Conference vmszoo::rc

    Is that Reading MA, Reading PA or Reading, England??
    
    

    Sean should phone David Boddington or one of the other RC'ers in
    Reading.  He can find several by going through topic #4 with the SEARCH
    command.

    	I take it from the phone directory that you're in Reading UK.
    There's a field (actually the old Common) in Basingstoke that we use,
    or alternatively there's a range of hills between Basingstoke and
    Newbury that we use for slope soaring.
    	All of these are freely usable, with certain agreed limitations.
    
    	What kind of glider are we talking about?
    
    Malcolm

    
    
    Sorry for the ambiguity...Its Sean from the UK (Reading England)
    Thanks for the info.I have two RC gliders.Super Phoenix (thermal-9ft)
                                              Scirocco (thermal 8.5ft)
    I have managed to find somebody with their own winch line,and trying 
    to find a farmer in the area to use his field.Apart from the Reading 
    club,are there any others nearby?
                
                                      Sean(UK)
    

    
    Hi,
    
    	I am a member of the FLEET club, we have a glider site
    	near Farnham.  I fly from the Fleet field, which is mainly
    	power,  (some glider),   the glider site has a power winch.
    
    	Mail me for membership details.. 
    
    
    	Cheers
    
    	Brian 

    Sean,
    	I know its a while back now, so I hope you're all fixed up, but
    just in case your still looking. Thames Valley Silent Fliers are based
    in Bracknel and Meon Valley soaring Association is based in South
    Hants.
    	If you need any info give me a call. 782-2041.
    Regards Trevor            

    Does anyone know of a club near Henley-On-Thames,Oxfordshire.I am a
    complete beginner interested in getting in to RC aircraft,and I would
    think joining a club would be the best idea befor having a go
    myself,right?
    
    Tyrone
    

    
    	Hi,
    
    	I don't know of the clubs in the Henley area, but I suggest you
    	ring the BMFA and ask them.
    
    	Any decent club will be registered with the BMFA (British Model
    	Flying Association)  you can contact them on 0533 440028
    
    	My club in Fleet, Hants, is probably a bit too far away...
    
    	Brian.

    Thanks for the phone number Brian,I'll try it.I was told there was a
    club in fleet,but I'm hopeing there's one closer.
    
    Tyrone
    

    Well, I might as well put this in here as my club is close to Reading
    if you consider the distance to the US of A !
    
    We are in Galway, in the west of Ireland, right on the coast. We have a
    number of flying sites around the city that are easy to get to. So if
    you are on a trip, pack the plane, and get in touch. We also have some
    super gliding sites that are well worth going to. Even if you don't
    bring a plane which would probably be very awkward to transport, get in
    touch. I like to go out flying when ever the opportunity arises. We can
    also get down to some good old Irish hospitality.
    
    Even if any of you are somewhere in Ireland and have a weekend give me
    a call - I would probably be able to travel to where you are located or
    organise something. 
    
    Regards,
    
    Eric.

    Thanks for the invite Eric,knowing some of the countryside I've seen on
    TV in Irland and what my freind has described to me,there must be some
    fantastic places to fly.
     I have phoned the BMFA and they are very kindly going to send me a
    list of their clubs.
     Just to fill you and Brian in,I have been going to get a RC plane for
    about ten years!My dad has also been interested and he nearly got hold
    of a spitfire the other day so I decided I would definatly get
    something.I happened to be talking to a freind who has a glider,and
    someone overheard me who had some stuff to sell.To cut a long story
    short!I got a Sanwa conquest 6 ch radio with 4 servos,an Irvine 40 mkII
    sport motor (6 1/2 cc),a Precedent Hi-boy R/C 4 ch Trainer (half
    built),heat sealing tool& heat gun,model craft electric starter,a
    flight line power panel (don't know exactly what this is for),all for
    50 pounds.Sounded like a bargain to me.
    
    Tyrone
    

    
    	gee Eric, I was there in Galway the first week in October on laser
    	training.  I was going to look you up, but due to the workload
    	on the course never got round to it.
    
    
    	Still the Guiness was superb, and the seafood at Morins (?) on
    	the weir even better.  
    
    	Brian
    	

    Next time .... That's a pity. 
    
    Glad you enjoyed the Guinness !
    
    Regards,
    
    Eric.

    I heard on BBC radio Oxford this morning that the CAA are trying to ban
    R/C aircraft flying.
    
    Tyrone
    

	What Is CAA and why would they be opposed to RC aircraft ??

				Larry

    CAA = Civil Aviation Authority = to FAA in the USA.

    I didn't catch the reason the CAA gave,but a member of a club in
    Oxfordshire said that what they proposed would mean limiting the
    distance that R/C aircraft were from buildings and the person flying
    it,also they would be limited in how high they could fly to 800 feet.
    I must confess that the report wasn't up to a usual BBC report and just
    as the report came on I started getting interference on my car
    radio,that's why I wondered if anyone else knew about the report.
     The one good thing I did catch from the report,there is a local MP who
    supports the modellers,and he said the CAA should stop waisting money on
    this matter and spend some money sorting out the near misses over the
    UK.                                                                  
    
    Tyrone.

