News

 

BMFA Centenary Record Attempt

BMFA Centenary Record Attempt

Hey all!

Amazing job by everybody involved by the record attempt on Sunday. Despite the best efforts of the weather we managed to get 33 aircraft of various types airborne as the clock struck noon!

Thanks to James and Christian for the excellent BBQ, Neil for going around and checking everybody for legality and Peter W for keeping track of time during the record attempt.

Thanks also to Pete Collins for taking photos after I thrust my camera into his hands 10 mins before the attempt.

Enjoy the photos!

Ben

 

2022 Competition Results Feb to March

Hey all,

Posted below is a compilation of all the competition results so far in 2022.

 


26th Feb 2022 Club Fun Fly Competitions (Loops & Land / Climb & Glide)

Loops and Land, where we had a minute from wheels off to perform as many loops as possible. A loop was deducted for every second over or under the minute when the model touched down. Gavin was being kind as it was the first comp of the year and counted us all down the minute, meaning we didn't have to count as well!!

Name                           Loops          Time         Total          Position

David C                        38                1.04           34              1st

Neil W                          32                1.03           29              2nd

Gavin B                        27                1.03           24              3rd

James G                      23                1.00           23              4th

Martin D                       16                1.02           14              5th

Stuart W                       26                1.14          12               6th

Richard C                     12                1.00           12              7th

Richard P                     11                 1.27          -16             8th

 

Climb and Glide where we had 15 seconds to climb then cut power and glide for as long as possible. A 10% bonus was given for getting back to the strip without opening the throttle too, which was a little tricky with the southerly wind!

 

Name                          Time              Bonus       Total          Position

James G                     4-23                Y               4-49            1st

David C                       3-12                Y               3-31            2nd

Stuart W                     2-24                Y               2-38             3rd

Neil W                         2-05                Y              2-18             4th

Martin D                      2-04                Y              2-16             5th

Gavin B                      1-52                 Y              2-03             6th

Richard C                   1-12                 Y             1-19              7th

Richard P                   1-08                 Y             1-15              8th


19th March 2022 Club Fun Fly Competitions (Triple Thrash / Mastermind Just a Minute)

Mastermind Just a Minute - Nice and silly one to start off with! The pilots had to fly for as close to a minute as possible, which they judged themselves, but while they were flying they were being asked a series of general knowledge questions for extra points. Penalties for landing early of late were given and a bonus for touching in a 6ft square were also available. Many thanks to Gavin's wife, Hattie for providing the sealed questions at a suitable intellectual level for us!!

Name                        Model                              Time (Secs)           Spot Bonus            Correct Questions           Total               Position

Richard C                 Wot 4                               60                          Yes                         9                                      165                 1st

Chris S                     Limbo Dancer                  62                          No                          11                                     151                 2nd

James G                  Fun Fly                             56                          Yes                         7                                      147                 3rd

Stuart W                  Fusion                              61                           No                          9                                      143                 4th

Neil W                     Fusion                              62                           Yes                         5                                      141                 5th

Gavin B                   Fusion                              42!!                         Yes                         6                                      114                 6th

 

Very well done to Richard, great flying. It certainly proves that Fun Fly improves your flying and confidence!

 

Triple Thrash - Very quick comp, with a Take off, Touch & Go, 2 Loops, 3 Rolls and land in the shortest time. A bonus for landing in the square was also given. Some 'interesting' flying in that strong wind!

Name                      Model                         Time (Secs)            Bonus                Total               Position

Gavin B                   Fusion                        23                           Yes                    18                   1st

James G                 Fun Fly                       23                           Yes                    18                   1st

Stuart W                  Fusion                        32                           No                     32                   3rd

Neil W                     Fusion                        34                            No                     34                  4th

Chris S                    Limbo Dancer            64                            No                     64                   5th

Richard C               Wot 4                          80                            No                     80                   6th

 

Club News August 2020

As the Social Distancing requirement remains in force.  The club are running a booking system for slots at our flying field.

