GONZO

Amazingly only one mention of London shops. My first memories are of a shop(could have been Model Aircraft Supplies) in the Old Kent/New Kent road area in the early fifties. I would have been still at infants school when out with my father we passed this shop with the noise of a running model engine coming from the interior, I dragged him in. It was his fault for having taken me one Sunday morning, a year or two earlier, to watch RTP hydroplane boats at Ruskin Park. A pause until I was about 7/8 yrs old in the mid fifties when my best friend, David Jenkins and I, discovered a fishing tackle shop that also sold KK flying scale models. The shop was just round the corner from our junior school, Michael Faraday Junior school Walworth London SE17, and we would spend lunch times and after school peering in the window planning our next purchase as we worked our way through the range. The success rate was, to say the least poor. Just after starting secondary school, Borough Beaufoy technical school Black Prince road London I discovered a model shop in Peckham where I purchased my very first engine a Frog 349 RC marine in 1960. In 1964 I started work for the GPO (telephones) at a headquarters branch in Islington and soon after discovered HJN's. I had also discovered/rediscovered Model Aircraft Supplies, now in Camberwell road. A move to Layer De La Haye, just South of Colchester, in early '73 resulted in me using Saturn Models Colchester(my first RC trainer the 'Jolly Roger' came from here) and Galaxy Models Ipswich(second trainer the 'Escort' ). For some odd reason I never used Bowmans Models Ipswich. Saturn Models folded and was subsequently replaced by Colchester Models. Moved to Ipswich in 1985 and I could walk to Galaxy models. 1999 saw me move to Amblecote in the West Midlands, but by now much was going telephone/online ordering. With my final move to Abergele in North Wales my nearest model shop is Steve Webs 42 miles away. So it's online and/or overseas. Edited By GONZO on 29/06/2020 16:27:01 Edited By GONZO on 29/06/2020 16:28:32

Some dimensions; Main unit(12gm) L 31mm X W 32mm X D 8mm GPS (8gm) 20mm sq X D 8mm All dimensions approx

KOPILOT lite This any use. Comes with a GPS for return to home and 'geo fencing'. Flying weight complete is 20gm(setup unit is removed for flying. Can use S-BUS or PWM o/p's from Rx.

Andy Symons has just posted on Facebook stating admin error and the CAA scheme has not collapsed. Facebook link Edited By GONZO on 26/06/2020 12:52:58

Steve, your asking questions I can't answer, 1/ I never paid, 2/ I'm not the treasurer. As the Facebook statement says a payment from the BMFA to the club.

Martin, read the Facebook page via the link. All I know is what is there.

Jason, there's a 'ZOHD Drift Owners Group' on Facebook, just join the group. Plus lots on YouTube.

Same here Jason, got myself a ZOHD Dart 250g and a ZOHD Drift(sub250g). Interestingly people are reporting 90 min flying time with the Drift using 18650 3500mAh cells(2)

Barry, I could but for some reason I can't copy and past into this forum.

Facebook link

Let me throw a stone in the water and cause a few ripples(so unlike me). The treasurer of the club I belong to recently posted on our Facebook page that he had received a refund, from the BMFA, of all members registration fees(£9/per member) that had been done via the BMFA. He stated that this was due to the collapse of the registration scheme. COMMENTS??

Posted by Richard Clark 2 on 15/06/2020 08:05:59: Posted by GONZO on 14/06/2020 13:43:26: Richard Clark 2, agree with you. Our current situation with the 'toy plane' rules is just symptomatic of our current society. Anyone taking a wider view of society will see 'we' are all being slowly, incrementally hedged in by rules/laws and nudged this way and that by staged events to an eventual destination that would not have been acceptable if imposed in one go. In the absence of any organised 'refusal to pay' I have personally not paid the 'toy tax', nor will I. If I can't fly my planes so be it., the end of 60+ years. People have given up more for less. People have given their lives for the right to say what they think. Gonzo, You don't have to give up toy planes if you have not paid the toy tax. I asked my wife. 1) The police can always ask you your name but you are only obliged to answer if they say you are suspected of a driving or terrorist offence. 2) The police at the 'Gatwick event' said they did NOT think the arrested couple were in any way connected with terrorism. This will establish a precedent for 99% of 'unregistered drone flyers'. 3) Even in the rare occasions it doesn't establish such a precedent because the police do think you are a terrorist all they can do is arrest you even though they don't know your name. 4) A driving offence. If you refuse to give your name the police have no way of connecting a car parked nearby to you. 5) So either way, suspected terrorist or suspected bad driver, they put you in a cell at the local nick., still without knowing you name. 6)Then they have to persuade the Public Prosecutor that it'a worth taking you to court. At court is the FIRST time you are compelled to give your name. 7) In arresting you and taking you to the police station the arresting officer(s) will expose their actions to the senior officer at the police station and to go any further also expose their actions to the Public Prosecutor. That's all fact. My wife's professional legal opinion "After the recent decision on the Gatwick compensation no sane police force is going to do all this just for flying a toy plane in a farmers field, recreation ground, beauty spot, or whatever". So keep on flying Unfortunately the club field is highly visible from the A 55 and the 'committee' have decided to police the regulations contrary to the advice of the BMFA. Additionally, due to the 'boggy man' virus only members who live no more than 5 miles from the field can book a slot to use it. I have a couple of sub 250g planes which I intend to fly from the beach where I live. The club field is irrelevant anyhow as I am in the shielded category and the Welsh government recently sent me a letter extending my virtual house arrest until August 16th at least. I'm thinking of having bars installed on all windows to make the experience complete.

