Does your club allow you to fly alone?

[graeme jones]

Thanks for all the responses. Results so far -

5 clubs ban lone flying

9 clubs don't

I understand the need for such a rule on a public site, where a spotter/safety marshall may be needed. Don't understand the "safety" aspect otherwise, for reasons stated at the start. I wonder sometimes if rules are made by those who don't actually do much flying?

Graeme

[PatMc]

Graeme, sometimes "safety" rules are made by people who think the word "club" refers to an instrument for hitting the members with.

[the unmagnificent man]

Mmm I have to fly alone at my club as we only have 26 members and a lot of them are only summer flyers who visit their second homes during the summer holidays, hence I'm almost always alone.

That said how do you enforce that rule? My way of thinking is that if you are alone no one knows and if someone turns up to try and catch you, well you are not alone are you? simples! UMm

[Devcon1]

I build alone (sometimes)

I walk alone (sometimes)

I drive alone (sometimes)

I slope soar alone (sometimes)

I sometimes fly alone (sometimes)

I cycle alone (sometimes)

Some of us have too much time to think about rules.....

(I'm still here)

[John Privett]

Posted by graeme jones on 21/03/2013 20:05:11:

Thanks for all the responses. Results so far -

5 clubs ban lone flying

9 clubs don't

I understand the need for such a rule on a public site, where a spotter/safety marshall may be needed.

Make that 6 that do. We fly on a public site and it's basically one of the conditions for us flying there that we do always have another person present to act as spotter/marshal. It can be inconvenient at times, when nobody else turns up to fly, but it's a lot better than never being able to fly there.

Personal safety is a secondary consideration that the rule also addresses. My own opinion on that is that it should be up to the individual, but ought to be strongly recommended - particularly for those who fly in isolated locations. You may well be at more risk driving to the field, but I'd suggest you're more likely to be found quickly by someone able to summon assistance if you drive into a ditch rather than collapsing in a field.

[graeme jones]

If you drove off the road into a ditch around here it might be days before anyone noticed. It has happened twice in recent years. One died and one lucky woman was found still alive after a couple of days. People have also died after their car drove into the reen near one of my flying sites!

Does anyone actually know of a flier who has died while flying alone?

Graeme

[Alan Randall]

The owners of our site; Rolls Royce, forbid solo flying, and we have had to suspend at least one member doing it.

It is forbidden on H&S grounds due to the remoteness of our flying areas, and the impact accidenst would have on the Company.

[Ian Jones]

This will always be argued about and really it's down to each club to apply such a rule or not, sometimes for less obvious reasons than just being rules for rules sake.

Maybe the result of the current poll re the age of most modellers is a consideration - you don't have to of less than tender years to have health issues but the older we get the more likely they are. I'd certainly be glad of help at hand if I needed it.

My club discourages solo flying and I take it to include all the elements of getting a model into the air and not just the actual flying bit. I think that it's sensible precaution. Erm, I do occasionally fly alone.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

No rule against lone flying - but like certain nocturnal activities, nowhere near as much fun on your own!

[MikeS]

At my current club we do fly alone and many members do, however we fly in a secured area that has not public access,

The club I used to fly at you could not fly alone. we used to fly in a public park so I understand that rule. One would fly while the other member acted as spotter. Also it was for your own safety as well.

Mike

[Mogs]

Great thread Greame, very interesting.

However its clear that there are clubs that have the no solo flying ban imposed upon them by external bodies. This is very different to the club members themselves imposing this rule.

[graeme jones]

Mogs - thanks for that. Yes, I agree that the landlord of a site has ultimate say in what happens on their property.

In starting this thread my aim was not to criticise, simply to explore the question of club rules in general regarding lone flying. Personally, there have been times over the years when I've felt much safer flying alone. A busy club environment, with several aircraft in the air and more on the ground running engines, not to mention model restraints to trip over and 3D heli's sounding like they are about to fall apart (they never do), can sometimes feel a bit dodgy. If a pilot shouts "interference" or "I've lost it", what do you do first, look up or run and hide? At least when I'm flying alone I've only got my own aircraft to dodge!!! Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy watching a nice scale model being flown well, or some of our top pilots doing aero's I can only dream of, but when push comes to shove what I really want to do is fly, and I can do more of that if I'm alone.

Graeme

[Prop Nut]

I find it a little disturbing that anyone might think it acceptable to flout any club rule on the spurious grounds that it's impossible to enforce. If you don't like the rule, find another club or use a General Meeting to try to change it. If you choose to remain, follow the rules in word and spirit.

Edited By hellcat on 22/03/2013 14:47:15

[Hogster]

My club uses a public site and we do not have a no lone flying rule thank goodness. I`ve often been the only one to turn up and it would be a wasted journey if I couldn't fly. When I am alone I do say to myself " your on your own so don't do anything stupid" and so far thats worked .

I would be interested to know if anyone has knowledge of someone collapsing or similar instances that have occured whilst flying. As this is the only reason I can envisage this rule being applied as it may endanger others. This scenario was brought up by some of my club members last year as a reason to not allow mix mode flying. Example if a mode 2 flyer was suddenly taken ill then a mode 1 flyer would not be able to take control of their model. It was never adopted. Those who have been flying for decades had never witnessed a flyer succumb in such a way. If you tried to cover every eventuality you'd never take off!

