Well it has been a while since the last update mostly due to the lockdown but also due to the usual club politics!
In this country the regualtions governing the sport/hobby/recreational activity have the usual height and distance limits but outside of those the requirement is for the operator is to operate their model in the "Safest possible manner at all times". Following the equipment manual or club rules are not seen as a legal defence and you are expected to ignore such rules if they impact upon the safe operation of the model.
Well as an Instructor I have been teaching the safest possible setup and operation but fell foul of the club ruling elite. Whilst they have massive levels of experience, (mostly on older equipment), they have no qualifications or real technical knowledge of current radio systems. Their idea of safety is to follow the OEM manual blindly.
As a result of trying to have the club membership setup and operate their models in what is their own safest possible setup I was forced to get clarification of what was permissible under the regualtions from the national regualtor. Well here is where the
hit the fan. The club members, (following the club rules), have a history of LOS events that is actually impossible to believe and there have been a number of fly-away models. The national regualtor got a whiff of the issues being raised during the argument over safety and required the club to provide a list of LOS events and the fly-away models that have occured over the past 2 years. Mind you LOS events and fly-aways of my models and those of my students have been zero over the same period.
As a result of the Regualtor intervention the club cracked down upon me and my students and have decided to strictly enforce the club, demonstrably, unsafe rules. The club rules are not the SAFEST possible and actually can be dangerous to the public. I was given the option to effectively breach the regulations to be allowed to fly or follow the regulations and be banned from flying at the club. By extension this also applies to my students!
Just last sunday there were 2 LOS events, (the field is quite small), and both models crashed and suffered damage. One was apparently quite spectacular when a large MIG 21 EDF foam model experiencd a LOS and because the Failsafe was not checked prior to flight, the model went full power and slammed into the deck at high speed. The model effectively disintegrated on impact. (That was the report I received).
My setups are so "UNSAFE", (sarcasim), that one member tried following my students model on a deep downwind leg as the student was about to land into a strong headwind. After my student completed her turn the other club member tried to also turn but suffered a series of LOS events and last saw his model leave the field and slowly dive into the distanct trees. My student landed well. A second case was where I got one of the club "Experts" to test fly one of my students models, (at my students request). Well the "Expert" flew the full perimeter of the field, (well beyond the normal flight area), and the model performed flawlessly. He did pick on the trim settings but nothing else. Later the same expert attempted to fly almost the same circuit on one of his best performing models and experienced a LOS and crashed into powerlines. Mind you he was inside the circuit that he had flown with my students model.
So I no longer able to fly until I am able to find an alternate site within a short distance. The club on the other hand is firmly in the regualtors sights, they have lost their only technically trained resource, they have also lost the only real mentor and the build/repair/rebuild services provided for free to club members. Finally they have lost their only control mechanism over my drive to have the safety improved or the club shut down. The old definition of insanity applies to the club management. "Insanity is doing the same thing, the same way, over and over again and actually expecting different results"!
They have gained a safety driven, technically trained, critic who knows which buttons to push or doors to open and who now has nothing else to do with his time.
The fun is just about to begin!