MODEL AVIATORS ASSOCIATION
NEWSLETTER
MAY 2004
Welcome
to the latest edition of the newsletter
In
response to several requests we are now producing it in a clearer font
Its
that time of year again folks. All memberships and insurances are due for
renewal on 1st June 2004.We have had notification from the insurance
Company that for this year at least there will be no increase in premiums. A
renewal form is attached to the back of this newsletter. Please complete and
return it as soon as possible. Insurance certificates will be issued as soon
after 1st June as possible once received from the insurance company.
Membership cards and renewal gifts will also be issued at that time.
Whilst
on the subject, it is imperative and a requirement of the insurance company that
the MAA be notified by any member who intends to fly at a public display either
as an individual or part of a club or engage in any type of ‘display’ flying
of the date, time and venue of such activity and also the details of the
organisation responsible for putting on the event. This information should be IN
WRITING and well before the event.
PLEASE
BE SPECIFIC AND ACCURATE ON THIS
This
is a formal notification that the Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday
12th September 2004 at 8.30pm in the Three Rocks Pub, Ladram Bay
during the Devon holiday.
Any
proposals, nominations for posts or business for the meeting should be put in
writing (not e-mailed) to the Chairman to be in his hands by noon on Sunday 5th
September. The present committee are willing to stand to serve for a further
term. Please note that there is no provision for ‘Any other business’ at an
AGM. There will be time after the formalities for general discussions.
Bookings
are going well and we only have a few of our block reservation left. All
bookings must be made and paid for by 1st July 2004.This includes
tourers and the deadline date will have to be strictly adhered to as we will be
invoiced by the site owners at that point. Forms are available from Caroline
Scoles at the address at the end of this newsletter. The venue is Ladram Bay
near Budleigh Salterton and is not a Haven site. The units are of the same type
but at half the price as Haven. Prices for 5Star units are from £225. The camp
has passed on responsibility for administering the bookings to us so there is no
provision for booking direct.
Again
booking forms and information sheets are available from Caroline at the usual
address
The
MAA will be attending several shows this year, Cosford, Wings and Wheels,
WoodVale etc.
Maurice
Partington will be manning our stand so go along and see him. Better still if
you can lend a hand contact him on 01604 870381
In
order to give a more detailed view we have thrown a pen and paper at our
instructors and asked them to give their thoughts on the May holiday so here
goes:
Willy
Howe was again the location for the power flying for the two weeks and it was a
relief to find that the grass area had been cut, just leaving the take off and
landing square to mow. Simon, Maurice and Boddo were on hand to give any help to
the modellers that might be required, sometimes it looked as if the instructors
were in need of help themselves! This year the number of fliers on the power
site was down. WHY??
A
number of factors, one being the Friday to Friday booking, but the main reason
can be seen by visiting the Slope Soaring Sites. These were really buzzing and
as many as 50 pilots were there some days.
There
is no doubt that the Slope sites, in particular Filey Brigg (on a fine day) has
advantages over the power field. The vitas are superb, there are Eating and
Toilet facilities at hand, which is a real bonus for the ladies.
However
those stalwarts who did attend Willy Howe, certainly enjoyed themselves, and got
in plenty of flying. Weather conditions were far from perfect, but we flew every
day of the second week, and only missed one day during the first week.
Ironically the weather was glorious on the changeover day!!
The
biggest disappointment was the lack of beginners and this applied to both sites.
Surely these aero modelling holiday weeks offer a prime opportunity for
newcomers to the hobby to take advantage of the training facilities on hand, not
only are there qualified instructors, but training models, buddy box systems and
even free fuel. Where else could they get such an offer and all for £10, the
donation charged towards the cost of the field?
Next
year we hope to be at Bridlington Aerodrome for the power flying and there will
be facilities that even the glider guys will envy. It is also hoped to
incorporate the Helicopter flying on the same site (See
above “ed”)
You
must know someone who would benefit from our Training facilities, or perhaps you
could inform the local clubs in your Area or the local Model Shops.
