Present

Wg Cdr M A Evans

Air Cdre R McAlpine CBE DFC

WO I Nelson                           Achievement Scheme Co-ord

Chf Tech D Platts                   Competition Sec

Cpl P Bellingham                    PRO & BMFA Delegate

Cpl D Houston                        Property Member

Cpl M Mathias                         Power Sec

Jnr Tech James Goodright     Airmens’ Rep & Equipment Scheme

Mr C Barker                             Control Line Sec

Mr Neil Tricker                         Silent Flight Sec

Mr C Waite                              News Letter Editor

Chf Tech M Paffett                  Indoor Sec 

Chairman

President

Secretary

Stations Represented

(Members:14 Full,

5 Honorary,

3 Associate)

DE&S Foxhill

RAF Brize Norton

RAF Cranwell

RAF Coningsby

RAF Cottesmore

RAF Digby

RAF High Wycombe

RAF Leuchars

RAF Lyneham

RAF Marham

RAF Scampton 

Apologies

Sqn Ldr A Rogers                   Treasurer 

Item

(a)

Discussion & Decision

(b)

Action

(c)

1

Minutes of Last

Meeting

1. The Chairman welcomed those present to the 59^th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Air Force Model Aircraft Association.

2. The minutes from the last meeting, held at RAF Honington on the 29^th August 2008, were reviewed and agreed to be a true and accurate record of the meeting.

Proposed: Jnr Tech Goodright, Seconded: Sqn Ldr Pallister, Carried unanimously.

2

Actions & Matters

Arising from Last

Meeting

There were 3 actions outstanding from the previous AGM:

1. The action to amend the Association Charter is ongoing.

2. The action to discuss the Warbirds fees at committee is complete and closed.

3. The action to publish the annual competition calendar in advance has proved difficult, but the committee will continue to strive to achieve this. Action closed.

Chairman

3

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer sent apologies for his absence and submitted the following report:

1. The Association membership stands at:

            Full Members              73

            Associate Members    42

            Honorary Members     21

            Junior Members            6

            Total                          142

2. The Association funds stand at:

            Current Account          £3969.83

            Deposit Account         £3723.54

            Total                            £7693.37

The major transactions for the year were the purchase of the new box trailer, which cost almost £5000.  To offset this, a generous donation of £2500 was received from BAESystems; a further donation of £2500 has been pledged for the next financial year.

3. It was proposed that the Association Accounts be accepted and that fees stay at their present level for the next year.

Proposed: WO Nelson, Seconded: Sqn Ldr Pallister,

Carried unanimously. 

4

Competition

Secretary’s Report

1.         2009 has been a productive year for RAMAA on the competition front; enough events have been competed to conclusively decide most of our flying disciplines.  Although at times some of the competitions have been lightly attended there has been sufficient sport to make it interesting. The typical British weather has been doing it's best to scupper our chances of enjoyment!

2.         Although severely thwarted by the weather, the activities on the slope kicked the season off with Mr Neil Tricker coming away with top honours after the five competitors fought their way through the slope aerobatics.  Following on from this an Indoor fly event took place at RAF Digby; fortunately the wind doesn't pose a problem in the Gym there so this event went off without a hitch, again attended by five competitors.  Three disciplines were flown; EZB, HLG and Helicopter, with the ubiquitous Chf Tech Martin Paffett coming out on top after the conclusion of the second event again held at Digby.

3.         Following on, the RAFMAA committee hosted the highly regarded Warbirds event at RAF Scampton, this was a huge success, further reinforcing the RAFMAA's reputation within the model flying fraternity.  Of particular note was the number of serving RAFMAA members who took part in the flying, with the Marham contingent turning out in force. Perhaps there may be scope for conducting some sort of scale competition during future Warbirds events to encourage participation in this wonderful event?

4.         After a loss of RAF Waddington as the traditional venue for the RAFMAA fly-in it was decided to hold it at RAF Scampton.  After a couple of begging letters to the Station, the event was quickly brought to fruition and was pleasantly well attended, with a great deal of flying completed, again this may be an opportunity to conduct some competition to relieve the pressure on the Main Champs.  The silent flight contingent also used this event as an opportunity to continue their thermal competition; ironically it was they who bravely fought the gusty conditions on Sunday long after the power flyers surrendered!  Again this was considered, by all who attended, to be a valuable and enjoyable event well worth attending.

5.         Next on the calendar was the RAFMAA Main Champs held at RAF Honington. With the preparations completed and the attendance list well filled we all trooped down to sunny Suffolk only to find it was anything but.  From the moment the first camper turned up on Wednesday the wind howled from the West with a vengeance. Spending all of Thursday thoroughly enjoying the pleasant social aspects of our sport and constantly monitoring the gusting wind (average 25Kts gusting to 35Kts), we managed to get no flying done whatsoever.  Further into the evening the socialising continued over a perfect quantity of barbeque food and refreshment of the liquid sort.  Kicking off the next morning, it became clear that the prayers to the weather gods had been unanswered, as after Cpl Mike Mathias and JT James Goodright bravely battled through their first round of advanced aeros the wind picked up again, quickly curtailing any further foolhardy attempts at flying. Subsequently the day was spent socialising followed by the AGM.  After prioritising our actions for the next day, we decided to cut the rounds but try and complete as many classes as possible.  Saturday dawned with slightly calmer conditions so the competition was kicked off in earnest.  All of the aeros classes were completed, albeit with only two rounds of advanced completed; unfortunately for Cpl Mike Mathias this had an arbitrary effect, cruelly punishing him for a dead stick part way through his second round.  The Fun-fly event was extremely well competed, with pilots darting from the aeros line to the Fun-fly and back to complete the events.

