Peter Jenkins Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 So, how much does your heli weigh? If it is less than 250g and does not have a camera then you are OK. Difficult to tell how big the helicopter you are flying is. Oh, and all of us fall under the drone laws, and I don't fly a drone either, but if you are a member of the BMFA then you get certain privileges. But we all have to pass either the CAA test or the BMFA competency test if the aircraft weighs more than 250 g or it carries a camera. Sorry, them's the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyAce Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 1 minute ago, Peter Jenkins said: So, how much does your heli weigh? If it is less than 250g and does not have a camera then you are OK. Difficult to tell how big the helicopter you are flying is. Oh, and all of us fall under the drone laws, and I don't fly a drone either, but if you are a member of the BMFA then you get certain privileges. But we all have to pass either the CAA test or the BMFA competency test if the aircraft weighs more than 250 g or it carries a camera. Sorry, them's the rules. Hi buddy the heli weighs 225grams I just checked myself I'm below the threshold for caa but yeah BMFA I know I need,to be honest I could have never imagined when I ordered the helicopter there's all the regulations,but I'm a noob so it's fair enough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 No problem. Didn't want you to end up having a difficult conversation with the plods. I'm assuming that the 225 g is with the flight battery. It is the maximum all up weight that matters here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyAce Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 Just now, Peter Jenkins said: No problem. Didn't want you to end up having a difficult conversation with the plods. I'm assuming that the 225 g is with the flight battery. It is the maximum all up weight that matters here. With the battery indeed,no camera so it's classed as a toy,but yeah I really appreciate the help,shows how if you don't know something you can easily get caught out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RottenRow Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 6 minutes ago, GreyAce said: I could have never imagined when I ordered the helicopter there's all the regulations, Yes even those of us who have been flying models for years, decades even, could never have imagined all of the rules and regulations that are now being thrown our way! Good luck with your new heli. Brian. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyAce Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 4 minutes ago, RottenRow said: Yes even those of us who have been flying models for years, decades even, could never have imagined all of the rules and regulations that are now being thrown our way! Good luck with your new heli. Brian. Thanks mate,from what I saw today my heli is gona need a completely windless day and those don't exactly come around often in the UK,maybe hot summers day? But now probably not for ages. The guy who I spoke to regarding indoor flight said they have a two hour thing with 10 minutes slots for flying ie each person taking it in turns,ten minutes isn't long or two hours but at least its indoors,but it is what it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 You would be surprised at how much you can get in in 10 mins. The international aerobatic sequence with 17 manoeuvres takes around 7 1/2 mins. What you do need to do is to plan out what you are going to do on each flight to work towards what ever goal you wish to set yourself. Lots of folk content themselves with just flying around and not doing anything in particular and that's fine as well. But, if you really want to increase your flying skills it is possible to make quite fast progress provided that you have a plan! In that respect, the BMFA have a series of Achievement Tests that cover everything from quad copters, helis through fixed wing powered, gliders and so forth. Joining the BMFA is highly recommended as you will gain so much from it not least help with keeping the regulations the Government keeps wanting to impose on us at a reasonable level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 36 minutes ago, GreyAce said: Thanks mate,from what I saw today my heli is gona need a completely windless day and those don't exactly come around often in the UK,maybe hot summers day? But now probably not for ages. The guy who I spoke to regarding indoor flight said they have a two hour thing with 10 minutes slots for flying ie each person taking it in turns,ten minutes isn't long or two hours but at least its indoors,but it is what it is. Really? 10 mins per person? Typically 'slots' would be for a type of aircraft so you don''t have things like Vapors being chopped up by helis. Hopefully, that's the case. In the meantime, you could give Model Shop Leeds a ring - they may know some other indoor flyers. Joining the BMFA is a good idea, if only for the insurance. And don't be put off by rules and regulations - there really aren't many. Not sure where you live but we do Indoor flying in Bridlington Tuesday afternoons.... 90 mins for a fiver and fly as much as you like. We do require BMFA membership though....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyAce Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 15 minutes ago, GrumpyGnome said: Really? 10 mins per person? Typically 'slots' would be for a type of aircraft so you don''t have things like Vapors being chopped up by helis. Hopefully, that's the case. In the meantime, you could give Model Shop Leeds a ring - they may know some other indoor flyers. Joining the BMFA is a good idea, if only for the insurance. And don't be put off by rules and regulations - there really aren't many. Not sure where you live but we do Indoor flying in Bridlington Tuesday afternoons.... 