Martin Harris - Moderator

Lots of guessing going on here but if HK are effectively offering dealerships to clubs then any liability for faulty goods will be on the clubs rather than HK - I don't think many clubs would want the hassle of chasing HK in the event of a warranty claim without UK consumer protection unless they add a hefty mark up to their members!

Interesting that they claim the castor is to “fine-tune combustion characteristics”…

I don’t think it’s for us to judge individual clubs’ policies. Joining fees are maybe a bit of an historic feature these days but where a club feels they are appropriate, why should a prospective member not see them as part of the overall package of fees, suitability, location, access etc. etc. to be considered when selecting a club? Membership policies can evolve of course and should a club decide that joining fees are off-putting then they can - and should - revise the policy. We do have a £50 joining fee and I’m yet to hear a prospective member comment adversely on it. We have introduced a policy of asking anyone interested in joining to pop in to the field to meet us - not just as a form of informal vetting but to ensure that we can manage their expectations to avoid the situation of taking their money and them finding that facilities/training or even the club atmosphere aren’t as expected. The original question was “why do some clubs have joining fees” so I suppose the short answer is that it’s because it suits them!

Probably covering the transformer/rectifier circuitry? From the website: Address Any Lamp BV Budgetlight.co.uk Victory House 400 Pavilion Drive Northampton Business Park NN4 7PA Northampton Northamptonshire Warehouse address Anylamp BV Hooge Zijde 30a 5626 DC Eindhoven Netherlands

When you join a member's club, in most cases you instantly become an "equal shareholder" - although many clubs have a charity distribution clause on dissolution so the financial aspect may be minimal. I believe that a joining fee reflects a part of that entitlement to use equipment and facilities provided by the existing members and their predecessors. Many new members will take advantage of freely given instruction and help. In the case of a commercial enterprise, start-up and maintenance costs will be factored into membership fees and expected to provide a healthy profit whereas a member's club will normally aim to cover costs and maintain a sufficient float for unexpected expenses at minimum subscription fees. The joining fee is one factor in offsetting costs for committed members and either weed out the casual "tick one off the bucket list" one season wonders or give the club [i.e. the existing members] a little return on its investment. There should be a balance between it being seen as both a financial commitment to the club/incentive to renew and its cost - some clubs own their fields, others have long term agreements and considerable investment in infrastructure and equipment and some may just have an arrangement with a friendly landlord at token cost with the use of the chairman's mower...so the level they are set at should reflect this. If it's the case that a club with a joining fee has a waiting list then it can hardly be seen as an off-putting factor!

OK - I'll re-phrase my request which may have been phrased too subtly...if this thread becomes political or disrespectful to other nations it will be closed.

Perhaps we should respect the wishes of the OP and avoid any further discussion over the use and history of the symbol...

Poster marked as spammer

I don’t know if it’s relevant but they are closed on Wednesdays so perhaps calling today might produce a better result?

Why not get them from the same source that the originals came from…a paint pot! Sadly, Solartrim is a thing of the past but alternatively you could cut them from self adhesive vinyl. Another solution would be to print some onto water slide decal paper using an inkjet printer.

One model I assembled - Durafly Me163 IIRC - came with 2 part decals...presumably so that they weren't actually providing swastikas.

I see the main justification for joining fees being to reflect massive investments in time and money made over the years by members both past and present. The joining fee is a token gesture to showing commitment to the club and not just using it to “pay as you go”. The old chestnut of certification will always cause division but the requirement for a B for flying larger model has been accepted at my club for decades - long before I joined. I saw it as a justifiable target to achieve before building a larger model. I fully accept that possession of a B (particularly one achieved in past years before efforts to standardise requirements may not have been applied) is no guarantee of competence but in a club which has adequate examiner availability I see little reason why someone wanting to operate a large model with its physical and legal responsibilities should not be asked to demonstrate a relatively simple level of competence. While bunting a 1/4 scale Cub may not be high on priorities, the aerobatic elements of the test show that the pilot is comfortable in recovery from unusual attitudes so DO have relevance.

Looking at your picture, my first instinct would be to blame a seized crank pin rather than the piston grabbing.

I suppose I’m just lucky to be so thick skinned.

That might just be acceptable on a laptop but would be disastrous on a smartphone. I really struggle to see - other than as a matter of principle to some - how these occasional adverts, which can be skimmed past in an instant, are causing such angst.