If you are coming out to fly and are not a member of the Core Group, or a Term Ticket holder, please ensure that you bring your $10.00 casual fee or $30.00 for a Term Ticket. 

We will be strictly enforcing our "No Pay - No Play" policy, so it's a long way to drive to sit and spectate!

Casual flyers will continue be both welcomed, and encouraged.
The charging scheme is:

Non-flying Visitors - FREE

Casual Flyers:

$10.00/session, (payable on the night and before your first flight)

or

Making a one-off payment of $30.00 for a "Season TIcket"  which will allow you to fly at every session for the rest of the Term.

For full details of all Term Dates, along with Core Group Formation dates, please check the Group Calendar.

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A Note for Indoor Plane Flyers

We have no desire to be labeled as snobs, but this is the Christchurch MicroHeli Group.  In fairness to our paying members we must restrict the use of indoor planes. 

If you wish to fly an indoor plane, you will need to:


a) Have brought along a heli and flown that first.

b) Obtain the agreement of all heli flyers at the venue for you to fly, and respect any restrictions they may place on the number, duration, timing, and flying area of your plane flights.

c) Accept full responsibility for the costs of repairing any and all, damage incurred as a result of any mid-air between your aircraft and a heli, regardless of perceived 'fault'.

d) Accept full responsibility for the costs of repairing any, and all, damage to the premises as a result of flying your aircraft.


There will be the occasional exceptions to the above, for instance a pre-arranged visit or demo by a person or group, but these will be generally be arranged and notified well in advance of the event.

In other words, please don't just turn up with a 'plank' and expect to be able to fly.  Refusal may offend. <GRIN>.

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The Current (Term 2 - 2006) Core Group.

The current (Term Four) Core Group consists of: 

Greg
Jon
Rob
Shannon

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