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GrumpyGnome

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Everything posted by GrumpyGnome

  1. Hi ARC How's the Ruckus holding up? I'm considering buying the version in the Chippie colour scheme TIA
  2. Nope, no flying today - have to somehow get the contents of my son's 2 bed apartment into our small house.......
  3. Lol. Me too - maybe that's why I'm languishing......
  4. Tailplane for me - 'cos I'm used to it, and don't have any low wingers. I think there's only one regular member, and one visitor who restrains by the wings. Have to say I've never seen a 'failure' of either type...... but never seen anything larger than 35cc.
  5. We only initially banned ic models to demonstrate to our landlord that we were taking his concerns seriously. Once we had time for proper internal debate, we agreed LiPo fires are probably most common (we have no Turbines - our field is too small) and, so as not to 'demonise' any particular cohort, ceased flying of any powered craft. We've never lost a model in corn, but a few have been lost in Rape - both spotted whilst harvesting - the drivers of the harvesting machines are pretty vigilant! We specifically tell our members not to attempt to fight any crop fires - the extinguishers are solely for use on 'our' field...... the fire brigade will just let a crop fire burn, making sure property/lives are not lost. Some members are planning in visiting today - hopefully they will all follow the new no-fly zone!
  6. I can barely remember 2021...... 🙂
  7. Our grass looks like that.....!! I may be able to leave puppy/sitting to my wife for a while tomorrow and/or Weds morning....
  8. @Glenn Philbrickyes, BMFA confirmed this morning that damage to crops is covered. We had hoped that confirmation of that, plus our concession to mandatory fire extinguishers, irrespective of motive power, would enable us to restart. But, after long discussions, the only way our landlord would sanction us flying again was to introduce a hard no-fly zone over the crops, plus the mandatory extinguishers. This is Ok for some models but not for others and leaves us with three challenges: The main runway is East/West so either the landing approach or take off is compromised depending on wind direction We already have a no-fly zone to the South as that's the pits and parking area The land to the east has our nearest road so is relatively small. So, I guess small and or slow models will be OK but larger, faster, planes will be in storage for a few weeks! To help, we've had to temporarily relax our stance on car parking areas, and the pilots box to allow maximum opportunities to fly. The farmer has also stated that if he does see an encroachment in the new no-fly zone, we'll have to stop all flying until the crop is harvested. He did say he's expecting to have to harvest it this month as there has been no significant rain since February. He did express his appreciation for our immediate action so we seem to have gained some brownie points there - must make sure we get that out there so the members that were most vocal about over-reacting can see being pro-active was positive 🙂 Not an ideal outcome but certainly far from the worst possible outcome. In the meantime, we're quietly looking for another site that will allow our ic powered planes, and our larger electrics. We've also learnt that our day rate for visitors is a third of that for the only other club in the area; other clubs do not allow visitors; some other clubs have had similar issues; one relatively local club is 'full' so can't accommodate visitors, even mid-week; one offered temporary membership for £45. Thanks for letting me whinge!
  9. This is a phrase/sentiment we've used dozens of times since we implemented our 'ban'........ some of our members think our hobby is more important than his livelihood......
  10. Sorry if I'm coming across as defensive.... Experiences, thoughts, are appreciated.
  11. We pretty much have tbh. I have a couple of rubber powered planes, a chuckie, and a DLG but reckon I'm pretty much the only one. It was petrol planes that concerned the farmer, but he won't know the difference between Glow and Petrol, so they had to be lumped together as 'ic'. Then the ic members started pointing out the higher risk of fire from LiPos, so all leccy flight got added. We're trying to pull back from the decision with facts and assurances but we felt we needed to make a decision that would not result in him removing our access totally, and permanently. My current view us that until we have concrete evidence re insurance cover, and his crop is harvested, the hiatus will continue. After that, we may have to strenghthen our position re extinguishers. Lots of this is about the optics, as our political reporters say....
  12. I've realised you either jeed to be very knowledgeable, very lucky, or spend some time at it. I typically spend 5 minutes per race, and/or am unlucky, and/or have very limited knowledge...
  13. I have never seen a glow or petrol plane crash and catch fire either - but I, like our landlord, can use Youtube. Unlike our landlord, I can tell the difference between motive power used. Domestic fire extinguishers will have zero impact on a crop fire. Our nearest fire station is 11 miles away - they'd not try to stop the fire, they'd prevent it damaging property. No, we don't crash any more often than other clubs I don't believe.
  14. In our communication, we used the term glow-powered 🙂 We didn't quote turbines or pulse jets, but did cover cars, just in case...
  15. I have contacted BMFA and await a response.. that's quick and easy BMFA involvement that nay shorten our hiatus
  16. A few weeks ago, we acquired a new Labrador puppy, limiting my visits to the flying field (prior to this, I'd be there most days). When I visited the field after a few weeks away, I was amazed at the state of it.... (for background, the North of our field is flat, with a slight slope on the South side) The flat area was brown, and dusty, the grass hadn't grown in the three weeks since it had previously been cut The slop was green, resulting in a two-tone field Every landing, and take off, was accompanied by a dust trail The grain field, belonging to our farmer landlord, was similar, with green stalks to the South, and brown/yellow stalks to the North (I actually commented on the dryness and two-tone nature on our club Wotsapp group and on here...) On Friday, our landlord commented on the dryness of both our field, and the adjoining crop field, expressing concern that "... a hot petrol engine..... causing a significant fire..." As a committee, we thought we had a number of options: a) Somehow allay his fears as baseless b) Insist all fliers have a fire extinguisher ready to hand (currently a recommendation) c) Try and restrict over-flying of his crop d) Temporarily cease use of the models causing him concern. After some debate, we decided that the best, and fairest course of action, to ensure goodwill and continued use of the field, was to temporarily cease flying of any craft powered by electricity, nitromethane, petrol, or diesel. We expect this to last until either the crop is harvested (about three weeks by the look of it), or significant rainfall. It seems likely that if the crop is harvested first, we'll need to insist on fire extinguishers. We've had some feedback from members, but largely along the lines that we've over-reacted, we should have involved the fire brigade, we should have involved BMFA, we should have persuaded him that our models won't cause a fire, it's setting a dangerous precedent. All things we have considered and most dismissed as being not immediate enough. What do you all think? Right decision, wrong decision? Have you had similar issues?
  17. Well done Iqon! Nice to see my disastrous day hasn't pushed me (even further) down the table......
  18. I almost miss those early days - everything just seems to work so well now 😏 Lovely spitfire - those Balsacraft kits made lovely flying planes.
  19. @dhendleythanks for the quick fixes. Ignore the odd ott response - good to have you onboard.
  20. ElectricWingman, Robotbirds, fleabay..... you know the kV and can measure the required dimensions for an equivalent (diameter, length, weight).
  21. Usual Grob Perfect. Then 2 of them flew over the flying field, quite low, heading for the North Sea. And a blue, silver/white business jet that flew from Scarborough direction towards Bridlington, and did a full 360 turn over the field, before heading towards Bridlington. The Hawks and Typhoons have been quite active recently. The Typhoon that did the air display at Scarborough flew over our village on it's way to Scarborough - never seen one fly as slowly. We seem to have lots and lots of Swifts, Swallows and House Martins this year, and there seem to be loads of birds of prey around as well. Not many bats though.....
  22. They did fly brilliantly. My first experience of brushless power with an AXI 2820/10..... whooshhhh!1
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