Battle of Britain: Model Squadron

[Cuban8]

Truly awful,turned it off after forty minutes, just couldn't take any more.

[Stephen Jones]

Just watched this program a bit of a surprise as i did not know it was on just by chance flicking through the telly and found it on.

Nice to see something like this on. And the fact they are staging a re-enactment even better.

And i can totally understand why they are all foamy`s as right from the start they are getting broken.

And they all need to be the same scale.

That`s the weather, just does not want to play ball on the day it`s needed to be on it`s best behaviour.

Still i think the foam planes could of been weighted to cope with the wind a bit better and the astro turf did not help much did it . a large wooded decking with astro turf on it would of been much better.

But still they had to improvise without altering the grounds they were on.

Just goes to show how hard model flying can really be, given the demands of the weather and having to put the plane where you want it and not were the wind wants to put it.

Steve

[Tomtom39]

I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised and rather enjoyed watching the programme . Roll on episode two!

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 09/09/2018 22:26:11:

Posted by Stephen Smith 14 on 09/09/2018 18:35:06:

Posted by Robin Mosedale 1 on 07/09/2018 19:32:40:

Cringe

I'll second that, no wonder everyone out side model flying thinks where anoraks.

Everyone thinks every hobbyist is an 'anorak' whatever the hobby. ie where 'Everyone' = people who do nothing except go to the pub or watch TV.

I've been an 'anorak' of one variety or another all my life, like just about everyone on this forum, I suspect.

Geoff

I hate wearing a coat, I'm a nerd.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I was pleasantly surprised - thought it was pretty good.

It was obvious that some care had been taken, the history was generally sound and the program showed that what we do might look easy, but it isn't! I felt the hobby was afforded a reasonable level of regard and respect. Roll on part two.

BEB

[Kevin 216]

Won't be watching the next 2 parts, the human aspect was excellent and well done. The FPV interesting with the cameras mounted in the cockpits . The rest was terrible!.

[Simon Knight]

I agree, enjoyed it and even my wife sat through it (well most of it)

[Simon Knight]

I agree, enjoyed it and even my wife sat through it (well most of it)

[Trevor Crook]

Agreed, far better than expected.

Why all foamies? Imagine the huge extra effort in a team of builders constructing traditional models. Far easier to bulk buy Dynam and FMS. And to be fair, it reflects the real world. In the 2 clubs I belong to, the only balsa warbirds I know of are my TN Typhoon and Black Horse Mosquito ARTF.

Why no i.c? Foamies aren't suitable for i.c. Does anyone fly FPV with i.c? I would have thought that gimballed cameras wouldn't take kindly to the vibration. Also, for most club flyers, which these folk seem to be, electric is a far easier and more reliable form of propulsion.

Given the main two subjects were the historical events and model flying (not aeromodelling) I thought it was quite a good show.

[Shaun Walsh]

It made it onto Sunday's best tv in the Guardian, described it as "Robot Wars with Nazis!

[Peter Miller]

Why no built up modexls? Obvious. The carnage was going to be considerable.

Why no i.c.? Again, obvious. IC can be tempramental especialy on TV. I.c is noisier, even well silenced. This showed the piublic that aeromodelling can be quiet.

Not sure that that will help clubs flying i.c. though when the neighbours say "They didn't make any noise on the TV.!!"

I especially liked the fact that no one got very serious about it all and obviously they were all having great fun.

AS one German bloke said "Of course we are crazy. But who cares!"

[Tim Ballinger]

Nothing not to like here. I thought it was a really good mix.

Tim

[Romeo Whisky]

To me it was a bit like a typical club Scale Day with knobs on!

And actually I really enjoyed it for that. I was slightly taken aback that they couldn't have found a club site with a nice manicured grass strip (assuming they exist), but I suppose the bomb-dropping, smoke and other factors made it necessary to use MoD land.

But the big big positives as I see it, are that model flying was clearly portrayed as great fun, and for all age groups, and that it also a wonderfully social hobby with lots of friendly banter and mutual help, support and respect. That reflects exactly what our local club is like, so a near-perfect advert for model flying. The historical aspects were almost a bonus and an excuse for having great fun trying to fly scale-like and emulate the brave pilots of yesteryear.

I am only sorry that some colleagues posting above could only see negatives.

[andyh]

I was pleasantly surprised & rather enjoyed it. I can see it wouldn't be to everyone's tastes, but for peak-time viewing on a mainstream channel I thought it was rather well done. For the hobby to get three hours of prime Sunday night exposure & for it to be shown as fun, friendly & accessible can only be a good thing.

