BMFA SUBS 2024 ????

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

1 minute ago, kc said:

If it's running at a loss then the rest of us are subsidising them!  THEY should be paying more not the members who don't live near.

 

If you believe the venture happened to supply these people a venue, you might have a case, I'm confident that isn't the case and singling them out is false, the Trents close by, but the Red Sea is some way away.

[GaryW]

2 minutes ago, kc said:

If it's running at a loss then the rest of us are subsidising them!  THEY should be paying more not the members who don't live near.

 

In all fairness how many clubs do you know where 100% of it's Membership actually fly and use the Clubs Flying Field on a regular basis...???? 

In General only a certain percentage will actually fly a model and attend the Club Field & even smaller percentage attend Club Nights/Meetings and moan like hell when things/decisions get made that they don't agree with... so for bot flying or attending you could say they are also paying for the rest of us to have the privelage of everything a club has to offer

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

6 minutes ago, kc said:

If it's running at a loss then the rest of us are subsidising them!  THEY should be paying more not the members who don't live near.

No money from the main BMFA income, (subs), is used to fund Buckminster those that use the centre and people travel from all across the country to do so, pay to use it.

[kc]

4 minutes ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said:

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Andy Symons - BMFA said:

No money from the main BMFA income, (subs), is used to fund Buckminster those that use the centre and people travel from all across the country to do so, pay to use it.

So what money is used to cover the loss?   Where did the money to pay for the lease come from if it wasn't from subs?

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

Sponsorship and the Buckminster reserve. The accounts for Buckminster have always been kept separate and the policy is not to use members subs to fund it, even though we all benefit from it indirectly as mentioned previously.

[Phil Green]

80 miles to Buckminster from here and I go as often as I can, it's a superb venue and a tribute to those who put in all the effort.

Yes it might be a trek, but the camp site is great, I usually stay 2 or 3 days - roll out of bed & fly... Ask your golfing pals what they think of a £47 membership fee 🙂

We're all having to make economies, surely there's something other than your hobby where you can save your £12?

Cheese

Pies

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Seems pretty clear to me Andy.

Why is it when we come under pressure, financially/regulation etc, some always look for a scapegoat to blame ?

 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

2 minutes ago, Phil Green said:

80 miles to Buckminster from here and I go as often as I can, it's a superb venue and a tribute to those who put in all the effort.

Yes it might be a trek, but the camp site is great, I usually stay 2 or 3 days - roll out of bed & fly... Ask your golfing pals what they think of a £47 membership fee 🙂

We're all having to make economies, surely there's something other than your hobby where you can save your £12?

Cheese

Pies

 

Give up Cheese, are you crazy ? 😮

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

6 minutes ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said:

Seems pretty clear to me Andy.

Why is it when we come under pressure, financially/regulation etc, some always look for a scapegoat to blame ?

 

It's the way of the world.

[steve too]

2 hours ago, Outrunner said:

I could save a whole £12 a year to join the LMA but are they going to fight our corner and keep the menace of things like RID at bay?

 

You think that the BMFA are keeping the menace of RID at bay? Their response to the RID question in the CAA's call for input was "Neither yes nor no". (Yes, I know that they put a load of stuff in the comment box but, unsurprisingly, that didn't make it to the table in CAP 2609.)

[Geoff S]

1 hour ago, Phil Green said:

80 miles to Buckminster from here and I go as often as I can, it's a superb venue and a tribute to those who put in all the effort.

Yes it might be a trek, but the camp site is great, I usually stay 2 or 3 days - roll out of bed & fly... Ask your golfing pals what they think of a £47 membership fee 🙂

We're all having to make economies, surely there's something other than your hobby where you can save your £12?

Cheese

Pies

 

I started flying model aircraft when an injury stopped me from being able to race sailing dinghies back in 1990. Sailing club subscription for my wife and me was £120 IIRC but we got a lot out of it.  Our dinghy cost around £1200 plus new sails every 2 years plus general maintenance (it was a wooden boat) plus suitable clothing etc. Aeromodelling is cheap by comparison (though, of course, it depends on what type of models you buy/build etc).  Don't even ask how much playing golf can cost.

 

Compared with other ancillary costs (models, electronics, transport, fuel/batteries) the club/BMFA subs are a very small proportion of the expense and one I accept gladly. No-one's getting rich at our expense. 

[leccyflyer]

Indeed.

 

It's interesting to note that the OP's previous posts have mostly revolved around issues with mail order, including not being able to easily order expensive models costing  several hundred pounds - the sort of high end foamie ARTFS that were discussed in the Big Question thread. It sort of puts the complaints about less than a quid a week BMFA subscription into perspective.

[Phil Green]

2 hours ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said:

 

Give up Cheese, are you crazy ? 😮

its just me being daft John - for ages I signed posts

"Cheers

 Phil"

...and one day I thought, I wonder if anyone reads that bit?   So occasionally I put:

"Cheese

 Pies"

instead - you're the first to notice 🙂

 

[GrumpyGnome]

Well, I covered the increase by not having my usual few glasses of red last night.

