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It snowed last night... 8:00 am: I made a snowman. 8:10 - A feminist passed by and asked me why I didn't make a snow woman. 8:15 - So, I made a snow woman. 8:17 - My feminist neighbour complained about the snow woman's voluptuous chest saying it objectified snow women everywhere. 8:20 - The gay couple living nearby threw a hissy fit and moaned it could have been two snow men instead. 8:22 - The transgender man..woman...person asked why I didn't just make one snow person with detachable parts. 8:25 - The vegans at the end of the lane complained about the carrot nose, as veggies are food and not to decorate snow figures with. 8:28 - I was being called a racist because the snow couple is white. 8:31 - The middle eastern gent across the road demanded the snow woman be covered up . 8:40 - The Police arrived saying someone had been offended. 8:42 - The feminist neighbour complained again that the broomstick of the snow woman needed to be removed because it depicted women in a domestic role. 8:43 - The council equality officer arrived and threatened me with eviction. 8:45 - TV news crew from BBC showed up. I was asked if I know the difference between snowmen and snow-women? I replied "Snowballs" and am now called a sexist. 9:00 - I was on the News as a suspected terrorist, racist, homophobe sensibility offender, bent on stirring up trouble during difficult weather. 9:10 - I was asked if I have any accomplices. My children were taken by social services. 9:29 - Far left protesters offended by everything marched down the street demanding for me to be arrested. By noon it all melted Moral: There is no moral to this story. It is what we have become, all because of snowflakes.

You are not subsidising them. Not one penny of the £42 you paid for your 2023 membership was used to subsidise them. However as I mentioned previously you have still benefitted indirectly, the BMFA didn't have to spend some of the pennies you paid to hire venues that we would have had to previously because we were able to use Buckminster. Buckminster has also proved very useful in promoting model aircraft flying and helping to put our sport in to the public eye. Something all model aircraft flyers benefit from. In years when the BMFA makes a surplus of over £10k £10k will be transferred to the National Centre reserve. But only if there is a healthy surplus, the BMFA does have some other income streams apart from membership subscriptions though and £10k is probably a lot less then would have to be paid to hire venues annually that now no longer need to be hired. Your subs are not used to fund Buckminster. Clubs are not forced to have 100% BMFA membership, it is a choice they make to affiliate because they consider the benefits of affiliation are worth it. It's actually a bit of a no-brainer when you consider all the benefits that otherwise the club would have to pay for.

My last project from how she looked when I picked her up to now all completed and looking resplendent with her new cowling, fitted and painted. This was a complete back to bare airframe restoration and E conversion. She is a Bowman’s Model, Miles Magister 1 designed in 1979 with an 85 inch span and an AUW of 13 1/2lbs (recommended 10lbs), running a 6S system turning a 16x8 wooden prop. She fly’s really nice even with the extra weight.

. . . (Yes, I know it's an aeroplane.)

50 inch span Depron JU87. All covered in 50gram grp cloth and west system epoxy. Scratch build from scaled up 3 view on Wikipedia, and lots of photos. Started out in white winter camo, didn't like it, so changed to two-tone green camo. Didn't like that so added desert camo which I quite like. 1300 grams flying weight. 35/36 900 kv motor.2200 3cell lipo.

Strewth, what a lot of whingers. The BMFA does great work for the sport/hobby. . It's a thankless task, and their main problem is they don't shout about it. So every year we get the same old whingers complaining about a derisory increase in the subscription. Some folk really need to get a grip on reality. If people aren't prepared to pay the paltry subscription to support the National body, then they are in the wrong hobby.

I had my Maiden flight today with my latest depron and foamboard model 65" span weight 6.5lb ready to fly, no problems apart from my fingers freezing in the cold N E wind second flight 4.5 minutes 71% left in the battery. Must be my age but I did not feel like hanging around in the cold so pleased with the result I went home some hit soup.

Yep and be prepared to take over the running of the club, you may find that the current committee wouldn't be prepared to continue without the backing/safety net of the club being affiliated.

One little comment here that's a bit off the beaten track . It was quite amazing going through the back order notes . Lots of little notes about people and what they had built before , even notes about their wife not being well or themselves . Quite sad that we have lost a few over the years too . But you know what ? We are pretty much all the same kind of chaps , its a great community, building our scale models and helping others get along . Putting all else aside , its a nice feeling that I'm making stuff that actually makes people feel good about themselves and their achievements . You cant do that working in a bank. (you would get a decent pension though 🤣) Ive always said that if you put as all in a big hall , we would all get along famously . Imagine if geography wasnt a problem , we had an actual flying club with us all in it . What a hoot that would be ! Keep smiling chaps .

