All members must observe field discipline and comply with the Air Navigation Order, all relevant BMFA safety codes as contained within the BMFA Members’ Handbook, Civil Aviation publication (CAP) 658 and Article 16 as negotiated by the British Model Flying Association.
On matters of field safety needing an immediate decision, the responsibility lies with instructors or a member of the committee in that order. Any instructions must be accepted without dissent. However, should a member believe the instructions to be wrong, then he should bring this to the attention of the Committee through Article 16 of the Constitution.
Any pilot not holding a solo qualification for the type of aircraft they are flying must not fly without the supervision of an instructor or their specially appointed deputy if the instructors are absent from the field. If no instructors are present at the site, any member holding the BMFA ‘B’ Certificate may act as an appointed deputy until an instructor arrives.
To fly unsupervised flyers must be able to fly to the standard required by the BMFA ‘A’ Test which equates to a basic standard of safety and flying competence, totally unassisted by any means of electronic stabilisation, guidance, or the like. Any member who cannot fly to that standard, for any reason, must not fly unsupervised. Within our Club you do not have to have passed the BMFA test to fly unsupervised, but you must be able to fly to that standard.
Due consideration must always be given to trainee or novice pilots in the circuit. If the pleasure or concentration of a pilot is affected by the flying style of another, precedence will be given to the pilot who was airborne first. Intimidating flying of any sort is not permitted.
No more than 4 aircraft shall be airborne at any one time.
All flying is to be done in the designated areas only. Overflying or close proximity flying of the flight line, car park, pits, Shillito Wood or the public car park attached thereto such that might create danger or alarm is not permitted.
Any flight activity relating to the nearby full-size aircraft landing strip will be given priority over model aircraft flying.
All pilots must observe the established flight line and stand in the designated area whilst flying. Any variation to suit daily conditions may be made by the Club’s safety officers.
Any spectators must remain in the car park or pits area whilst flying is in progress.
Any person wishing to enter or cross the runway area must seek clearance from any pilots flying at the time before doing so.
All vehicles must be parked in the designated area only and all pilots share responsibility to ensure that the car parking area chosen is the safest option for the prevailing wind direction.
The radio control frequency system in use is 2.4 Ghz.
The use of 35Mhz equipment is not approved but any pilot deciding to use such equipment must, before switching on, ensure that they are operating on the frequency they believe they are on and must display the appropriate frequency pennant on their transmitter.
35 MHz frequency numbers must be called out before the transmitter in question is switched on.
All 35MHz transmitter aerials must remain retracted unless the model is being flown. The flight is defined from the point of release to when the engine is stopped, or the model is restrained.
Transmitters should not be taken away from the flight line when retrieving an aircraft, unless to do so would aid retrieval of the model. In this instance the matter should be brought to the attention of the safety officers so that this may be carried out without the risk of over-flying the transmitter.
Should an aircraft go out of control; the priority must be the safety of persons with the second being avoidance of damage to property. A warning is to be shouted by the pilot which is to be taken up by other members.
Before starting an engine the model must be suitably restrained either by a tether or by an assistant.
In the interest of safety, assistance should be sought when running up engines and taking models to the runway for take-off. All helpers must have BMFA membership. The use of an assistant for pilots with IC Helicopters is mandatory for starting and carrying the model to the flight line.
Appropriate use should be made of all available pit area, and under no circumstances should engines be set up in the immediate vicinity of the pilots who are flying at that time. Where practical, models should face outward from the pit area.
Under no circumstances must an engine be run unless all persons are behind the line of the propeller except for the person starting the engine. When carrying out power checks all persons including the pilot are to be behind the line of the propeller.
Models having their engines run in on the ground must not be left unattended whilst the engine is running.
All new or repaired models should be checked out by an instructor or their appointed deputy before being allowed to fly. All models are subject to random safety spot checks which will be carried out by an instructor. If in his opinion a model is unsafe to fly or does not conform to Club rules, it will be grounded until rectified.
Members must ensure that they comply with the D of E Noise Code for the Minimisation of Noise from Model Aircraft. “Add on” silencers and “quiet” propellers should be fitted unless the model emits below 82 decibels at 7 metres without them. Notwithstanding if in the opinion of the Committee a model is excessively noisy in the air, then it is to be grounded until rectified.
All operational failsafes in use on powered models operated from our Club site must set the throttle to tick-over, not hold, (stopped in the case of electric power) regardless of the other control operations governed by the failsafe. Failsafes are to be checked prior to flight by switching the transmitter off whilst the model is restrained.
No person shall attempt to retrieve a model from any land adjacent to the flying site without prior consultation with the appointed safety officers for the day, to ensure that the situation is properly assessed, and minimal disruption caused. If it is considered by the safety officers that the landowner’s permission should be sought before retrieving the model, it will be the owner of the model and one of the safety officers who must approach them for permission.