The field is in good condition and is being expertly maintained.  The summer car park is in use.

We are limiting attendance to 6 members at a time, unaccompanied please.  Only two pilots may be in the pilots box at any one time, and this also has the effect of limiting the number of models in the air to two at a time.  Please be aware of this and ensure that everyone present has a fair opportunity to fly.

Slots at the field can be booked directly with James, ideally by using the club's whats app group but also by phone or email.  Please remember that James works full time and cannot answer his phone during a normal working day.

Most members of the club are of a vulnerable age.  Please maintain social distancing at the field, use hand sanitizer before and after using the padlock, and try to stagger arrival times to ensure that our numbers do not exceed 6.

Please be aware that the public footpath is in constant use by ramblers, dog walkers and other members of the public exploring during enforced staycations.  Our activities are therefore on constant show.

The committee will keep the situation under review and will relax these measures at the earliest opportunity.

Caterham Club News – April 2020

Hello Everyone, 

Firstly I hope very much that you are all well and managing to keep safe at this very strange time. As you know due to the current situation, all non essential travel is not allowed which means that our field remains closed to us all for any purpose, so however tempting and however good the weather looks, please do not go to the field. That even means we cannot even go there to cut the grass so when this is all over, we will probably need a hand to tame the grass again. Even though that might be quite a task, its something I look forward to, being back in the company of friends at the club. In the meantime, I have a friend that lives very near the field and will keep an eye on it on their daily exercise walks. I do believe the farmer is busy ploughing at last which must be a huge relief for him!

As you also know, our club nights can't take place either but looking forward, the good news is that the Vulcan Trust talk that we were to have had last month is re-booked for September, so hopefully that can then go ahead. Fingers crossed!

Of course our club events will have to be postponed but we did manage a few weeks ago to get an afternoon of fun fly competitions done, which was a very entertaining day. We managed to dodge the showers and the wind was just about flyable and I think those that were there had a good time. For those of you who weren't there however, here are the results:

 

Climb and Glide 14/03/20 (20 second climb, turn the engine off and glide for as long as possible)

Name                       Time                    Spot                     Total                         Position

David C                    6-23                     Yes                        421                           1st

James G                   4-47                     Yes                        316                           2nd

Gavin B                    3-13                     Yes                        212                           3rd

Richard C                3-04                      No                        184                           4th

Matthew B             2-55                      No                        175                           5th

Neil W                     2-13                      Yes                       148                           6th

Keith L                     1-23                      Yes                       91                             7th

 

Some really good times there and well done to David with a glide of well over 6 minutes from a 20 second glide with his Fusion! And a special mention to Keith for a great effort and his first ever landing with his Uno Wot and it was a really good deadstick landing too!! As soon as we can fly again, Keith will definitely have his well deserved A test.

 

 

Loops and Land 14/03/20 (take off and fly for as near to a minute as possible, but you had to count the minute yourself. While flying you had to complete as many loops as possible! The score was the amount of loops minus any seconds over or under the minute) 

Name                        Loops                  Time                    Total                      Position

David C                     51                         1-10                    41                           1st

Gavin B                     32                         0-59                    31                           2nd

James G                   31                          1-06                   25                            3rd

Matthew B              35                          1-12                   23                            4th

Neil W                      18                          0-51                   9                              5th

Richard C                 18                          1-24                   -6                             6th

Another victory for David, with an amazing 51 loops. Matthew had the next highest number of loops but time goes a lot slower when you're young so that dropped him to 4th overall, which also meant I crept into 3rd despite forgetting to pull my aerial up and seeing how far it would get before the failsafe kicked in! I sort of lost count at that point as I was trying to pull the aerial up and being distracted by all the laughter from the competition manager. The range check was very good though!!