It
is nothing short of criminal that this service is under used. Lets all work
together to make 2005 a bonanza year as far as Training is concerned. Spread the
word and we will get the Engines buzzing……………
Author…David
Boddington (Power Instruction/MAA President)
Model
Aviators Association Holiday week April 24th to May 1st
2004 Primrose Valley, Filey. I
could not believe the weather when I arrived at the camp.
The sun was shining and there was very little wind.
I hoped that this was the start of things to come!
The customary informal get together on the Saturday night started the
week off. The same as last year, we
were given the use of the 365 bar. Sadly
there were a number of old faces missing this year.
Unfortunately, this year we only attracted one or two new faces.
They appeared to have a great time and had become friends by the end of
the week. I am very worried by the
diminishing number of members attending these holidays.
Why are people not coming back or not attending in the first place?
If the numbers are not kept at an acceptable level the holidays will
stop.
Well,
unlike the past couple of years, Sunday dawned and Mother Nature had been very
kind to us. It was a beautiful day,
with the sun shining, and it was warm enough for the glider CFI to have his
shorts on! The attendance of the
pilots’ morning briefing was good. MAA
Chairman, Max Bradley, welcomed everybody, PRO, Caroline Scoles, explained what
was in store for the week's events and each CFI gave a briefing on their
discipline. When Members paid for
their power flying passes, they were given a free raffle ticket.
The prize was a £20 model voucher.
The weather remained good until Tuesday when it turned unsettled.
Every day most of the people were able to fly at some point.
The glider flyers were out from virtually dawn to dusk every day.
There was even a brief appearance on the slopes by some of the power
flyers! By the end of the week,
everyone had been lucky enough to get some great flying in.
Once again, this year we were privileged to have Alan Head from SAS
models spending all week with us. The
evening’s entertainment, as detailed in the programme, was as follows:
Sunday-Aeroplane Darts. Unfortunately
this did not take place due a lack of a dartboard!
Monday-Spot the Aeroplane. Tuesday
-Informal get together. Wednesday
-the infamous one and only Alan Head. Thursday
-Fun Auction and bring and buy. Friday
we had the traditional raffle draw and prize giving ceremony.
Again, a break from the normal tradition buffet supper, we tried the
Chinese restaurant next door to the 365 bar.
There was live music from Max and his band, “The Little Band” and
complimented by Elizabeth, John and Derek as guitarists.
Max kindly presented the Trophies, and the John Rudd Memorial Trophy was
awarded to Liam Beard.
Max
also made an announcement about next year’s Primrose Valley Holiday.
We were informed that due to the drop in numbers, The Committee have
decided to merge the MAA holiday week with the Modellers Holiday week that
normally follows the MAA week. So
next year the holiday at Filey will be for one week instead of two weeks.
It will be the week before the May Bank Holiday and it will be known as
the Modellers Holiday week.
If
you have just enjoyed a weeks flying with the MAA, or have missed it, there is
always the Devon holiday in September this year.
We must make a go of Devon this year especially with our new camp and
much lower prices than Haven Holidays.
So if you
have been thinking about going to Devon, please support us and give it a try
this year. Well this brought another weeks flying holiday to an end.
Everyone said their goodbyes with promises to see each other either at
Devon or Filet next year.
Author….MICHAEL
TERRY.
(Gliding Instructor/Web Master)
(Instructor:
Derek Stowe)
Filey
2004
At
first I didn’t think I would make it. A
week before the holiday my back gave out
(a
re-occurring problem). Luckily, the
GP said take it easy for the next 3 weeks and signed me off (oops, sorry boss).
Anyway, with a bit of TLC that week, I managed to get it something like
and off we went.
When
we arrived, the sun was shining and Caroline had the kettle on. Things were
sorted, car unpacked and a well-earned stretch was the order of the day.
Sunday
arrived (after only a few beers!!! Honest and catching up with friends old and
new the night before) and the weather was pretty good again.