[Tim Flyer]

I very much enjoyed it . I think it showed rc plane modelling in a good light and looked great fun . My non modelling family liked it too. The planes they chose suited the purpose well and obviously they couldn’t risk using expensive balsa or IC planes. Some very impressive flying too plus good fun seemed to be had by all.

[Cuban8]

I'm pleased that the majority liked the programme - no accounting for taste I suppose - if you thought it was good that's fine, if not, that's also fine.

I just didn't like the format - after all, we know the outcome of the real battle in 1940 and whilst the documentary side of the programme was OK from an historical point of view, more time and depth could have been put into setting the scene for many younger people, who almost certainly have no idea as to how deadly serious the threat to our country and its people was at that time. The programme has been pushed as part of the RAF centenary as well..

Don't get me wrong, lightheartedness and comedy has been mixed with the tragedy of war very successfully, but usually with a dark side or sting in the tail - think M*A*S*H or Black Adder Goes Forth etc. I'm not convinced that having our hobby shown to a wider audience, many of whom almost certainly have ill-informed & preconceived ideas about our activities, will be any more enlightened by what I saw last night.

I'm all for showing our hobby as being fun and educational (which it is), but picking on the Battle of Britain as a vehicle for an excuse to simply smash a load of models up for puerile public entertainment is quite wrong IMHO. If the producers wanted to mix model aircraft with a challenge type programme, there's many other competetive ideas that could be followed and would be engaging for a non-modelling audience, who to be honest, just want to see busted up 'planes.;

[Bob Cotsford]

I thought it was a pleasant diversion though I did record it to watch after Dragons' Den. I'd imagine they were working on a budget and to time constraints as well as operating on MOD property so I suppose that ARTF electric powered foamies made sense. I'd have liked to have seen larger IC powered models flown with the preciscion of a Bishops display but that ain't happening, and isn't really needed for the purposes of this program. The introduction scenes demonstrated that there is more to aeromodelling than just the foamies with lots of larger models of all types in evidence. It's tempting to compare the model usage with Flambards and Wings but there is no comparison so for what it was, I think it was done quite well.

[alex nicol]

If we're all a bunch of anoraks, then all I can say is after last nights program anorak sales will be on the increase and that's no bad thing for our hobby

[Cuban8]

Anorak..........

"Derogatory term, most frequently directed at people who obsessively pursue hobbies which consist almost entirely of gathering information about a favourite topic, generally a fairly benign and arcane device such as a specific type of computer. Origins possibly explained by the information-gatherer collectives' peculiar habit of wearing outdoor clothing or jackets at socially inappropriate or awkward times such as at the dinner table or in bed."

Anyone you know?

[Geoff S]

I think the term 'anorak' originates from train spotters who needed waterproof outdoor clothing in their pursuit of loco and carriage numbers. I suppose I was similar when at school in the early 50s and collected/spotted BRS (British Road Services - state owned company IIRC, analogous to British Rail) lorry numbers

It's since spread to include enthusiasts for all practical pastimes like aeromodelling for example.

Geoff

[andyh]

Posted by Cuban8 on 10/09/2018 10:45:54:

I just didn't like the format - after all, we know the outcome of the real battle in 1940 and whilst the documentary side of the programme was OK from an historical point of view, more time and depth could have been put into setting the scene for many younger people, who almost certainly have no idea as to how deadly serious the threat to our country and its people was at that time. The programme has been pushed as part of the RAF centenary as well..

there are another two episodes to come. I'm hoping that now the series has been introduced they will go into a bit more depth on tactics, context, etc. we shall see I suppose ...

[Broken Prop]

Wearing inappropriate outdoor clothing in bed? Yep, that's me alright!

I thoroughly enjoyed the programme although I was a bit worried about the carnage, as it might be seized upon by our detractors as being typical of the way we fly. In actual fact I thought the participants flew extremely well given the wind and the constraints of the programme director's brief.

It would be nice if it all results in an increase in model flyers, however modest it might be. I am looking forward to the next two episodes.

Pete.

[Bruce Collinson]

Really surprised nobody is tail-wagging re the laser and smoke system which the female pilot exploited so well. Looks to be several layers up from cutting streamers with foam flying wings, fun though that is!

BTC

[Colin Carpenter]

Just watched and enjoyed it ! Can't see any negatives ! Appropriate mentions of 1940 throughout ! Bet the pilots were glad they didn't pay for the foamies ! Or did they ? Colin

[John Lancaster 2]

Loads of people are asking us for the infra red tech Bruce, but it was custom designed and built, and not available on open sale (yet).

Colin - no the pilot's didn't have to pay for their planes - and I'm sure they were indeed glad!