 

 

Triple Thrash 14/03/20 (Complete 3 touch & go's, 3 loops, 3 rolls and land in the shortest time)

Name                      Time                               Position

David C                   0-30                                1st

Matthew B             0-34                                2nd

Gavin B                   0-41                                3rd

James G                  0-42                                4th

Richard C                2-13                                5th

Neil W                     DNF                                6th

As you can see David was really on form that day, so well done to him, but Matthew was a very close second in this one - great flying Matthew and for beating me and your dad (again!) Last year's champion was definitely having an off day, blaming his equipment, but I suppose that has to be expected when you get to a certain age!

Well done to everyone for taking part and lets hope we can all carry on with the season as soon as possible. The Blindfold flying will also hopefully take place at a later date.

As you have probably seen, lots of shows have been cancelled. If any of you were planning to go to Old Warden, the May one is cancelled but they will review the others as they come up. At the moment the BMFA are still planning for the Nationals on the August Bank Holiday, so again fingers crossed for that.

In other news, you should all have your CAA operator numbers by now. If you haven't, please let us know asap.

We are going to get a Dymo printer, so if you need your numbers printing for your models, we can sort that out when we're allowed out again.

The club WhatsApp group is going well with lots of chat going on. Please post pictures of your building projects or ask questions on that or the facebook group or email me with anything and I can forward it onto you all. Its really important to keep in touch at the moment, so please make use of all our various ways of doing that. If all else fails and you feel like a chat, feel free to call me too if you wish 07966 439835.

Finally I hope you're all enjoying the new series, Warbird Workshop on the Yesterday Channel on Thursday evenings. I think it's a very good series and well worth catching up on if you haven't seen it yet.

That's it for now, but please do keep in touch while we are stuck inside and I can't wait to see all your building projects when we can finally meet again!!

Please take care and hope to see you all safe and well when this is all over.

All the best,

James.

CAA Registration Scheme. Further clarification of BMFA exemptions issued.

There appears to be a considerable amount of myth and misinformation circulating about the status of the exemptions issued by the CAA including those which recognise BMFA Achievements and exempt members from registering as Operators by the 30th November (and doing it instead as part of their BMFA Membership Renewal).  Full details of the CAA exemptions can be found at www.be-lawful.bmfa.org.

Concern has been expressed by some that the exemptions are only effective until June 2020.  There is however a very clear rationale for this, because the current arrangements are an interim measure which have been put in place to comply with the UK laws which come into effect on the 30th November.

However, the CAA are committed to working with us to align with the new EU regulations and put in place a permanent Authorisation which sets out and agrees our longer-term arrangements – with effect from June 2020.  It is therefore anticipated that the exemptions will become redundant at that point and the existing terms will be incorporated into our Authorisation.  In the event that this is not resolved by June, then the CAA will simply re-issue the current exemptions.

Some members have expressed concern that registering with the CAA via the BMFA means that they will not be issued with a CAA Flyer I.D.  The simple reason for this is that our members don’t need one!  The CAA issue a Flyer I.D. solely to confirm that someone has taken their online test.  Members with an existing achievement (including the new Registration Competency Certificate) are exempted from this requirement.

Some members have expressed concern that the Police may not accept BMFA documents.  However, this is speculation with no basis in fact.  We understand that the Police are being briefed on acceptable forms of documentation this week and all Associations have been asked to provide examples.

What we have arrived at is a very simple way for many of our members to comply with the law.  For those with an achievement (including the new Registration Competency Certificate), the only requirement is to pay the additional £9 CAA fee (don’t forget that we succeeded in getting this fee almost halved from the original £16.50 - for the benefit of everyone).  We are also in a position to assist those members without an existing Achievement (or in some cases internet access) to comply with the law with the help of their club.

We need the support of our members to make this work.  If insufficient numbers utilise the concessions we have secured, then they are perhaps less likely to be available to us in the longer-term solutions we agree with the CAA from June 2020 onwards.

The whole process is very simple whichever route you take, so you can choose to register directly with the CAA or you can choose to register via the BMFA and help strengthen our position in upcoming negotiations.

BMFA SUBSCIPTIONS FOR 2020, MEMBERSHIP CARD OPTION AND INTRODUCING BMFA REWARDS

Following Saturday's AGM, 2020 BMFA fees will remain unchanged from their current level.