    I caught the last few seconds of the report on South Today, a couple of
    weeks back. The R/C flyer was saying something like: I don't know what
    the CAA are bleating about, this is a 'harmless' hobby and at half a
    mile you can hardly see a normal R/C aircraft. Then there was a brief
    closing about the local MP getting involved. It would be interesting to
    see how the CAA are going to enforce this, if it ever came about.
    Afterall, you're not supposed to fly kites above 2000 ft. Go to
    Parliament hill on a weekend and see how many times this CAA rule is
    broken.
                                                                 
    BTW My neighbour is an ATC instructor for the CAA. His colourful
    descriptions of the CAA management ranges from 'complete dorks' (that's
    on a good day) to the unprintable and biologically impossible. In a
    previous life, I took part in a bid to replace the ageing ATC computer,
    with a modern fault-tolerant continuous running system which also had
    collision detection software. The CAA informed us they did not need and
    did not believe in collision detection software as their existing
    system was perfectly capable. I think the ATC IBM crashed four times in
    the week we recieved this reply.
    
    Angus

    On a side note a few years back a 7 year old girl got pulled a few feet
    off the ground and went for about a 100 yard ride across a field
    holding a kite reel when the kite she was flying along the approach
    path to San Jose Airport in California became ensnared by an
    approaching light airplane.  She was using 1/16" nylon rope.  No harm
    to child or airplane, the kite did not survive however.
    
    Will

A guy at my club mentioned this topic recently. We may have a problem....

The CAA are changing the rules on max height, and distance. One height figure I 
heard mentioned was 400 FEET!

I'll report more when I get back to the UK, and can check up on this. Meantime, 
please keep your ears to the ground.....

Why, every time I start a new hobby, does someone want to ban it?

Cheers 

Nigel

    The CAA's proposals are very serious in terms of their impact to the Model 
    flying community and in particular to Competitive Thermal pilots.  
    
    I enclose parts of the statement and appeal published by BARCS in the Jan
    93 issue of their news letter.. 
    
    But first on a personal note... if any of you value the right to
    continue as a flying modeller in the UK without these suggested strick
    restrictions then please follow the recommendations.  Further it 
    emphasises the point that we should fully support the recognised national 
    body for our hobby to give them more force and credibility in these
    issues. Please join the BMFA or BARCS and make you views known.
    Already the first set of proposals issued by the CAA have been
    changed but still to an unacceptable level......
    
    Back to the BARCS news letter..
    
    ------------------------Extract BARCS SOARER Jan 93----------------
    
    BARCS now need every member to support the campaign against the CAA
    proposals to limit the flying of model aircraft. The more people who
    act now, the better our chances of achieving a change of attitude from
    the CAA.
    
    Background
    
    Because of an airmiss incident in 1990 between a DC10 inbound to
    Gatwick airport at 1500 feet and a powered model the CAA issued a set
    of proposals in MARCH 1992:
    	
    	* No model of any description to be flown without permission from
    	  Air Trafic control within class A,D or E airspace (this means
    	  about 12 miles radius from all major airports at ANY height)and
    	  also 3 miles from any other operational airfield.
    
    	* Models below 2kg weight may be flown without restriction
    	  outside the above areas 
    
    	* Models between 2kg and 20kg may be flown outside the above
    	  areas subject to :
    		o Not higher than 400 feet
    		o Not further away than 500 metres or visibility
    		  whichever is te lesser.
    
    BARCS responded vigorously to these proposals, agreeing that there
    needs to be adequate provision around major airfields in the
    interests of aircraft safety, but outside these areas, current CAA
    restrictions were sufficient (i.e no restrictions on models up to
    7kgs).....
    
    ..[back to Trev.. BARCS also through BMFA challenged many other
    elements of the full proposal, As I'm sure did other bodies. It also
    received press, radio and TV coverage although it never seemed to me
    to have produced a balanced view, the uneducated masses being allowed
    to draw the conclusion that we hobbists were big boys playing with
    big toys which could constantly be putting the general public at
    risk.. anyway back to the news letter which contionues with the next
    update from the CAA]...
    
    In November 1992, the CAA responded with a second consultative paper
    containing...
    	* Class A,D and E restrictions as before;
    	* Other than A,D&E airspace only models below 1kg may be flown
    	  without restriction;
        * Other than A,D&E airspace, models between 1kg and 5kg must not
    	  fly above 800feet, not further than visibility or 350m, not
    	  within 20m of vehicle,vessel,structure or other person... 
    	  [Trev again, this should make the flight line a bit of a problem
    	  particularly for landing and takeoff..]
    	* Aditionally, between 5Kg and 20kg, must not fly within 30m of
    	  vehicle,..etc or within 350m of two or more houses or
    	  buildings.
    	* above 20kg the current exemption process will apply
    ------------------------End of Extracts------------------------
     
    	The news letter went on to appeal to its membership towrite to
    there MP providing them (us) with a framework and the names of all of
    the country wide MP's.
    
    I hope this has filled in a few gaps for you
    
    Trevor.

Thanks Trevor!

Now I'm REALLY scared. I'll write to my MP (who's about as much use as a 
chocolate fireguard), and see what happens. I'll also fire one off the the PM 
(I have no comments here).

I know that my club is involved in discussions with BMFA, and I'll be keeping an 
ear on these.

You're right, of course, about supporting national bodies. This seems to be 
something the guys in the States are rather better at than us (or do I mis-read 
the situation?). 

Cheers

Nigel

    Nigel,
    	I don't have the full details but as a result of all these letters
    to MP's two positive things have happened: there is now to be a 3rd 
    consultitive document and last month there was actually a meeting between 
    the CAA and members of the modelling community including BMFA, BARCS, 
    the Scotish model flying association and the LMFA (Large model assosciation)
    
    Some (but not very much) headway has been made. We actually managed to
    get a CAA rep to one of our BARCS contests.. The Sussex open on the
    18th April, unfortunately the conditions were not good and we were not
    able to provide a realistic view of the hobby.. however..
    
    We now have to wait for the CAA's next paper which I believe is due in
    September.
    
    Regards Trevor