PRO’s Report - Martin Paffet

With my “BMFA delegate” hat on, I attended a BMFA Full Council meeting on Saturday 18^th September.  As usual the meeting dragged on a little, but for the RAFMAA there was one item of considerable interest.

Those who attended the RAFMAA AGM will know that we are keen to pursue a closer relationship with the BMFA, so that all our members will be full BMFA members, the BMFA will administer our membership and issue insurance, leaving us to look after individual station clubs and run the competition season.  We are currently a “Special Affiliate” organisation within the constitution of the BMFA, and for that to change to a recognised “area”, the constitution must change.

At Saturday’s meeting a proposal in principle was put to the Full Council that the constitutional change be put to the AGM, and that RAFMAA be accepted as Area 14.  The proposal was accepted unanimously.  It was gratifying to hear that RAFMAA is still held in such high regard by area delegates from across the country, with many positive comments suggesting that BMFA members still see us as an organisation of influence within the British model-flying scene.

Before anything can change, the proposals to the AGM in November must be passed, but we took a major step forward on Saturday.

On the PRO front, members might me interested to know that RAFMAA’s youth programme, the Air Cadet Challenge, had a small success in August.  We hosted another training day at Waddington on the 1^st August, and a Sqn from Stafford brought 5 cadets down for the day.  Four had never flown before and we spent the day teaching control line flying and the basics of mini-Goodyear team racing.  At the end of the day we had managed to run a low-key competition culminating in a three-up final.  This was won by Miss Louise Webb, aged 13, who had learned to fly that day.

It was suggested to the adult leaders that they might consider attending the British Nationals at Barkston Heath over the Bank Holiday weekend, and they arrived on Sunday in time to fly heats of the mini-Goodyear.  Louise qualified for a place in the junior final, which presented a problem because it is flown on the Monday.  Her Dad was persuaded to bring her back the following day.

In the final, Louise’s aircraft was by far the slowest, but in true “tortoise and hare” fashion, as the others had problems she caught up and won by a fair margin.  Her smile could probably be seen in Grantham!  Not a bad achievement for someone who had only learned to fly 4 weeks earlier…

That’s about all the news for now – as ever, if you have any questions about BMFA business then please get in touch.

Martin Paffett 

email:   rafmaa-pro@rafmaa.co.uk