Keith Billinge

This model was brand new last year, when it disappeared into the forest, without trace, on the maiden flight. Now, it's back a little bit worse for wear having spent a long holiday in the woods. I'm going to fix her up and she'll fly again. I'd given up hope!

If somebody wanted to introduce GPS logging and a database of where somebody was at all times when they were driving, there would be such an outcry that it'd never get passed into law. But how many people are killed in hit and run accidents? However; if big brother wants to interfear with a few old blokes flying toy planes it's fine, even though they haven't killed anyone for ages. Just because we haven't got a loud voice, it seems the government can do whatever they want to model flyers, just by lumping our model aeroplanes into the "Drone" category and spreading disinformation about how dangerous and hateful drones are. Don't forget Gatwick! (That's what they will say!) despite the fact that nobody actually found any real trace of the "Drone" that shut the airport. KB

AS Model flyers we should not be subject to any of this regulation. It's been proven that we have a brilliant track record for safety and security and we dont need remote ID and regulation by the government. I really hate bad legislation and this is some of the worst I've seen. Talk about a sledgehammer to crack a nut? This regulation might be necessary if we were killing 100's of people every year, but this remote ID and stuff is much more draconian than the licensing regulations for driving a car. The government are going to be able to stop you arming your 251gram model at will. If they decide they don't want you flying today that's it; they'll switch off your model. They can't even do that to people who have killed somebody in a car. Plus they're getting us to pay for it all.

Yes I very strongly worded my resposes to the "Consultation Document" I do not expect it to make any difference. But I will also be writing to my MP, however he has his nose deeply in the trough, so I don't expect any action there either. KB

I beleive X-Jet has got it about right. I think the over regulation of our hobby is a criminal act by the CAA and will kill our hobby if we do not resist strongly. I see the BMFA just rolling over and having their tummy tickled when they should be strongly restisting what the regulators are doing. KB

I know a lot of you don't like Bruce but give him a listen....

I still think they are using the massive sledgehammer tor crack a non-existant nut. What is the actual problem they are trying to solve? Are we regularly crashing into manned aircraft and causing injury? Are we toy plane enthusiasts causing trouble? Are we threatening to topple governments? Was a real aircraft ever really threatened by a model plane? NO; we are a bunch of mainy middle aged and older blokes who stand in a cold, muddy field in the countryside playing toy planes........ We have a history of 100+years of safe flying. Every now and then, we put a model in a tree, or crash it into said farmers field, or have a mid-air collision resulting in some foam snow. That's all the excitement we can stand. Sometimes somebody with a sutable model will feed their hands into the propellers and cause themselves an injury. That's the level of risk we should be mitigating. Swapping an expensive magic box in and out each and every time I fly a different model? Nah! It's my model and until the CAA thought they could make some money out of me they weren't interested. I've written my Flyer ID on my models and that should be sufficient.........Its a toy! KB

So Remote ID..... Who does this benefit? Who is actually going to be safer because of Remote ID? Who'se lives will be saved? Will accidents be prevented? The law abiding BMFA memeber will have to fork out for ID electronics on all his models and the bad actor won't bother. There will be nobobody monitoring or policing this until they shut down Gatwick again and cry "Drone" Meanwhile, It'll cost much more than necessary to fly my 1KG RIOT over a deserted bit of farmland in the middle of Essex. Is somebody going to check my flight logs to see if I accidentally went too high or something? This is bad bad legislation done in a hurry to sell the airslapce over our heads to drone delivery by Amazon or whatever. I don't remember it being in the manifesto we may have voted for and its certainly no use to law abiding model flyers. KB

Blohm & Voss BV141

I spent 30years as a copper in London. When I joined we went out of our way to leave a clean list for the next shift, zero outstanding calls. We dealt with all the calls we could and went out and did our own stops and generated our own arrests; demand was different then. There were no Mobile phones in the 1980's and 999 calls were rare. People did not get offended on social media and cry "Hate Crime!" When I left 6-7 years ago, the lists of outstanding calls for help, each day, for each division, stood at 50-100 calls each and every day. The calls would be priorotised on an emergency basis, which meant I would spend each and every shift racing to the next most urgent emergency. No time any more for motorists doing red lights, shoplifters, petty thefts, minor punch ups etc etc etc.........I am ashamed to say Policing in this country is smashed to bits and there is now so much demand and so few coppers actually answering calls, that as long as you dont kill anybody, nobody is coming to enforce stupid, complicated laws about our "toy planes". Are witnesses and suspects going to hang around for the 6-7 days it will take for coppers to arrive? All of this legislation is not only flawed it's unenforceable. It wont stop a single bad actor, or catch a single criminal who wasn't already breaking the existing criminal law. I hate it! I want to fly my toy planes freely and safely without government interference. KB

