Club Rules
Safe Flying Is No Accident
Dangerous flying or any breach of the rules, or of the BMFA code of practice may result in the offender being banned from use of the club facilities for a period to be determined by the committee, with no refund of subscription
FLYING FIELD RESTRICTIONS:
(1) Models including helicopters shall be noise tested to comply with BMFA policy before first being flown at either site, and shall be re-tested if the motor, propeller size or silencing system is changed. A club noise meter is available. Random noise checks may be carried out at any time.
(2) Flying areas laid down in these rules must be strictly adhered to. (NOTE - at Hyde Farm these restrictions form part of our Planning Agreement)
(3) Unless members hold a Club Certificate of Competence or a BMFA A or B certificate, they may only fly under the supervision of a Committee Member or other member authorised by the committee.
TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY CONTROL:
(4) It is not possible to operate two transmitters on the same channel without interference. It makes no difference whether they are AM, FM, PCM, PPM or any combination of these. If they are on the same channel they will interfere with one another.
(5) For safety reasons, you may not fly unless you display the correct pennant and have placed the associated peg correctly on the Peg Board (see 'Flying Models Safely')
SPECIFIC FLYING RULES FOR HYDE FARM:
(6) No more than FOUR powered models shall be in the air at any one time.
(7) Only the 'East-West' strip may be used as a runway.
(8) The accompanying map shows the flying areas as defined in our planning agreement. Please stick closely to them or we will risk losing the site - in particular, do not fly further East (i.e. nearer Lee Farm than shown)
(9) There must be no over-flying of the public road or the adjacent footpath or the concrete road to Hyde Farm at any height.
(10) All normal flying must take place over the fields towards the Marlow bypass.
(11) In addition to the noise test requirement above, a model may be banned from flying if, in the opinion of a committee member, it is excessively noisy.
(12) All flying after take-off must be at reduced throttle.
(13) Extra care must be exercised when members of the public are in the vicinity. Be aware of and show courtesy to horse riders, walkers, cyclists and other road users.
(14) The permission of the committee is required before flying a twin-engined model.
CAR PARKING AT HYDE FARM:
(15) Cars must not be parked on the grass verges along the public road.
(16) Take off and landings must never be carried out towards or over the parked cars. In order to avoid this, cars should be parked in the area marked Car Park 1, along the hedge. Cars must not be parked nearer to the runway than the barrier which marks the limit of the parking area, because of the danger of a model veering off the runway on take-off or landing.
(17) If there is not sufficient space left for your car when you arrive, please do not park on the flying field. Cars may be parked on the right of the concrete track leading to Hyde Farm, on the large grass area just before the first barn, shown as overflow Car Park 2.
VISITORS:
(18) If any member of the public approaches you and complains while you are flying, please obtain the complainant's name and details of the complaint, and pass the information to a committee member as soon as possible.
(19) The club welcomes interested visitors to our flying sites, but as spectators only - if anyone wishes to fly as a guest, they must be given agreement from the committee in advance. It is essential that all visitors are aware of the hazards involved and be informed of the safe areas from which to watch; if you invite guests, their safety remains your responsibility at all times, and you must tell them what to do and look after them. They must never be left to wander freely around, and unless they are familiar with the operation of model aircraft, it may be safer if they remain in a car.
(20) There is the possibility of passers-by stopping to watch the flying; If you notice someone whom you do not know wandering about or standing in a dangerous position, please tell them what to do and where to stand for their own safety.
(21) It must be stressed that the foregoing applies particularly to children.The safe operation of our flying sites is in the hands of every member on the flying site at any time; the committee can make recommendations but it is up to each and every one of us to be aware of the risks involved, and to do one's best to avoid them
HELI RULE CHANGE from October 2010
With the increase in 3D Heli flying this year, it has been requested of the committee that we look at the flying area were this takes place, as many members were of the view that this type of extreme flying was being done to close to the pits area.
3D Helicopter Flying
For 3D Heli flying the pilot is to stand in an area in the bottom 3rd of the runway (bypass end or furthest away for the car park) at a point approx 15 feet from the edge of the strip, or closer to the field if the pilot so wishes. 3D Flying will than take place in the normal flying area out over the field. Landings can then be executed anywhere on the strip dependent of prevailing weather conditions.
Helicopter Training, Circuit & Scale Flying
There will be no change with pilots standing in one of the two usual nominated pilot areas.