Mobile telephones must not be taken onto the flight line.
No smoking is permitted near inflammable fuels and materials.
Children must always be closely supervised and must not be allowed to run around the pit area or runways.
No dogs are permitted at the flying field unless kept on a lead or tethered.
Any incident involving a third party, or another member must be reported to the Committee.
Pilot Competence and Safety
The space we have for flying, parking and pits is extremely limited and further restricted by the presence of the increasingly derelict building so when we factor in a couple of basic safety considerations it becomes clear why anyone flying unsupervised must be competent and safety conscious (see above) and willing to accept that our operational setup has to comply with some basic safety considerations. These are two quoted from the BMFA guidelines;
- Under no circumstances whatsoever should you move to the far side of the flying area so that you can land your model between yourself and the pits area.
- Under no circumstances whatsoever should you fly between yourself and the pits area.
There are several reasons for this including the fact that however good any one of us imagines we are at judging relative distance by MK1 eyeball humans is pretty useless at it – as evidenced by the amount of overflying of the pits and potential aircraft entries into the latter even within the last few months – and the writer does not exempt himself from that error of judgement, and more.
For the same reason we should not attempt to fly a model between ourselves and any fixed object on the ground for example the oft quoted derelict building which has claimed many models over the years
Please accept the fact that because of our limited space there may be days when the combination of wind direction and strength, your chosen model, and your own capabilities and /or condition on the day may conspire to suggest that you should make the decision not to fly.
In trying to give examples of set ups which should be as safe as our site allows, we have obtained the agreement of the farmer to use an additional area for parking when the wind direction does not seem to allow any other safe alternative. This is an area which we used many years ago but which we can again use by driving through the enclosed area at the back of the derelict building. (The area in front of the building is the potentially boggiest area in the field during wet weather).
The Committee has decided to place a limit of 6 cars in the field at any time.
Any excess will still be able to park on the road verge outside of the arc of the gate.
To ensure Members have sufficient information before making decisions whether to travel to the field use of the Flying Notification WhatsApp is mandatory.
When driving in please stop outside our flying area and give a short ‘toot’ to flag up your presence before proceeding.
On the separate page headed ‘Flying Patterns Examples‘ are a few illustrations of how we should be thinking of setting up bearing in mind the wind direction on any given day, but about the wind direction please accept that the official forecast direction is the one that is usually the most reliable and that is the one which will dictate the initial setup. If the wind is forecast to change direction during the day that will have to be factored in as it happens but what will not is the temporary effect of passing thermal activity or the like.
These diagrams are not exhaustive, the circuits drawn are not to scale but only to indicate the direction to be used. The purpose of these diagrams is to try to establish how we should be thinking when we arrive to setup flying for the day. The idea that when we are flying our own body is defending the parking area / pits from attack is maybe not a bad one to keep in mind.
Overflying Shillito Wood and it’s car park should be avoided.
Guest Flyers
Members may invite guest fliers to the site on arrangement with the Committee, but they must be BMFA insured and the club member must assume total responsibility for the actions and safety of the guest. Guests must fly under the supervision of instructors if their ability requires it, and such arrangements must be made in advance of the visit.
Junior Members
A Junior Member is defined as being under 18 years of age.
Junior Members must be accompanied at all times by their own parent or guardian.
A responsible adult is defined as a senior member or parent/guardian who has the experience commensurate with the type and degree of supervision required.
Junior members must always be supervised by a responsible adult. The level of supervision is to be commensurate with the junior member’s age, maturity, capabilities and levels of experience.
Junior members under the age of 14 years shall not start an engine or carry a model with the engine running unless they are supervised by a responsible adult.
No junior member under the age of 14 years shall fly a model aircraft unless supervised by a responsible adult or the junior member holds the minimum of a BMFA Achievement Scheme “A” certificate and/or has been authorised to do so by the Club Committee.
No senior member is to be expected to assume responsibility for a junior member unless he/she has been specifically requested to do so by the junior member’s parent/guardian. If required to do so, he/she is to assume complete and total responsibility for the junior member whilst he/she is in their charge.
Notwithstanding the requirements of the previous paragraph, should a member discover a junior member is unsupervised he/she must assume responsibility for the junior member’s safety in the first instance. The situation should then be rectified as soon as possible by seeking out the junior member’s parent/guardian/nominated supervisor. Any instance of such an occurrence is to be reported to the Committee as soon as possible.
Whilst supervising junior members, senior members should be aware of the requirements of The Children Act (1989) and avoid placing themselves in a position that could be open to misinterpretation or question.
A leaflet giving advice is available from the BMFA.