Senior - £38
Junior - £17
Family Senior - £38
Family Partner - £25
Family Junior - £13

2020 membership will be available from the 1st of December.

For 2020 we will be introducing a new optional BMFA membership card, this will be a plastic credit card sized card and comes with the option to sign up to BMFA Rewards which gives you the chance to make savings at many UK retailers, restaurants, cinemas, hotels etc. Potentially members can save hundreds each year for the extra cost of just £3.50

IMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT THE CAA REGISTRATION SCHEME – PLEASE READ

CAA RECOGNISED REGISTRATION COMPETENCY CERTIFICATE LAUNCHED. PLEASE READ!

Article 94F of the Air Navigation Order introduces the requirement that from 30th November 2019  all remote pilots of model aircraft or drones (small unmanned aircraft, SUA) with a mass of 250gm or more flown outdoors, including free flight, not to fly the SUA unless the CAA has issued the remote pilot with an acknowledgement of competency valid for the flight.

 

However the CAA have issued an exemption for BMFA members who hold a Basic Proficiency Certificate,  and either A or B Certificates. The CAA will also accept as proof of competency our new BMFA Registration Competency Certificate which has been launched today.

To take the online BMFA Registration Competency Certificate test go to https://rcc.bmfa.uk/rcc

Please note that if you do not hold a BMFA achievement certificate you must either take the CAA online test at https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/ or the BMFA Registration Competency Certificate at https://rcc.bmfa.uk/rcc by 30th November if you intend to fly.

 

This is a separate requirement to CAA Registration for which BMFA members are exempt until 31st January so you can register when you renew your BMFA membership.

UPDATE ON EU REGULATIONS

On the BMFA Website ( BMFA.Org ) they have posted articles on the latest position in respect of the EU regulations and also on the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Report.  They include direct links to the documents concerned and may prove interesting reading.

As yet the BMFA have not given any further practical advice on the new Registration Scheme which we await eagerly.

AN UPDATE ON THE UK REGULATIONS FOR MODEL FLYERS – DELAY TO DRES

The following information has been sent out by the BMFA today.

Further to our previous update of 11th September (https://bmfa.org/News/News-Page/ArticleID/2610/An-update-on-the-UK-regulations-for-model-flyers-a-bit-of-good-news-at-last ).

There is no real change to the situation as published.  All parties are currently awaiting the outcome of the Secretary of State’s deliberations on the matter and there is little we can add until we receive this.

What we can confirm however is that the DRES scheme will not be rolled out on the 1st October (it seems unlikely that it will be rolled out before 14th October at the earliest) and for the time being we would therefore suggest that it remains ‘business as usual’ for our members.  We would also encourage members not to rush into registering or taking the test when the DRES is eventually rolled out until we have issued further guidance.

We will update members as soon as we receive further information from the Secretary of State for Transport, the Department for Transport and/or the Civil Aviation Authority.

David Phipps

Chief Executive

Tel: 0116 2440028

Fax: 0116 2440645
email:  admin@bmfa.org

The Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers Limited

T/A The British Model Flying Association

A company limited by guarantee.  Registered in England Number 457067
Registered office Chacksfield House, 31 St Andrew's Road, Leicester, LE2 8RE

 

Carrier Deck Landing and Skittles Competition Results.

We were blessed with a glorious autumn afternoon for the latest rounds in the CDMFC Funfly Competion.

As usual the Skittles Competition produced some outstanding flying from the 8 members taking part. Richard Coles learned the hard way that it is not a good idea to attach the weighty tennis ball to the rear of the model.  Most members stuck to the tried and tested method of attaching the ball between the legs of the undercarriage, then using a variety of flight paths, they keenly attacked the target.

There was a choice of Red Skittles which scored 10 points or Clear Skittles scoring 5, and two minutes from wheels off to knock as many down as possible.  In truth the pilots had very little choice over the course that the ball took, and as long as they skilfully piloted the correct course, the ball either did its duty or passed cleanly through the maze,   Some pilots even tried knocking the skittles over with the model but these were discounted by sharp eyed judges on the sidelines.

