Martin Harris - Moderator

Rather like the BMFA - the association operates on behalf of its legal entity, the SMAE. There's not much on the BMFA website that I can see but I believe the change of operating name was simply to modernise the impression of the organisation in order to increase its appeal. Dale's suggestion seems to be the easiest and most practical way to operate under the new name.

Welcome to the forum Ian and hopefully we’ll see you joining in with some of our varied topics. Although RCM&E staff look in from time to time, it’s run mostly by volunteers with no connection to the magazine publishers so If you have any questions about a current subscription you would be better advised to phone 01507 529529 or drop an email to [email protected] I’m not aware of when you took out your subscription but the January issue would have been issued in December so I suspect that your subscription might start with the February issue.

It’s in the title, Jim.

Welcome to the forum Lewis. Sorry that model flying is not for you. Please be aware that scammers tend to prey on private ads. Be very careful if they are new members and/or with a small post count.

If noise is at all an issue, it's well worth spending the extra for one of their baffled options.

Please be aware that scammers tend to prey on wanted ads. Be very careful if they are new members and/or with a small post count and never use PayPal Friends and Family if you want any protection.

🤞

Thanks for that Phil. Mine arrived a couple of days ago and I’ve ordered some 36 and 51 ohm 1210s and will experiment with the blue feed (is it the bottom 75 ohm?).

Couldn’t you download the pdf to a memory stick or to your phone?

Given their intended usage, would I be correct in assuming that they are polarity independent?

While there’s the option to let the CAA handle flyer and operator registrations exclusively, my feeling is that the BMFA (and other organisations) involvement in the process must have had benefits in tempering some of the excesses that might otherwise have occurred. Acting in conjunction with the CAA may also enhance their credibility as a responsible organisation which can only be of value in the future. To be honest, I can’t claim to be able to interpret the CAA exemption wording, which seems pretty ambiguous in the matter of Flyer ID requirements for data gathering sub 250g UAS. Andy’s statement is certainly the case for operation outside the scope of the exemption but hopefully the BMFA will clarify any anomaly in due course.

Welcome to the forum Slam. Just a quick reminder that writing posts in capitals is often considered as shouting - which I’m sure wasn’t your intention!

I think John is just referring to using surplus energy to charge devices. The reference to discharging past the storage charge tends to confirm that it isn’t a discharger as such.

Yes - that's what I was referring to. It used to be a yearly requirement for examiners.

Thanks to the member who PMd me a redacted copy of the email. It seems fairly clear that there's been some failure of communication between the various parties at a time of policy change which led to the issue of Flyer IDs which have failed a CAA audit. The CAA have obviously understood the confusion and issued a lengthy dispensation, so there's plenty of time to comply and nobody needs to get excited about the situation.

Could someone post (or PM me) the text of this email please? I'm bound to be asked questions at the club so it would be good to know the content in advance! I assume the situation is that the Flyer IDs issued late last year via the BMFA are no longer - or have been discovered to be - valid without an RCC? IS this a CAA policy change implemented in the new Article 16 and issued after the Flyer ID issuing exercise - I'm a little surprised they didn't honour the issued IDs if that's the case. As an examiner, I needed to have one, renewed yearly until the policy changed (although I first took it out of interest back in 2019) so I assume that's why I didn't get the email although the impression is that some other RCC holders did, but in error?

I suspect that many recent Flyer ID issues/renewals may have been made during/under the previous conditions as I doubt that the majority of our longer standing members have completed the RCC. It would be good if @Andy Symons - BMFA could clarify the situation - but if I’m not mistaken, the worst case scenario is that a registered pilot without an RCC/DMARES might not be permitted to fly above 400’ this year.

I’ve got the smaller Clarke CM10 (yellow painted version of the Seig X1) fitted with the larger table and X axis screw from Seig, which just copes with modelling tasks and the odd larger job but you have to go very carefully, especially when machining steel components. As a small “precision” drill, it comes in very handy and performs well. I use it constantly in this role. It’s invaluable for making such things as “oleo” legs, custom retract components and various fittings but if I was buying it today, I’d go for something a little heavier - but I don’t think any of the budget machines would come close to the industrial equipment you’re used to.

Including the grocer’s apostrophe?

Interesting. That’s certainly the impression given by reading the Article 16 exemption: …but the latest BMFA statement on Flyer IDs states: The first stage of issuing CAA Flyer ID’s to BMFA members who had opted in to the BMFA arranging a Flyer ID on their behalf and who meet the CAA competency requirements due to having passed the BMFA RCC or because the hold a BMFA A or B certificate from before 31/12/2020 has been completed and those members should have received their Flyer ID straight from the CAA. Perhaps someone can clarify this apparent anomaly (and spot the spelling mistake!)

Can you identify any voltage dropping circuitry on them that could be easily modified to make them suitable for 5V working Phil?

Our club had been in existence for nearly 50 years before making the decision to buy a field. After a number of sites becoming unavailable, we were offered the use of the top floor of a multi storey car park in a town centre on Sundays by a helpful council! Needless to say, the offer was gracefully declined but a member of the club became aware of a field in the local area for sale - unusable for agriculture for 25 years as it was a former sewage farm and unsuitable for building as it was in the green belt. There was a great deal of discussion before agreement was reached to commit what was a substantial sum, financed by member loans and a mortgage but the club was lucky enough to be the highest sealed bidder. That was in 1982 and the club has enjoyed the benefits of such foresight for over 40 years now - loans being paid back probably 30 years ago, with subscriptions - unchanged for the last 7 or 8 years - being invested in decent facilities and equipment rather than lining a landowner’s pocket, and a healthy cash reserve in the bank. As mentioned above, finding such a field close to London is unlikely but to any club with the option, I can only recommend thinking seriously about taking the plunge.

I don't believe that there's anything stopping you from forming your own club. You would be well advised to consider personal liability and affiliating with one of the organisations to give you some protection and insurance cover.

You can clear your web browsing cache and force a page reload on Safari (and presumably similarly on other third party browsers) from Settings/Apps/Safari/Clear History and Website Data. So far, none of those complaining (seemingly a small minority of users) have reported back on the results of a hard refresh. The only common factor reported (but again, a tiny sample) is BT(EE)Internet so perhaps a report to them might shed light on these problems?

Not a model I’m familiar with but its designer states standard size servos - so anything equivalent to the old Futaba 148/3004 etc. around 3kg.cm upwards would be fine. Although quite large span, it’s a lowly loaded floater so any decent quality servos should be ok.