 

Some people like to complain, others don't......

[Graham Bowers]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Well, I covered the increase by not having my usual few glasses of red last night.

 

Some people like to complain, others don't......

Pretty much sums it up - happens in all aspects of life.

[Graham Bowers]

11 hours ago, Phil Green said:

80 miles to Buckminster from here and I go as often as I can, it's a superb venue and a tribute to those who put in all the effort.

Yes it might be a trek, but the camp site is great, I usually stay 2 or 3 days - roll out of bed & fly... Ask your golfing pals what they think of a £47 membership fee 🙂

We're all having to make economies, surely there's something other than your hobby where you can save your £12?

Cheese

Pies

It's just over an hour for me - season ticket holder. 

[Geoff S]

2 hours ago, Graham Bowers said:

It's just over an hour for me - season ticket holder. 

 

 Me too. It's 50 miles and, as Melton Mowbray is on the route and where one of my brothers lives, I can kill two birds with one stone (not that I'd kill my little bro - not often anyway).  I have considered being a season ticket holder. It is, as Phil Green writes, a great flying site.

[Tosh McCaber]

Hmm- a bit difficult from Aberdeen!?

[leccyflyer]

I plan on going next year Tosh - will definitely go if we have a WR warbirds D-Day 80th Anniversary meet up.

[Bruce Collinson]

Can’t be bothered to trawl through all 3 pages to eliminate repetition, but what seems to be missing from this rant is that simply regarding BMFA as a means of obtaining insurance misses the whole bigger picture by a country mile.

 

It is also a bit of a slap in the face to the numerous volunteers who man Buckminster and do much of the donkey work on the site in return for expenses only, which I can attest consists of 40p/mile and that won’t run my (non-electric) car.   Buckminster is a terrific asset and some of the opprobrium directed towards it above is, at best, ill -informed.   I’d prefer not to be Mod-cancelled so I will leave that point where it lies.

 

Combining the back-office function of Leicester with the current resources of Buckminster is bound to create significant savings across the entire Association.

 

As for golf, I doubt you’d be able to buy a two-round green fee for £47, certainly not round here, and that’s merely two good walks ruined, in one day.   Multiply by 365; “do the math”.   There is a very parsimonious strain in a minority of aeromodellers, manifesting itself in buying £3 servos from a counterfeiter in China then whining when it fails; it’s a great shame that this frame of mind extends to annual subs for an organisation which covers all our backs.

 

Phil, did you eat all the pies too?

BTC

[Peter Jenkins]

On 25/11/2023 at 12:40, Rocker said:

Going to start to wonder about getting my insurance somewhere else now and dumping the BMFA .Fed up paying for Buckminster and getting nothing in return 

Did you see that the LMA is now going to come under the BMFA and LMA members will need to pay for BMFA membership as well as the LMA is no longer going to provide insurance.  So, you might want to just carry on being a BMFA member.

 

The increase is nothing to do with Buckminster.  It is to do with the reducing membership but having not taken the necessary steps to manage the costs of the BMFA down.  I understand that we are now down to around 28,000 members and there are many other calls on the BMFA subs.  I do wish you would take the time to ask your Club representatives what the situation is before transmitting a lot of misinformation on this forum.  The BMFA website gives this information and someone has already posted on that. 

 

If you think that the work the BMFA has led on to get us to Article 16 exemptions and in helping to guide the CAA away from some of the wilder ideas that have been tabled then clearly you do not value the fact that you have been able to continue flying your model with virtually no difference whereas it could have been much worse.  That requires a lot of travel to meetings in both Europe and into London (usually) and some of these meetings are multi-day events.  

 

So you think that £12 will make a difference to your hobby over the year?  I suspect when you tot up all that you spend on it then the extra, which I thought was £5 actually, is going to make any difference then I would be mightily surprised.

[ken anderson.]

Peter.....you are incorrect about the LMA/BMFA....

 

Ken Anderson....ne....1....BMFA dept

[Peter Jenkins]

On 25/11/2023 at 19:39, kc said:

 

So what money is used to cover the loss?   Where did the money to pay for the lease come from if it wasn't from subs?

This was all covered at the EGM years ago where the decision to go ahead with the Buckminster lease was taken.  You could look up the minutes of that meeting and I'm sure the BMFA would be happy to provide you with a copy if you asked.

[Ron Gray]

1 hour ago, leccyflyer said:

I plan on going next year Tosh - will definitely go if we have a WR warbirds D-Day 80th Anniversary meet up.

27th - 29th September - Laser Day and Best of British.

[Peter Jenkins]

50 minutes ago, ken anderson. said:

Peter.....you are incorrect about the LMA/BMFA....

 

Ken Anderson....ne....1....BMFA dept

Indeed!  Sorry, thought I'd read it somewhere but just cannot find where it was posted. I'm happy to admit I am wrong on this.