They sell us remote ID as a way to keep us safe from bad actors.....A bloke who buys a drone to drop drugs into prison is not going to sign up to the CAA and pay his subs neither is he going to bother with remote ID. This is terrible proprosed legislation, which only inconveniences the people who are acting lawfully and safely already. The man dropping drugs into prison already breaks several laws so there's no need to burden the rest of us with this rubbish. Enforcement will be difficult at best and in practical terms impossible. They've done this in the USA and so far it's been a failure as there are no units available and they are expensive. We do not need it here. KB

An unecessary fee gets increased to fund an unecessary bureacracy in no way making anybody any safer. All in the name of safety. An unecessary tax on model flyers that will not be paid by bad actors and those causing the percieved safety problem. 100years of safe flying kicked to the kerb in the name of compliance, not safety! KB

What about ID card plastic it's easily formed round a shape with a bit of heat and they can be had dead cheap on evil bay or free of you use old gift cards... KB

Stuff appears to be getting stocked up in the UK warehouse as I received my new Durafly Me163 V2 today.

I fly a lot of different wings and they all suffer from the yaw wobble to differing extents. The secrets are: Fin area has to be reasonably large. Any fin area in front of the CG is wasted, so the fin is best to be all behind the CG......The further behind the CG the better I'd unstick those ones you have and move them back Cheers KB

Thanks Andy.....I think mine will use EdgeTX but no too different. KB

The streamer combat plane I was looking at was the spitty......

So I fly mostly Spektrum and apart from the prices suddenly skyrocketing for my chosen RX's (AR 410 & AR 620) I've been very pleased with it. I do have a few planes with different protocols in them and these seem to be the sort of "Toy" models with the inbuild RX and Gyro and they come with an awful TX. To improve my experience with these models I have ordered the Radiomaster Zorro with 4-in-1 module which should also be able to bind with my spektrum stuff, if need be. My question is: What Radiomaster/Other Receivers would you experienced folks recommend if I decide to build some of my own budget models. I have in mind a depron streamer combat plane and a cheap motor glider. Cheers KB

2 or three of us have this model at our local club and it seems that 2200 3S is do-able but puts the wing loading quite high, so easy to get it wrong and stall the wing. I currently fly mine on 1500 3S but I have ordered some 1500 4S batteries to try. The weight is still well below a 3S 2200 on either option. KB

Tosh, Can't you put either the ailerons or flaps on a Y lead and simplify the programming? KB

Install some motor standoffs. I use plumbing type tap washers with longer bolts through the centre or sometimes listed on Ebay as rubber spacers/standoffs. Doing some up tighter than others can give any side-thrust etc that you need. They have the benefit of making motors a bit quieter too. That motor setup you quote is fine I use that on quite a few models....

The trouble with bad legislation is: Who'se going to Police it? The old Bill already have their hands full trying to Police hurty feelings on the internet let aloneflying a few radio controlled aeroplanes at a club at the weekend. The guys that want to use drones to drop drugs into prisons aren't going to register with the CAA and they aren't going to join the BMFA. The CAA not only have invented a registration scheme in the name of "Safety" they've made us pay to do it. We've been stupid enough to fork out our £9 a year and what have we had in return? I certainly dont feel any safer when I go to the flying feild and I think the whole thing is a joke. I wish the BMFA would call this nonsense out for what it is and stop cooperating with this ridiculous scheme.

I bought one of THESE from Ali Express and THIS and some of THESE.... Cheap as beans! Now I have enough servo leadery until I kick the bucket. KB P.S. the same crimp tool will do JST connectors and the little ones on lipo balance leads too. In fact it'll do any DuPont type connection. The crimp tool to search for is the SN-01BM they are ubiquitous and cheap Amazon if you are wealthy or Ali-Express if you have a couple of weeks to wait.

Latest model off my building bench was delayed by some Chinesium items stuck in the post, but now ready for the maiden flight. It's a 2S motor glider suitable for thermal soaring or slope (I haven't got a slope, so I'll stand at an angle). 290g all up weight. The Flight Point SHAKA LINK