The one thing I haven't mentioned about the FW190 is the flying . Happy to say it's all good news . The 52" model weighs only 3lb 4oz fully kitted out except for the flight battery . So with a my old stock 3300 4s pack it means the all up weight is exactly 4lb . That is light for a model that is stiff as a board and could fly in a gale ! I didnt make any special attempt to shave off a few ounces either . Because the weather has been so wet , I didnt feel I could drag any of my fellow members down the patch at short notice , but equally , I like to pick a quiet time so that I can really soak up all the details of the test flying without distraction . The first flight was on a soggy day with no wind . In fact ideally, as I had to do my own hand launch , I would have preferred a breeze . However , the calm conditions did allow me to explore the handling and in particular the slow speed handling and stall . Well, she went straight out of my hand with no sink ( I under propped with an 11x6 on purpose) . No aileron trim required just a dab of down (I had added some up for safe measure ) . Two circuits then some low passes . Very smooth and easy to fly . Fast pass and roll was very nice , then climb to height for stall testing . That was an eye opener . Even with absolutely no wind , she would hang in , tail sinking , without a hint of stalling . You really do need to take the proverbial if you want this little Focke to bite you . As you can tell , I'm right chuffed with that . And I think you will be too !😉

So, 97 counties, say 3 acres for a small field, say an average of £10.5k per acre equals...... over £3m. It'd take years to find and purchase that many fields. And require lots of people to be involved, including legal fees - lets add, say, 1m. Who decides where they are? Some counties are pretty large so would still be out of reach - personally, I would be reluctant to travel more than 30 mins.... Who maintains them - an existing club, or a specially formed new club? Or the BMFA remotely? If the field is for the benefit of the county, how is it 'policed' to make sure it is actually used for that purpose? What happens if the BMFA gets into financial difficulties? What's to stop them selling off the most valuable land? I'm pretty sure these arguments will have occurred in the BMFA for years. I've nothing against 'one man, one vote', but suspect that not many of the membership would actually vote, meaning a large, militant club could have disproportionate power. The best way to change things, if that's what is wanted, is to get more involved - the invitation is always there. As you will see, I think the BMFA do an excellent job, in challenging times. Have I been to Buckminster? No. Will I go to Buckminster? Probably not as it's a long drive with arthritic knees. Do I support it's existence? Irrelevant really - the democratic process agreed to it, and I support that process. Finally, getting back on topic, I don't think the increase is disproportionate at all.

It is rare to read something so far removed from reality. We actually have more freedoms now when it comes to heights we can fly at than we did before. i suppose sometimes the blinkers just won't come off. Oh well.

I forgot to share a picture of the “Flat Gnat” after it was painted. I went for a cartoonish version of an RAF training scheme on the full size gnats. Given the simplicity of the model it worked out well and it’s now much easier to see in flight, which is useful as it’s surprisingly quick!

I have to say that is some advanced level doom-mongery. If the powers that be wanted us out of the shared airspace we would already be out of it. As it stands the effects on us so far have been minimal and I very much feel that going forward apart from some adaptation to the reality that airspace is only going to get busier there will be a minimal effect for the majority of model flyers. The BMFA have worked very hard both in Europe and the UK over the past years to ensure the effects have been minimal and we will continue to do so.

Finished the the Skyliner now, apart from a mod to fit the Fox spinner to the mm shaft on the electricc motor. Fifty one years from the original flight., hence the decoration. Note the wheels raked well forward and original fit Williams Streamline wheels 21/4" dia, from old friend, thanks Nige.

An opportunity that we had for 98 years before somebody decided to charge us for it… Brian.

No chance the Yanks still use imperial sizes.

Just received some pictures from Sunday's Remembrance Day's flying, with my SE5a having a sortie in perfect conditions, captured by my pal Derek Robertson. Bit of a dodgy take off by me, but it makes for a cracking picture. The landings were spot on. 🙂

De icer sanded

ken anderson....ne....1...ah so dept.

Before Buckminster became available the BMFA quite often had to hire venues for a number of events. Many of those events, a prime example being the Schools and Universities Payload challenge, are now held at Buckminster meaning there is a substantial expenditure that is no longer needed in venue hire which doesn't show in the accounts. Having a National Centre has also meant there has been opportunities to showcase our sport that were otherwise unavailable too. Income at Buckminster was quire badly affected by some atrocious weather this year with a number events cancelled. Having a National Centre also adds massively to the credibility of model aircraft flying as a sport, which h too.as great value

For this who might be a bit confused....