In first place, scoring a stunning 70 points after flattening 8 clear and 3 red skittles came Ted.  In second place with a score of 55 made up from 4 red skittles and 3 clear skittles came Neil.    In third place with 2 red and 4 clear, scoring 40 came David.   Fourth place went to Gavin who  despite the handicap of only flying for half the allowed time, after his prop became tangled in the Ball string, scored 25 with 2 reds and  1 clear.  Fifth place went to Ian G who scored 20 points with 1 red and 2 clear skittles.  Sixth place went to a surprisingly out of form James and last scoring place with 1 solitary clear skittle scoring just 5 points, went to Colin.   Richard C was sadly to land abruptly before managing to score any points.

The Carrier Deck landing was scored according to the touch down point on the painted carrier deck.  As long as the model stopped on the painted target.  If it over-ran, no points were allocated.  Three attempts were allowed for each pilot and the resulting points added to produce a final score.

12 pilots were lined up to start this competition.  There were several tied places in this closely fought round, and points/places were therefore shared instead of any fly offs being held.  Points were available for 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 positions on the deck.  No none scored the magic 100 in any round and only one score of 80.  This is probably due to the calm wind conditions and smooth deck surface.

In First place with an excellent combined score of 200 points, made up of 80, 60 and 60 came David.  In second place with scores of 100 came 3 pilots, Ted, Gavin and Ian G.  In equal 5th place came Matthew and Neil both scoring 80 points.  In 7th place came James who only managed two successful landings and therefor only scored 60 points.   In shared 8th place came Nic and Ian P, both scoring only one landing with 40 points.  10th place was shared by Colin and William neither of who managed to score any points but both came really close and were unlucky.   Colin was also hampered by adjustments made earlier to his model, which instead of making it easier to fly made it totally unpredictable and unwilling to slow down.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable afternoons flying, and as the closing round of the championship gets closer, things are hotting up.

Latest news from the BMFA on the proposed Registration Scheme

AN UPDATE ON THE UK REGULATIONS FOR MODEL FLYERS - A BIT OF GOOD NEWS AT LAST!

I published an update on the BMFA website on 23rd August (https://bmfa.org/News/News-Page/ArticleID/2608/An-update-on-the-UK-regulations-for-model-flyers ) which provided a summary of our position at that time. This was also going to be the basis of my article for the forthcoming issue of the BMFA NEWS.

However, the very next day I received a telephone call to tell me that the new Secretary of State for Transport (the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP) had picked up the case for us and would ‘be in touch’.

A few days later I received an invitation to attend a meeting with Grant at the Houses of Parliament. This meeting took place on Monday the 9th September and involved me (on behalf of the UK Model Flying Associations), Graham Brown from ARPAS (on behalf of commercial drone operators) and high-level delegations from both the CAA and DfT. The outcome of the meeting was that the CAA and DfT have been tasked to work in collaboration with us urgently to try and find an acceptable way forward.

This is very much work in progress and as such I cannot provide much definitive information at this time. Please monitor the BMFA website and Facebook page for further updates in due course.

However, what I can confirm already is that those who only fly control line aircraft will be exempted from the DRES requirements and I can also confirm that registration numbers can be carried in an easily accessible location (such as within battery compartments) rather than on the exterior of model aircraft.  The registration fee is also likely to be subject to a change (for the better).  These items are the starting point.

We would therefore encourage members not to rush into registering or taking the test when the DRES is rolled out in the next few weeks, until we have concluded our current round of discussions with the CAA and DfT and issued further guidance to members. For the time being, we would suggest that it remains ‘business as usual’.

Both the CAA and DfT have given a commitment to ‘re-set’ their relationships with the model flying community and work with us in close collaboration from this point forward, a very positive development which we greatly appreciate. It’s perhaps preferable to being inundated with correspondence from our magnificent members and their MP’s! Thanks again to all those members who have supported our relentless campaign so far.

