Events are listed at the bottom of this page...
Autumn 2011
After a fine Indian summer, autumn has arrived with a vengeance and it appears that for the next few months at least, flying will be on an opportunity basis rather than whenever the mood takes as has been the norm throughout the summer. It’s not all bad though and the winter months give us time to look back, take stock of what went right, correct what went wrong and plan ahead for the winter projects for next years flying.
For the new members this year we do fly all through the year but it can get cold and it is essential to have a “hack” aeroplane that ideally is fully rigged ready to go and is reliable enough to fly in all conditions. I came by one quite by chance last year when I bought Bill’s Fun Cub. I would never have looked at one normally but as it was surplus to Bill’s requirements, on the spur of the moment I bought his kit and I have to say it was probably one of the best things I’ve done. It was perfect for flying last winter. I even took off and landed in the ploughed field just to see whether it could do it. It is virtually indestructible as has been shown by several people and it is probably one of the best trainers anyone can buy. It can be tweaked to give an aerobatic performance so it is ideal for moving on when the basics have been learnt. The flaps are unnecessary but I guess Multiplex added them to give the kit wider appeal. It has certainly been a winner for them as worldwide it must have sold hundreds of thousands.
Looking back over the year I am tempted to say that it has been a windy summer but I think the wind has only appeared at weekends as I recall many days of relative calm. We certainly didn’t experience many calm summer club nights and I don’t recall the setting sun being too much of a problem either. The Sunday soaring sessions weren’t as good as last year. There has been plenty of lift around the site, it just hasn’t appeared regularly at weekends.
Last winter the project was to motorise the two big soarers. Both were completed and are flying successfully but there have not been the big boomer days of 2010. Consequently the ASW27 didn’t get its altimeter and this is on hold until I decide whether to go for a telemetry radio or just fit a data logger.
Certainly we have had a wider variety of aircraft being flown this year. More soarers are being flown, many of them of foam construction and it is also nice to see more scale aircraft appearing. The advent of ready to fly, fully detailed and painted foam aircraft ready fitted with retracts and lights has made this easy and I must say they look most realistic in the air. They also possess a performance as well, I wonder if the Acro/Extra et al era has had its day.
Several home design/experimental planes have appeared, some successful, some not so but in all cases it is good to see. One or two of us were present a few weeks ago when Michael Humphris successfully flew an electric control line aircraft at the site and he tells us that an even bigger one is on the cards. Pete O’Donohue tried this a couple of years ago but he had no means of controlling the power with the inevitable result! Michael uses a separate radio to control the throttle.
I have been very interested to see the development in FPV. I haven’t tried it yet but I know one or two of you have. In the Fun Cub I probably have the near perfect platform so if I have a try I may be convinced to do something about it and get my own system.
I know too that some of you fly at various times through the week and so I don’t always catch up with you. As a club we are very fortunate to be able to fly at all times without any restrictions being placed on us. It may be that you prefer to fly on your own or maybe circumstances dictate this. In any event I hope you have enjoyed your flying and if there is anything you would like to share with the rest of us just let me know.
In the meantime I have today made a start on one of my winter projects. I have two, both scale German fighters of WW2, one classic the other largely experimental and both are being built from scratch from plans. Pete O’Donohue described to me his method of using brown paper and watered down PVA glue to cover airframes and indeed his Spitfire looked very good done this way. It was my intention to use this method too but John Copp drew my attention to a product called EZE Cote which is a water based acrylic resin type compound intended to be used with lightweight glass cloth. As I’ve worked with glass fibre a lot in the past I’ve decided to give this a try as it seems to be much more convenient than using epoxy, being less messy, easy to clean as its water soluble, dries quickly and is easy to sand. Obviously it doesn’t have the strength of epoxy but with electric this is not needed, and it will be stronger than Profilm anyway. It also gives me the option of being able to give a more authentic finish by being able to spray.
I have obtained the decals for these from Pyramid models. Browsing their website I was amazed at what was available so if you are stuck for some decoration or otherwise give their website a scan. It is very comprehensive.
Wayne has continued to test flight batteries and the present value for money packs seem to be the 25C rated Gens Ace cells, available from Giant Cod and Electric Wingman. Not only are these the best Wayne has tested, but they are also cheaper than many others. They seem to have been discovered by other users too as they don’t seem to remain in stock for long which should tell us something.
We would still like to do some indoor flying this winter but it is proving difficult to find a venue that is suitable for all. Village halls are the obvious choice but they are too small for all but the very tiny. Still with the continued miniaturisation of hardware this is now becoming feasible. However if anyone has any ideas or suggestions we would be glad to hear of them.
The AGM passed without much change. However Pete Cresswell felt unable to continue as treasurer for health reasons and Dave Germany volunteered to take over this position. In addition, subsequent to the meeting and further to my request for additional committee members, Chris Pavitt told me that he was prepared to back up the committee. It has been decided that the post will be called vice chairman and looking to the future it will be an executive post. This contravenes our constitution as it states that the executive shall consist of only three members and rather than call an extraordinary meeting to amend this it will be put on hold and debated and voted on at next year’s AGM. We can afford to wait as it will not affect the running of the club whatsoever. However if in the meantime we have to hold an EGM for whatever reason we will ratify this at the same time.
As we have passed the end of our club year, subs for 2012 are now due. I know most of you have renewed already but for those that haven’t may I remind you that you are not allowed to fly at the site until they have been paid. For those members who are not affiliated to BMFA through the club the same rule applies to you after 31st December until your BMFA membership has been renewed. We have been advised by BMFA that subs for 2012 will be increased by £1 across the board.
On the back of your membership card for 2012 you will find the new caravan lock code which is now effective and also included is an amended version of our site rules. Please read them and apply them to your flying as they are written to prevent accidents. Please also pay particular attention to the speed limit down the access track. We have to contribute towards the maintenance of the track and excess speed causes damage, the repair of which we become liable for so help us to keep costs down by observing the speed limit.
Cross clothing, who supply our club logo embroidered sportsware, have informed us of an increase in their prices. This, coupled with the increase in VAT, has raised the price beyond which we have been charging, which was in itself significantly lower than the retail price. To keep the costs down therefore any future orders will be charged to you at the trade price, i.e. what it costs us. However if you are in the immediate market, Bill has a limited stock of sweat shirts and polo shirts in various sizes for sale at original prices which represents a considerable saving. If you are thinking of buying a club fleece, sweatshirt, polo shirt or cap contact Bill and grab a bargain
As in the past we will attempt to fly on New Years day to hopefully start the season in style. This obviously is weather dependant and we have not been too successful for the last couple of years so let’s hope that in 2012 the winter is not too severe and we have more luck. As the days are very short with poor light I would suggest not much later than 11am. That gives time for a quick fly before home for a late lunch.
For those who hibernate during the winter, summer club night flying will commence on the second Thursday in April which I believe is the 9th but this will be confirmed in the new year..
Finally I have a JR DSX9 transmitter that is surplus to my requirements and will appear at a later date on the BMFA website. It is in excellent condition and is available to any club member for £140. I will be asking more than this when it goes on general sale. It is a transmitter only with manual, there is no charger or receivers but it is DSM2 protocol (Spektrum) so it uses their receivers as well as JR. If you are interested and want any more information give me a call
Let’s hope this winter is a mild one!
John
Events...
If anyone has news of any upcoming events they think others would be interested in please let me paulvertical5000@yahoo.co.uk know the dates and i will post them here for all to see, Thanks.
1st January New year Fly in as long as the weather plays ball