MAY 2012 Newsletter
Next Meeting is on Sunday 6th May
The Club website is at www.indoorflyers.yolasite.com Your contributions will be very welcome.
Sunday Meeting.
I have checked with the RAF this morning and all is well for our meeting this weekend. Members will remember that a few years ago, after a very wet period, we had quite a flood by the entrance door. Apparently there is no problem this time. So no excuses we will be open for business as usual by 1230.
The Future of this Newsletter.
After some discussion at the last meeting, the general opinion was that as most people are now familiar with the internet, or indeed have “all singing, all dancing” phones, the best way to communicate will be to go over to all website information, Craig has the ideas as to how he feels it will work, so grab him and hear what he has to say.
Foam Supplies
The sheets are 1 square meter in size, are in the three most popular thicknesses and are 75% cheaper than the model material suppliers quoted on the net! All sheets are priced at £2.50. Now you can build yourself some replacement 3D kit for less than £5.
There are plenty of 1.5 and 3mm sheets in stock, but only about four 6mm, as I have a pre order 10. So this meeting and the June event will be the last chance to buy foam at these ridiculously low prices!
The Inner Man,(or Woman)
Remember there are great cakes, scones and other goodies on sale to keep you going through the afternoon, plus the odd electronic device when you need a spare.
There will be a table for “Bring and Buy” plus any swop items you may wish to trade
Dates
June 3rd. (Diamond Jubilee Meeting, celebrate by getting 60 models airborne at once!!)
See you there next Sunday!
Regards to all, Gerry York
March 2012 Newsletter
Next Meeting is on Sunday 11th March
The official start time is 1300. But in order to prepare the facility we will be picking up the keys at @ 1230
The Club website is at www.indoorflyers.yolasite.com Your contributions will be very welcome.
Safety and Insurance.
Our safety record during the years we have been using this site has been 100%. There have been no incidents, damage or personal injury, a record to be proud of and a testament to the good sense and flying discipline of the members. It is essential that we keep this standard as it ensures that our landlord has confidence that our safety rules are effective.
We operate two areas, one, the “AstroTurf” is dedicated to the operating of lightweight and fragile models, rubber, CO2. micro electric. The flying of higher performance models in this area is not appropriate as the risk to the lighter craft is obvious.
The main flight area consists of the basketball and badminton courts, where there is enough volume to allow continuous flying, without the need for slots or specific time/type arrangements. This allows any user as much flying time as he wishes.
With the recent increase in numbers using the hangar, many of whom do not know the agreed layout that has been developed over the years, the use of these areas is becoming confused and with that, the safety rules are being ignored.
So this is to clarify the situation.
The club is established to provide facilities for indoor flying, and as such, the agreement between the Ministry of Defence and the club allows for the operation of model aircraft by members of the BMFA. This agreement does not extend to other models or toys and so the operation of surface vehicles, such as hovercraft is not accepted.
At the last meeting, without any discussion, several of these units were being driven around the courts and a “racetrack” was established on the floor. During the following usage, these hovercraft were turning over and becoming stranded. Understandably the operators were keen to recover the units and ran out on to the courts to right the models. As a result there were three instances of “near misses” when trespassers were nearly hit by model aircraft.
The whole point of being able to fly in this large area is to allow many users safe and continuous access and as such the area is dedicated to flying models, with the operators located clear of the floor and ideally all together in one pit area to allow for communication.
Because of the peculiarities of helicopter operation we have had to accept that operators of these machines tend to wander off and hide in corners, but as long as the fixed wing pilots knew where the hovering groups were, there was no problem. However it is not safe to have people walking, or running, out into the flying area, with the high performance and greater speeds of modern 3D models, this is too high a risk.
Therefore we formally state that the club operates all classes of indoor model aircraft only. No surface models are to be operated on either of the main flying areas. If the third area, adjacent to the changing rooms is clear, then surface models may be operated in this location. These models should be on 2.4 GHz, but if on 35 MHz, the peg board must be used.
During the flying period, club members and visitors are to keep to the periphery of the flying areas and are only permitted to move onto these areas for the purpose of model recovery. If it is necessary to move onto an area, warning must be given to any other operators to ensure safety.
The increasing use of the lightweight area by owners of mini radio models is discouraged as the increasing performance of these commercial items is increasing the risk to the traditional FF models that are limited to this part of the hangar. These latest models are more suited to the larger area and will be asked to move.
Because of the increased number of users we will issue a set of rules for the hangar, so that there is no misunderstanding as to “what can be flown where”!
Please understand, we do not want to be the “fun police” but it is necessary to clarify our operating rules to maintain safety and to meet our legal requirements as tenants.
Foam Supplies
I have managed to get some sheets of Depron in 1.5mm, 3mm & 6mm thickness. The sheets are 1 square meter in size and are 75% cheaper than the model material suppliers quoted on the net! Now you can build yourself some replacement 3D kit for less than £5.
Dates
Next Meetings are; April 15th, May 6th, and finally June 3rd.
Note Change of Date in April
See you there next Sunday!
Regards to all, Gerry York.
febuary news letter .................................................................................
Next Meeting is on Sunday 12th February
We pick up the keys for 1230, but see special notice below!
The Club website is at www.indoorflyers.yolasite.com Your contributions will be very welcome
BMFA Subscriptions
You must be a member of the BMFA to use this facility and to protect the club organisers, we will be asking members to prove that they are current, fully paid up members of the National Body.