Up at the Honey Pot (the flying site) things were pretty calm so out came
the Xcell 60 for a spot of flying before anyone else turned up and just to warm
up the thumbs you understand.
Liam
and Nick (his Dad) turned up ready to get in some more training (Liam had a go
last year and did really well) with Nick determined not to be outdone by a mere
strip of a lad. This made for some
good banter on and off the pitch and I can certainly see either one of them
circuiting before long of someone lends them a heli!!!!! (Did I say
Lend)?
Mind you, I got my own back by playing a rather bad guitar on 3 evenings
during the week with Max. John and
friend (thanks guys).
Liam
once again had a go at everything in sight and I should think it would not be
the last we have heard from him given the chance to progress (Nats here we
come). A couple of regulars also turned up with their own copters and apart from
one incident, all had a good week.
On
the second week, Baz and Shell (husband and wife) made a beeline for the heli
patch (the weather had got worse by this point) in their new Camper van.
Baz was determined to learn to fly the heli’s and Shell was not going
to b e outdone. For someone who had
not flown before, Shell proved a decent match for Baz and certainly kept me on
my toes on the buddy. The camper was great with Shell providing much needed
caffeine to order (thanks Flower) and I certainly think Father Xmas may be
bringing a Raptor to someone in that camp in the near future.
Our
youngest daughter joined us on the second week, which gave Jane a break from my
constant whining, and they definitely went through Filey/Scarborough and Brid
like a dose of Salts.
So,
all in all, a good fortnight with me and Lyndsey taking joint 2nd
place
on the indoor silent flight night and THE FAMILY with help from Baz, Shell and
Mr.’s
Boddo
(Jill) taking 1st
on
John’s tower for a chocolate orange night, Thanks everyone for making it so
enjoyable. See you all at Devon and
keep an eye out for my chopper.
Derek.
A
most enjoyable 2 weeks, but as stated above we need to generate more numbers. By
dealing direct with Primrose Valley Park we have secured facilities for next
year, when I am sure that we will improve the head count. The change of Power
site, with its improved facilities, the rates for Accommodation in the quieter
week for the park, has given us all an opportunity to encourage our friends to
come or return to the event which I regard as the most enjoyable period of the
year. The contributions of the Instructors above are also most welcome as there
is no way that myself or Caroline can cover all of the sites in detail.
Similarly there must be members who could send an article or set of notes that
we could adapt to an article, which would be of interest to your fellow
MAA’ers. HAVE A GO for the next Newsletter.
I
think that the majority of relevant points have been made above, by Instructors,
particularly in respect of the future, and I have left all of the comments in
full even though there is inevitably some overlap. This does emphasise the
overall agreement of us all in the way we see the association going forward.
Author….
Max Bradley (Chairman)
It
must be remembered that the holidays are not to be used as a vehicle for
obtaining A and B certificates. Our instructors, some of which are BMFA
examiners, value their qualifications and abuse of the conditions relating to
the issue of A and B awards could cause the BMFA to withdraw the qualification
from the examiner. Please do not therefore put either the MAA or the individual
examiner in an embarrassing position. There are very strict rules imposed by the
BMFA in relation to taking the tests outside of your own club. If you are not
sure what these rules are please speak to Dave Scoles, our gliding CFI who is a
BMFA Chief Examiner. His decision on whether there is an eligibility to take the
test will be final .In any case you will need to bring a letter signed by your
club secretary with you confirming that the club has no objection to us carrying
out the test.
Newsletter
Costs
Printing
donated by Grimsby Model Centre
Postage
Caroline Scoles
Public
Relations: -
Caroline Scoles
Chairman:
-
Max Bradley
Email:
-
mail@modelaviatorsassociation.fsnet.co.uk
OR
mail@grimsbymodelcentre.fsnet.co.uk
TELEPHONE:
01472 322874 or 07771 751959
Snail
Mail: -
C/o
Grimsby Model Centre, 22 Lord Street, Grimsby. DN31 2LU