Watch this space!

Dave Phipps CEO

Latest Round of the CDMFC Championship Aerobatics.

8 of our keenest club members gathered together last Saturday to contest the latest round of the Aerobatics competition.  The schedule had been previously published by James to allow the competitors to study the requirements.   The manoeuvres were judged by an experienced Club member who allocated points for each movement.  The scores were all evenly matched and creditably high.

In first place with an impressive 220 points was Ted.  Second came James very closely behind with 216 and only 7 points behind him came David.  Fourth place went to Neil with 202, Fifth place to Gavin with 197, Sixth to Philip with 184, Seventh to Matthew with 184 and in 8th place with a still impressive score of 179 points came Ian.

Tangerine Dropping Competition.

The latest round of the CDMFC Fun Fly Championship took place last Saturday with 10 members taking part.  The results were based on the distance from the target that the Tangerine ended up, after being ejected from the flying model.  Accuracy was not as much on show as in recent years but the results were:

  1. 1st place Neil with a distance of 6ft.
  2. 2nd Place   Ted with a distance of 8ft 2 inches.
  3. 3rd Place   James with a distance of 11ft 10 inches.

4th place went to Mathew Barden, 5th to David , 6th to John , 7th to Philip, 8th to Gavin, 9th to Ian and finally with a distance of 56ft and 8 inches came William.   Well done everyone,  It was great to see 3 Juniors taking part in a fun fly competition.

Nick Lester

Good News from the BMFA Nationals Fun Fly.    At the Nationals Fun Fly held over the Bank Holiday weekend, Nick Lester gained first place in Class 2.   This was a closely fought contest held over 4 rounds and Nick did well to achieve the highest overall score amongst some talented completion.  Congratulations Nick!.

HOUSE OF COMMONS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE – COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL DRONE USE INQUIRY – THIRD EVIDENCE SESSION

The Science and Technology Committee holds its third evidence session on its Commercial and recreational drone use in the UK inquiry on Tuesday 9th July.

Watch it online at Parliament TV.

Witnesses:

At 9.30 am

  • Gemma Alcock, Founder, SkyBound Rescuer
  • Professor David Dunn, International Politics, University of Birmingham
  • David Phipps, Chief Executive, British Model Flying Association

At 10.30 am

  • Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Department for Transport

This is the third and final session of the Committee's inquiry into commercial and recreational drone use in the UK. Themes for the session's first panel include:

  • reflecting upon the state of current drone safety education and exploring options and strategies for improving the quality and delivery of this education; and
  • addressing ethical concerns—including privacy concerns—that surround the increased availability, and use of, drone technology.

During the second panel, the Committee will question Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport. Questioning will cover a range of areas including:

  • the current regulatory framework;
  • forthcoming regulations;
  • risks associated with drones; and

•     the opportunities presented by the growing industry.

Club Competitions May.

11 members of the club entered models into this year’s  Flying Scale Competition.

The entrants were required to fly a set schedule followed by manoeuvres chosen from a menu that were within the capabilities of themselves, and appropriate for the model being flown.   The flights were judged by Richard Pidduck and Roger Everitt chosen from a cast of thousands.

 

In first place after the scores were added up came Carl, followed extremely closely by James, a margin of only one point separated them.  Third came Neil, 4th David, 5th was Colin, 6th was Ian, 7th was Phillip, 8th Mathew, 9th Gavin, who sadly was unable to complete a full flight after an engine failure, 10th was John who also did not complete the flight and in last place came Richard who was also suffering from engine reliability.

 

The Scale competition was then followed by a Fun Fly round Touch and Go Bang.  10 pilots took part 6 of whom managed to burst the balloon which comprised the Bang part of the competition. In first place came Ted who scored 49, Second place went to Gavin with 47, Third was David with 42, 4th place went to James who scored 38, 5th to Neil with 27 points, 6th place went to Phillip with 24, 7th to William who scored 19, 8th to Ian with 12, 9th to Richard C with 9. Finally came Matthew with 2 points.