The control liners made the most of the day, squeezing in as much as possible in the short window, completing the Mini Goodyear and CL Speed competitions.  This was done under the shadow of the 'thermallers', adjacent Fun-flyers and aerobatic flyers pushing the right hand boundary.  Altogether Saturday was a frantic day of flying, which even managed to see a well contested scale event through to conclusion.  I don't believe that we could have crammed in any more; I don't think Honington's runway has seen as much more concurrent flying activity in many a year.  Fortunately the day ended with most classes being decided and the awards presentation was justifiable.

6.           Against all of the odds, this years championships have been a success and demonstrated the collective willingness of all of those concerned to make the most of any situation.  It was warming to see that we still continue to attract newcomers and in spite of the weather the numbers of attendees was again up.  Hopefully next year the weather will allow the balance between socialising and flying to be put back on a more even keel! Special thanks must go to Mr Robin Gowler FSMAE, BMFA Chairman, who spent the champs assisting with transmitter control and also judging some of the events.

7.           Altogether this has been a good year for RAFMAA competitions; there is still an element of competitions surviving only on the good will and dedication of a tiny number of devotees. With a certain amount of creativity on the committee's behalf we should be able to drum up a little more publicity and perhaps reschedule some elements of the competition to coincide with the other events throughout the year, also mitigating some of the pressure on the main champs. We may be able to entice more competitors into the different disciplines and thicken up the results; pot hunting should be a more competitive sport!  

5

Ratification of

Honorary

Members

There were no nominations for Honorary Membership prior to the AGM, however, at the AGM Mr Geoff Ellis was proposed for Honorary Membership in recognition of his considerable efforts on behalf of the Association.  The proposal was met with universal approval.

Proposed: Chf Tech Platts, Seconded: Cpl Bellingham, Carried unanimously.

6

Election of Officials

1. The Chairman informed the meeting that he had

received 3 resignations from the Executive Committee:

a. Sqn Ldr Andy Rogers stood down as Treasurer.  Sqn Ldr John Clarkson has volunteered to replace him.  Sqn Ldr Rogers has agreed to continue to manage the fund until the handover has been completed.

b. Cpl Paul Bellingham stood down as PRO and BMFA Delegate.  There are no volunteers to fill these 2 committee posts.

c. Jnr Tech James Goodright stood down as Airmens’ Rep, but retained Equipment Member.  SAC Gareth Hughes has volunteered to become Airmens’ Rep.

d. The post of Secretary remains vacant with no volunteer.

2. The Chairman expressed his gratitude to all members leaving the committee for their efforts in support of the Association. The meeting responded by acclamation.

3. With 2 new candidates required to fill vacant posts, the

Chairman commended the following Executive Committee to the AGM:

Chairman - Wg Cdr Mick Evans, by appointment

Vice Chairman – Sqn Ldr John Clarkson, by appointment

Treasurer - Sqn Ldr John Clarkson

Secretary - Vacant

Area Achievement Scheme Coordinator - WO Ian

Nelson

Comp Sec - Chf Tech Dan Platts

Power Sec - Cpl Mike Matthias

Silent Flight Sec - Mr Neil Tricker

Indoor Sec - Chf Tech Martin Paffett

Control Line Sec - Mr Chris Barker

PRO/BMFA Delegate - Vacant

Equipment Scheme – Jnr Tech James Goodright

News Letter Editor - Mr Colin Waite

Property Member - Cpl Danny Houston

Airmens’’ Representative – SAC Gareth Hughes

4. The new Executive Committee was proposed by Cpl Bellingham, seconded by WO Nelson, carried unanimously.

5. In the absence of a formally appointed BMFA Delegate, Sqn Ldr Pallister offered to speak on behalf of the Association at BMFA Full Council, although he would be attending as a BMFA Tech Committee Chairman, and would not be able to vote on behalf of Area 14.  His offer was gratefully received and agreed. 

7

AOB

There were no previously notified items of AOB, however, the Chairman accepted the following items from the floor:

1. FS Purdy asked if the Airmens’ Rep could ensure that trophies not presented at the Main Champs could be forwarded to their recipients.  SAC Hughes accepted responsibility to ensure that this happened.

2. The AGM were asked to ratify the new points scoring system for Hons and Associate members introduced in 2008.  Proposed: Chf Tech Platts, Seconded: Cpl Bellingham, carried unanimously.

3. Within the current charter and rules of the Association, the AGM were asked to consider extending Associate Membership to Ms Jill King and Ms Kate Barker, both stalwarts of the Association competitions.  Proposed: Chf Tech Paffett, Seconded: Chf Tech Platts, carried unanimously.

4. Chf Tech Platts informed the AGM that in the near future he would be instigating e-mail discussions on various subjects related to future competitions.  He asked that all members join in as their opinions are important.

Airmens’ Rep

8

Chairman’s AOB

1. The Chairman informed the AGM that the Association membership categories will be discussed in committee, to ensure that they continue to meet the Associations needs in a changing military environment.

2. The Chairman informed the AGM that the committee would be examining other venues for the 2010 RAFMAA Main Championships, possibly RAF Scampton. 

9

President’s AOB

The President asked the AGM to show their appreciation for the work of the committee, including the outgoing members.  The meeting responded by acclamation.

10

Next Meeting

1. The next AGM will be held at the 2010 RAFMAA

Championships, 2^nd to 5th September 2010 on the 3^rd September 2010.

2. The Chairman closed the meeting at 20:05.