Simon P

I will ask the BMFA themselves but are we supposed to receive a new BMFA membership card every year? I recently renewed my membership and got a welcome pack in the post with stickers and magazines but no new membership card and my original membership card shows that, on the face of it, my membership has expired. I’ve just been flashing the email I received after payment as proof of membership for the last couple of months.

Stu Knowles, this is the only rubber powered helicopter I saw. I apologise that it’s backlit but all the models looked great against the sunset each night, even the ones that were probably never to be seen again! (Saw at least 2 fly always last night).

Thanks! That answers my Q’s so I’ll get going then.

Thinking of an impromptu trip to the nats this evening to overnight with a small tent. Never having been before I have to ask are there toilets and showers / water at the campsite? Also what is the policy on cooking - I have a trangia or a portable charcoal BBQ but am aware some places don’t allow certain kinds of cooking systems. I can’t find mention of facilities or policies on the BMFA Nats site and obviously too late to prebook and talk to BMFA office at this point in time. Thank you Edited By Simon P on 24/08/2019 11:01:07 Edited By Simon P on 24/08/2019 11:01:39

Recreational aviation, including model aviation, in this country is under heavy attack. An airspace and land grab, the likes of which have not been seen before, is under way. Many of you will know of the long established Lasham gliding club. They’re about to be squeezed out of their airspace after losing the fight against Farnborough’s vanity request for controlled airspace. The CAA decision makers blithely state that they are required to accept any proposal that increases safety. Of course, looked at in isolation, controlled airspace seems safer but this ignores the wider picture wherein much other air traffic not under Farnborough control will be displaced, encouraging long detours and, in particular, pinch points with associated collision risks. We also have almost all our airfields in private hands despite almost all being established with public funds. Many smaller airfields are being encroached upon or built over by new build housing. This is the sad fate of Old Sarum aerodrome which recently gave notice to all its tenants that the airfield will be closing permanently at the end of October. While we may see things from slightly different angles us model flyers and the wider recreational aviation market are under attack from the same forces. In fact the plight of us modellers has featured quite frequently in letters to editors of light aircraft oriented magazines. In our case the reasoning behind the whole exercise can be shown to be completely flawed, affecting only the law abiding and making a reasonable approximation of a mugging whilst they’re at it! Structure already exists for modellers to demonstrate competence and knowledge of the law. The law is a blunt tool or is that a reference to those who make the law? Edited By Simon P on 02/08/2019 01:27:18

Jrman hit the nail on the head when it comes to OS engine availability. It’s an import/export issue as evidenced by the Japanese getting engines such as the os max 11ax and others but very little evidence of them being sold else where. I sometimes feel as though with regard to model engines that Western importers have pulled products from their markets for their own reasons while claiming that the engine was discontinued by the manufacturer - which I have found to be untrue in a number of recent occasions. Enya and SWM for instance (I do wish SWM would butt out of the engine market, recently with the more exotic small diesels and Enyas etc. they seem to buy stock at the same retail rates anyone else does and then add their markup which just pushes prices up and availability down for the intended market), OS as just described, the small Saito 30 too was available for a couple of years after Americans were told they were discontinued. As a relatively young modeller who enjoys traditional modelling and engines I have to say it has been rather depressing reading recently. Whenever topics such as the one in this thread are raised I see many, presumably, old hands saying how it doesn’t matter because they have enough engines or whatever to see them through but what about those of us who will still want to fly their engines and traditionally built models long after those modellers have hung up their transmitters? We appear to be lucky to have been granted various exemptions by the CAA recently or many branches of the hobby may have been legislated out of existence - flat field thermal gliding for instance where 400ft is routinely exceeded. Pity the BMFA leadership chose to spend their war chest on a piece of land that benefits very few of us on a daily basis instead of using it for lobbying and recruitment.

Vladimir Models Elf DLG. Tons of performance packed into a small model utilising only 2ch. I have had flights lasting hours. I have thermalled it to a speck from my first throw of the day. No fuel or large batteries required. The only drawback is it isn’t any good in breezier weather.

From the pictures on Lidl's website the table on this bandsaw appears cast but the surface has not been ground smooth and there is no slot for additional attachments such as a mitre fence. On the other hand it is about half the price of similar sized models that have those features.

I would be careful rubbishing the exclusive 35MHz band based on the technology available when it was widely used. We might need it one day, 2.4GHz is a free for all. I wonder if any of the techniques and technologies we have these days on 2.4GHz could be back ported to 35MHz. I know a microchip intended for wireless computer mice is a large part of what gave manufacturers easy access to 2.4GHz and there probably isn’t something like that for 35MHz FM but if a microchip were to exist and have the same ins and outs perhaps it would be possible to transfer new technology to the old 35MHz band.

Nice to see this one done! It's the first I can recall seeing with nose gear - others were all tail draggers. I would love to see a video sometime if that is reasonably possible

Totally agree with Allan. It's the route I would use and have used before. I recommend the Flex-I-File Flex pad intro set consisting of 5 different flex pads. They last forever and will polish your canopy back to like new condition quickly if you use them in order of coarsest to finest grit.

Perforating the underlying film is the technique advocated in the book 'Tom's Techniques' published alongside other Harry Higley books. I'd say it is a good idea and will go a long way to reducing the chance of trapped bubbles. Careful work ought to take you the rest of the way. Solarfilm and Monokote both tend to be bubble prone in my experience while Oracover is significantly easier in that regard and can be applied over the other two brands if wanted.

Ended at £670. Seller's Christmas costs and Summer holidays covered then! Hehe

No criticism of this sale but it has become a bit of a spectacle. It seems to up by another £100 each time I check on it. It's an Ok Model Pilot brand 3 channel trainer kit currently at I've £500. I would never have thought that it'd fetch that kind of money and if you view the bidding history you'll notice it is not just the usual coming together of two buyers who put large amounts down it is at least 3 or 4 driving it up. I would be quite pleased if I were the seller! Here's the link **LINK**