If the danger is just to yourself then thats up to the individual to assess the risk IMHO.

Edited By Hogster on 22/03/2013 15:09:46

[Bob Cotsford]

Mixed mode? I would have thought anyone would be able to find the throttle and close it. He might not be able to land it undamaged but he should be able to stop it flying off. What about if the second person can't fly? That really is verging on paranoia. Certainy at the club I'm in that doesn't allow solo flying the second person doesn't have to be able to fly, but then they're really there asa witness as to what you get up to.

There have been occassions when I've gone to club A only to find I'm on my own and ended up trucking off to club B in order to fly.

[graeme jones]

Hellcat - I would certainly not encourage breaking club rules.

Hogster - Am I alone in being able to fly Modes 1, 2, 3 and 4? Bit out of practice now on 3 and 4 but it's great fun using mode 2 occasionally for a challenge!

Bob - I hadn't thought of that. Would my guide dog qualify?

Still split about 40/60 on rule/no rule, and apart from landlord insistence and sites with public access I still haven't seen a convincing argument for.

From the mid-70's to 1983 I flew with a club on a local authority playing field. We rented the field on a Sunday afternoon, it was used by footballers the rest of the weekend and some evenings. The question of lone flying never arose, it was a popular site IN THE MIDDLE OF A TOWN!!! It was (still is) a triangular field, bounded by a main road, a main railway line and a river. H&S would make it unusable these days. The only condition imposed by the local authority because of the nature of the site was that warning signs were placed asking members of the public to keep off the field while models were flying. Very few of us were BMFA members (2 from memory) but we had a club insurance arranged with a local firm.

There were never any accidents involving personal injury, but no doubt some of the footballers needed the local A&E on a regular basis. If you've never been to an A&E dept. on a weekend, half the patients are usually sportsmen.

Graeme

[John Lee]

I'm a member of 3 clubs none of which prohibit flying alone.

When flying in company there are different risk factors which are not present when flying alone:

• Distraction in the pits which can lead to fingers in props, missed pre flight checks, models running loose.
• Potential interference
• Mid air collisions
• Flying the 'wrong' model
• Being hit by an errant model

[Barryorbik]

Our club allows lone flying providing you have passed your 'A' in the relevant discipline. Big advantage we have is that ours is a private flying field with no trespassers, dogwalkers or kids playing football etc and only the occassional flock of sheep to contend with.

Barry

[graeme jones]

That's 9 with a rule 17 without so far.

I missed an earlier post about the current poll on our ages. As one of those in the the second most popular segment I agree that I may be grateful one day for some assistance. On the other hand if I'm going to suddenly drop dead I'd rather do it while flying than (almost) anything else. Unlike the bloke who died in his sleep while the passengers in the back of his aircraft all died screaming and crying!

Graeme

[Vecchio Austriaco]

I am member in 2 clubs, and both allow flying alone. One of them wants to see new members flying befor they can fly alone, the other didn't ask even that.

If I would have to wait for another member to come I would have problems in flying at all...

VA

[stu knowles]

I have never belonged to a club which ruled against flying alone.

If anyone has doubt about their ability to operate models alone, then they should not. If anyone feels that they can operate alone, then unless there are very site specific reasons, they should be free to do so.

Personally, I can't think of any valid reason not to fly alone

stu k

[Hugh Coleman]

Our club has no rule as such, but flying alone is actively discouraged as the nearest hospital emergency department to us is an hours drive (ask me how I know).

Cheers,

Hugh

[WolstonFlyer]

We do not have a lone flying rule at the club I am a member of.

You need to have an A test and remember to shut the gate to the field at all times. The club owns the field so no dog walkers or other people to worry about.

Edited By WolstonFlyer on 22/03/2013 22:59:05

[Geoff S]

Posted by Alan Randall on 21/03/2013 22:43:59:

The owners of our site; Rolls Royce, forbid solo flying, and we have had to suspend at least one member doing it.

It is forbidden on H&S grounds due to the remoteness of our flying areas, and the impact accidenst would have on the Company.

If that's RR (Hucknall( then when I was a member there the reason given was that it was because of the full-size activities of Merlin Flying Club. I stopped flying there once I retired from the company because airfield access was difficult during the day and because I knew I'd be there alone often and be unable to fly.

My current club recommends not flying alone but allows it. Just as well because I'm often there alone though I prefer it when there are a couple of others. I also fly alone in a local field with electric models. It's handy because it's just a 5 minute walk along a footpath with a model, my transmitter and 2 or 3 battery packs.

I'm just extra careful when alone which is easy because there are no distractions.

Geoff

[Eifion Herbert]

No problem with flying alone at my club. We have a rule that says those without a BMFA A cert may not fly alone, so the colorally must be that those with the cert may. If I didn't fly alone I'd loose out on many hours flying a year, as I'm fortunate to live close enough to the field to pop up after work and still have a few hours of good light during BST, and often there is nobody else there. I think there's advantages to flying alone, as you can say practice touch-and-gos continously again and again, spend time tuning an engine, or stand in the middle of the patch repeatedly throwing a DLG up, which would be inconsiderate when other members are present.

I have to admit I do a few things differently when flying alone. Mainly we have a rule that says mobile phones are to be left in the carpark not bought to the pits or pilot box, but if I'm the only one there I'd rather have my phone with me in case I need so summon help for any reason. If a second member arrives I'll put it back in the car.