The club's flying site is the Taunton Polo Club ground, situated approximately 2km south east of Taunton town centre on the road to Staple Fitzpaine.

Taunton Vale Polo Club (TVPC) use their ground on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday afternoons/evenings during the polo season. Normally they use either No.1 or No.2 Grounds plus the Practice Area.  An email to members will be sent out each week during the season detailing when the ground is in use.

On Sundays, the site is also shared with the local Archery and Wippet racing clubs.

There are two pit areas depending on the season and conditions.

• The winter pits is the area around the entrance to ground 1 and is used when the ground is soft.  Cars are parked either on or just off the road so that access is maintained.
• The summer pits is the area between the tie line and hedge near the pavillion on ground 1.

An club e-mail will be sent out when the designated pits area changes.

Ground 1 is the ground with the pavilion.  Ground 2 is the one accessed from the main road...the Practice Area is where we normally center our activities.

It is not unusual prior to a match for TVPC members to  'warm up' on the Practice Area.  Whilst you may not understand why they are riding horses where you are flying, please respect their use of their ground and if necessary stop flying until the ground is clear.

Additionally at any time during the week you may encounter two or more horses being exercised on the practice area. This normally lasts for no longer than 15-20 mins. During this time you are advised to land unless you are confident that you can fly and land your aircraft clear of the practice area.

We have agreed with TVPC the following rule to address health and safety concerns on days when polo is being played:-

Flying MUST stop 30 minutes prior to the start of their games and may not recommence until they have finished their day’s playing.  ALL flying must then be confined to whichever field TVPC is not occupying.

On some Sunday mornings we share the practice area with the whippett  racers. When they are on site, the strip of land where they race and park their vehicles MUST be treated as a no fly zone and you should consider flying on ground 1, from the ‘blue spot’ in front of the pavillion. Cars can be parked in the normal pits area and there are plenty of tables around the pavilion.

Currently we enjoy excellent relations and communications with our TVPC landlords, although they have expressed concern over the flying of  the ‘noisy jets and helicopters’.   For this reason, Fun Jets / flying wings and 3D high impact helicopters must never be flown when TVPC are on an adjacent field.

1. On the day agree where you are going to fly.  This will be wind dependant and also dependant on other users of the fields. The area should be well away from the pits and arranged so take off is not over the pits!

2. On Sundays consider moving the take off area into Ground 1 in line with the TVPC Club House to be well away from the Whippet Racers.

3. Always group together when flying fixed wing. If flying FPV ensure other flyers are aware.

4. Communicate what is going on by announcing:-

• TAKE OFF
• LANDING
• FLYING LOW LEVEL LEFT TO RIGHT etc
• REQUEST PERMISSION TO RECOVER MODEL

5. Models must be carried out to the flightline from the pits in throttle hold mode.  Models can be taxied out, once clear of the pits, provided there are no other fliers already on the flight line.

6. Models may be taxied back to an area clear of the pits and flightline or recovered manually.

7. High speed low level passes MUST be well away from the flight line and High G manoevers MUST NOT be performed towards the flightline or in the direction of other users of the field.

8. Observe all no flyzones and take additional care when other users are in the area....TVPC, Whippet Racers & dog walkers