Peter, it's highly unlikely I'll live that long. But even if I did, long before then model flying would not be a physical possibility.

Richard Clark 2, agree with you. Our current situation with the 'toy plane' rules is just symptomatic of our current society. Anyone taking a wider view of society will see 'we' are all being slowly, incrementally hedged in by rules/laws and nudged this way and that by staged events to an eventual destination that would not have been acceptable if imposed in one go. In the absence of any organised 'refusal to pay' I have personally not paid the 'toy tax', nor will I. If I can't fly my planes so be it., the end of 60+ years. People have given up more for less. People have given their lives for the right to say what they think.

Got rid of the licence and don't watch any of the propaganda trash.

USB You can get various types of these USB units(I have a couple that I use) in different voltage , currents etc. No problem multiplying voltage and current for watts. Open and use different leads or USB and adaptors. Cheap, quick and simple.

Posted by MattyB on 31/03/2020 16:28:28: Posted by Steve J on 31/03/2020 16:03:00: If anybody is interested, EASA published their U-Space opinion a couple of weeks ago. From pg 30... "3.2.2. Who is affected? UAS operators: All legal or natural persons operating or intending to operate one or more unmanned aircraft. UAS operators that operate unmanned aircraft that are considered toys or those under subcategory A1, and UAS operators that conduct operations under model aircraft clubs and associations, and wish to operate within the established U-space airspace, will be obliged to use Uspace services and conclude a contract with one of the certified USSPs for that particular U-space airspace implementation. UAS operators are benefitting from those services as the latter support them in conducting their operations safely and therefore in delivering their services." As recreational users aren't we the lucky ones?! The intention, IMO, is to squeeze as much money out of us whilst squeezing us out of 'U-space' airspace.

It's clear enough to me. As Steve J say's, "operator registration is optional until the 30th June for association members". As I chose not to register to start with I think I will wait to see what developments occur. In the mean time I'll dust off a few 'standard' planes.

Having read the document I think I'm entitled to a wry smile(or maybe not) over all those who rushed to sign up and pay their £9 well in advance of the stated date and then boast about it. So, I stand to be corrected, as I understand this as it relates to my own circumstances; I'm a member of the BMFA and therefore according to this document I do not need to register as an operator and pay my £9 until 30th June 2020 or until this order is rescinded, additionally as I have a BMFA 'A' cert I do not need to take the CAA test or the BMFA test.

Additional thoughts. Use of RC Rx telemetry would require ALL RC manufacturers to make their protocol public, I think this is unlikely. Also, one presumes that the GUID of each individual RC combo would prevent this. RID would need to be 'spread spectrum' on whatever frequency band was used as 'spot' frequencies would soon be full. At a club environment you can easily have 6 planes in the air with others on the ground switched on. How do you tell which plane is transmitting what information? Edited By GONZO on 14/02/2020 11:17:19

So, lets try and get a practical handle on the equipment weights for this RID requirement. For my sub 250g planes I've purchased ZOHD KOPILOTLITE stabiliser and flight programmer with GPS HERE The GPS unit is 8gm and can be purchased separately HERE for £8.65 So, we have a rough idea that the GPS unit could be about 8gm which would need to be associated with a Tx unit incorporating a store for the operator details. If additional information/accuracy is required a magnetic compass unit to give heading and a barometer for more accurate height may be required. IMO it would not be unreasonable to suppose that an integrated unit with aerial/s would weigh about what the total KOPILOTLITE weighs, 20gm (less magnetic compass unit and barometer). This is obviously dependant on frequency of operation. But, its the power supply question, dedicated or from plane. Of course this does not answer the question of what does one do for FF models, glider and power, and rubber powered FF. Then there is the question of who enters the details, operator or third party? Third party involvement is where the costs may escalate due to security checking of applicant for the device etc. Just some of my thoughts on the physical and operational issues surrounding this. I also think that this requirement will tend to push up the base level for model size/cost due to added weight and proportion of total cost.

This video by Xjet recomending a video by a 15 y old is worth a look and as he say's 'spread it far and wide' Our Hobby. The fight for the future I know it's about the remote ID in the USA but we have this coming here! Steve J, could you briefly outline the amendments.?

I think my neighbour has gone flying, I just saw his shed go past my window!

Gary, not even a mail order bride??