90 mins for a fiver and fly as much as you like. We do require BMFA membership though....... You guys are so friendly I owe you all a pint and yeah ten minutes apparently and what if there's too many people and I don't get a slot?? But at the moment I am thinking get the BMFA thing and to get practice flying use my indoor one alot,smaller one I put in a pic elsewhere,then on good days which are a big if use my md500 then,I am gona have to think about the indoor thing for now and unfortunately you is too far away but thanks anyways mate,appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC57 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 As GrumpG said, slots are usually by type of aircraft, not per person. So you’ll probably find yourself flying in company with several other people flying small helicopters at the same time. And if it’s anything like our indoor meetings, in two hours there’ll probably be two heli slots of 8-10 minutes or so each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyAce Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 3 hours ago, EvilC57 said: As GrumpG said, slots are usually by type of aircraft, not per person. So you’ll probably find yourself flying in company with several other people flying small helicopters at the same time. And if it’s anything like our indoor meetings, in two hours there’ll probably be two heli slots of 8-10 minutes or so each. So I'd only get 20 minutes in 2 hours overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 It depends on the venue. at our indoor meetings we tend to have 20 minute slots through the 2 hours that we have the hall. with the only separation being between fixed wing and rotor craft. There's a fairly even split of fixed wing and rotorcraft, so you get a full hour flight time out of the two hours and in fact it's encouraged quite a few folks to have an indoor helicopter, kind of like yours, so that they can fly something for the whole session, should they choose. However, like most club meets, it's typically 75% of the time blethering and 25% of the time actually flying.😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC57 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) If you have a combination of models, small fixed wing, larger indoor fixed wing, Night Vapor, drone, helicopter etc., you’ll find yourself flying more or less constantly for two hours. That’s what happens for most at our indoor sessions anyway. You may just have a small helicopter for now, but I can assure you I’ve NEVER met an established modeller who was happy with just one model! Edited January 19 by EvilC57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 On 18/01/2024 at 11:46, GrumpyGnome said: Some plastic parts may be more brittle. I flew my Raptor the other day ( OS .50 hyper ), it was a bit 'funny' in the air, only to find on landing it that the three tail rotor command guides on the tail tube had broken, another lucky escape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) 10 hours ago, GreyAce said: So I'd only get 20 minutes in 2 hours overall. Possibly, yes. As others have suggested, get a plane and double your flight time! Alternatively, once you meet a few fellow heli fliers, look into hiring e a small village hall - they can be surprisingly cheap (£6 an hour plus heating for our village hall). Edited January 19 by GrumpyGnome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyAce Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 15 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said: Possibly, yes. As others have suggested, get a plane and double your flight time! Alternatively, once you meet a few fellow heli fliers, look into hiring e a small village hall - they can be surprisingly cheap (£6 an hour plus heating for our village hall). At the moment I've been flying my small indoor one to keep practice up but flying outside is clearly impractical now,windy as hell and as for the club thing hmm I am not impressed with the flight time I would get so I am leaving that for now but I have been using apps on android where you can practice flying planes or helis they are very useful tools but I admit I'm not great with planes lol but helis it's great practice to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) £6 an hour ! Blimmey, £60 an hour in our "community" sports hall for " special activities".....😭 I know why, any function in the sports hall/community centre means the rooms will need cleaning ( even if cleaned by the group making the mess ) and servicing, meaning the staff will have to actually do some work. Complaints have gone in from variouse parties but never make it past "the committee'.... Upset one person in the village, you effectively upset HALF the village ! £6 an hour, real bargain, even £6 per hour per person is not that expensive. Edited January 20 by Rich Griff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Yup. Quite spoilt. Our indoor sessions are £5 for 90 mins (or more if you arrive 10/15 mins early). Typically only half a dozen of us so no slots - just fly as much as you want/dare...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Carpenter Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I run an indoor 🚁club in a small village hall on Fridays. CH and bar next door. £8-50 hour and we hire for 2 hours. 17 years now and no problems. I charge £2 for a session. Keep a small float and give free week if it gets too big (or a week In Caribbean)😂😂😂Get between 8-10 folk. Colin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Dare I mention it, our club uses a local schools PT heated building mostly Sunday mornings from 9 till12 and some afternoons, our club President negotiated a good price, Free !.😇 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 If Bridlington's too far, France certainly is! I only mentioned a village hall as they are surprisingly cheap compared to sports centre halls, for example. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 5 minutes ago, GrumpyGnome said: If Bridlington's too far, France certainly is! I only mentioned a village hall as they are surprisingly cheap compared to sports centre halls, for example. It's another way of life,,,, now what wine for lunch today ?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Lol. We considered moving to central France when I retired, but the complexities of the inheritance laws put us off....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinFlynn Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 5 minutes ago, GrumpyGnome said: Lol. We considered moving to central France when I retired, but the complexities of the inheritance laws put us off....... They really aren't that complicated, but they might mean your inheritance won't go where you might want them to and the French state will cream off a chunk for itself. Good old Napoleon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 2 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said: Lol. We considered moving to central France when I retired, but the complexities of the inheritance laws put us off....... Just curious, but what's the attraction of retiring to central France? Its climate isn't that much different to a wet and cold UK - somewhere sunny and warm for most of the year I would find tempting perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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