The reason for doing this is that it is a strict condition of the hire regulations set by the Ministry of Defence and any breaking of this requirement will result in us losing the hangar, so please do not feel upset if you are asked to show your current card.
Pit Space/Flying Space for this weekend
There is an Air Training Corps camp at Shawbury starting on the Saturday 11th Feb. As there is an accommodation problem for youngsters on the camp. They are accommodated in tents inside the Sports Hangar. This means that when you come to fly this Sunday, there will be some six man tents set up, probably between the two flying areas. However the floor areas will be clear. Please keep clear of these tents, it will mean that you will have to find a pit area to the side of the hangar but that is better than getting mixed up with the cadet accommodation. There might be some more space, on the other side of the hangar, if the gym equipment has been relocated for this visit, but at this stage, (Monday afternoon), I do not know.
I am sorry that this possible limitation has happened this weekend, but we have not had prior notice. In future we will ask for any clashes of bookings to be advised to us and we will then be able to book clear dates
Foam Supplies
I have had very little response to the offer of Depron Foam. Therefore I assume that anybody using this material has already found a suitable supply. The response time from the supplier is very quick so even at this late stage, it can be supplied for the next meeting, but you will have to e-mail or ring me to ensure I get the order in this week.
Bring & Buy
There will be items for sale, both new and “pre-owned
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January 2012 Newsletter
Next Meeting is on Sunday 15th January
We pick up the keys for 1230, to allow us time to set everything up for the booked start time of 1300- so if you arrive before that go jogging or some other fitness activity!
The Club website is at www.indoorflyers.yolasite.com Your contributions will be very welcome.
Payment of subscriptions.
These are due at the first meeting you attend. £30.0p for the full year. As of this meeting we will be charging £5.00 per session for all casual flyers, so the “saving period” is now over.
BMFA Subscriptions
The annual subscription is now due for all users.
You must be a member of the BMFA to use this facility and to protect the club organisers, we will be asking members to prove that they are current, fully paid up members of the National Body.
The reason for doing this is that it is a strict condition of the hire regulations set by the Ministry of Defence and any breaking of this requirement will result in us losing the hangar, so please do not feel upset if you are asked to show your current card.
Use of Areas.
Would operators of small helicopters please be aware that if you slope off and hide in the far corner of the flying area, you are very difficult to see and your little flying device is invisible, leading to a good chance of a “mid-air” Could you gather in a friendly clump so that the fixed wing pilots who are at the centre of the flying area have an idea where you are?
Bring & Buy
There will be items for sale, both new and “pre-owned
I have had a request for Depron sheets. We can get supplies of this material; the prices will work out about £3.00 per sheet if we order it in bulk. We need to purchase 20 sheets of 6mm, or 40 sheets of 4mm or 60 sheets of 2mm to get the best prices, this is a full box of each size. We can purchase smaller amounts but the price will be slightly higher, probably by about 50p.
These sheets are all 700mm X 1000mm and are probably less than half price compared to model shop prices, so if there is enough interest in this material we will be purchasing a supply for delivery at the February meeting.
It is a very cheap way of increasing your model fleet; just use your latest model as a template, buy a sheet of 6mm and some UHU Por, and you are in business!
Dates
Next Meeting February 12th followed by March 11th, April 8th, May 6th, and finally June 3rd.
See you there next Sunday!
Regards to all, Gerry Y.
Pool Cottage, The Marsh WEOBLEY Herefordshire HR4 8RP
01544 319329 dunlandin@btinternet.com
December Newsletter
Next Meeting is on Sunday 18th December
We pick up the keys for 1230, to allow us time to set everything up for the booked start time of 1300- so if you arrive before that have a picnic in your car!
The Club website is at www.indoorflyers.yolasite.com as the site is expanded we will put the newsletter on view and hopefully add to the photo gallery. Your contributions will be very welcome.
Payment of subscriptions.
These are due at the first meeting you attend. £30.0p for the full year. As we expand membership we will have to limit numbers so that we can continue to provide full flying throughout the meeting. If we have too many attending, the need for slots arises and this would be unwelcome, the big advantage of our location is we have the space to fly whenever we want. So if you plan to attend each meeting it could be worth your while taking out a full membership while there are still places.
Use of Areas.
Last month I said that we might have to review the way we used the flying areas, due to the larger membership and demand on space, but it would seem that it all worked very well and there were no clashes at all.
There is one observation and that concerns small helicopters. Would helicopter operators try to keep together and in the same area? It is very difficult to see the isolated individual, especially on the far side of the hangar, flying a mini chopper. The risk of a mid- air is increased as owners “lurk” in corners where they are difficult to see!
BMFA Subscriptions
We now know that the subscription for 2012 is £31. All members who are affiliated through the club have had their membership renewed this week and so I hope to have the new BMFA cards and insurance documents ready for issue at the next meeting.
This is a good time to remind everybody that all users of the hangar MUST be BMFA members. If you are a country member and would like to re-register through the Shropshire Indoor Modellers, we can arrange that, at no cost to you, and the advantage to the club is that it will ensure that there will always be enough members registered to allow the hangar insurance to continue. (See Craig or Gerry to arrange any transfer.)
Bring & Buy
As it is the time of good cheer, bring your unwanted items to the meeting and indulge in a spot of Festive Trading!
Unfortunately we do not have tables to set out your wares but there will be space to display anything you would like to sell.
This is a great opportunity to move on those items you thought you needed but never used!
Dates
January 15th, February 12th, March 11th, April 8th, May 6th, June 3rd. These will be repeated each month.
See you there on the 18th!
Regards to all, Gerry Y.
