Topic: Nationals 2010

Hello,
           I have just unpacked from a great weekend at the NATS,despite the weather and a plonker parking his car on my tent trying to spoil our fun? my son and me had a cracking time.Specail thanks to big A. And paulplane who kept several errant 2.4 flyers in check on the evening electric line.The indoor flying was brillant as always with the usual pile of broken toys for me to repair afterwards??.Thanks to the lads from Leicester Model Aero Club Andy ,Howard and his lads etc and sorry to Ryan for flying through his foamie < it did put a scratch on my prop>
see you next year Euan and Cameron.

Too windy and not enough toilets  

Could that be due to the Carp weather?  

Well - me the wife and 2 kids visted the NATS on Sat (all model flyers).

We has a great time - more than worth the entrace fee.

We had a nice chat with a lady serving in Ali's tent ( and came a away with an RGCF 15 for the wife's Cub )

Got my youngest a speed air from Inwoods for passing his A week before last.

Watched serval VERY brave and skilled pilots flying in increasingly poor weather on the show line where there were always paying public watching.

Hats off to thouse who flew and in a couple of cases damaged models worth thousands whilst keeping us entertained.

Well Done to all who help and organise such an event - it can't be easy, But in my family's view well worth the effort.

PS
Can you book better weather next year please ?

Ta

Chris, Julie, Samuel and Mathew.

Nice post and I agree entirely. Keith.

I am pig sick I have been working around Barkston Heath most of the day and the WINDSOCK has been like a donkey's d**K .

I enjoyed flying on the scale line Saturday and Monday. (showline saturday )

Scale results:

Flying only: 1st Stephen Fish     2nd Dave Knott     3rd Richard Scarbrough.

F4C         1st Pete mc Dermott    2nd Ian Bryant      3rd Mick Reeves

A few of my photo's from Saturday mornings showline.

More can be found here.

This was my first time at the nationals althiugh have been in the hobby since I was a kid (am now 51) and have been to every woodvale since 1978!

I thought the trade stands were good..yes mostly similar prices to online but nice to see things in the flesh and some good deals...got a Spektrum Module for my JR PCM9X2 and AR9000 Rx for £108 from Als Hobbies ...cheapest I had seen them online was £120.

Got lots of other sundries as well.

But the best bit was I got EXACTLY what I wanted at the swap meet...I was after a traditional big balsa kit to build like a Flair Hanibal or Precedent Aeronca and got a Bud Nosen 1/4 scale Aeronca...also in the box was a pair of big Dubro wheels and a nice steerable sprung tailwheel assembly.

Got it for £100, most stuff at the swap meet was ready made or ARTF so was dead lucky to get exactly what I wanted

Have read some threads on the model and they say it is a lumber yard in a box...it's true there is TONS of wood.

Anyway all in all enjoyed the nats apart from the weather...even the beer in the hanger wasn't the usual rip off price of some events.

Left Sun afternoon to go to a campsite at Woodhall Spa to keep the missus happy...went to Lincs aero park yesterday and saw their Lancaster 'Just Jane' taxiing while the BBMF lanc flew over it...8 merlins running at once ...bliss

So apart from weather had a good weekend and will be back next year.

Tom

well nats 2010 beenandgone with its ups and downs.

  first the ups - the nats are for me always an up, loads of things to see and do, stuff i only see once a year, i spent one of the most interesting hours in the ff info tent, went in out of curiosity and stayed enthraleed listening to and talking to amongst others Stafford Screen as they showed us his hi tech power f/f all built by him (except the motor) and i mean all, carbon D box rolled tapered carbon and alloy foil fus boom, even the timer, v impressive stuff if you did not go in you missed a real gem, another up was this year no flying for us, just mooching about no panicking when it rains or blows, then a bit of marshaling on the evenings. then in the hanger till the wee small.

  downs   well not to many actually   wind...could have done with a touch more methinks mates tent getting wrecked by a pretty severe gust,

  all in all given the weather which no one has control over a god nats, wont get into any tit for tat re SL as i did not see much of it went down sat am seemed to be working ok saw two slots then went, nice to see the loos were all clean and shiney and numerous trade was good as usual,

  see you all in 2011

  CJ

Typical. Today, Tuesday, the weather was perfect, warm, sunny and hardly any wind. Why wasn't it here 48 hours before...

Oh dear,  never happend in my day,   wonder if it has simply been handed in?  lets hope so

http://www.bmfaclassifieds.co.uk/detail.php?id=35516

Kids thoroughly enjoyed staying till late in the hanger, fri/sat/sun and going in monday morning.In fact they spent most of their time either in there, down the trade stands with Owen and his son, or in their caravan.

So thanks to Owen and his son Mick for putting up with my kids trailing after them all the time.

The crowd attendances show what the paying public want to see. Showline has more than any of the other lines put together.

No it doesn't, it may have more than any other individual line though.

Typical. Today, Tuesday, the weather was perfect, warm, sunny and hardly any wind. Why wasn't it here 48 hours before...

I know!!  Absolutely gorgeous weather at Barkston today.  

Andy,   the post i copied from the bumfa classys,  any chance the tranny could have been handed in?    hate to think there was a thief at work on the shocky line

No it doesn't, it may have more than any other individual line though.

May? - It clearly did, it was two or three deep at times, the helicopter did well to have twenty people there!

Andy,   the post i copied from the bumfa classys,  any chance the tranny could have been handed in?    hate to think there was a thief at work on the shocky line

Was just looking in to it, a bit knackered at the moment, not been home that long so brain not functioning, but I think a TX was handed in, he needs to ring the office, meanwhile I will check things in the morning.

May? - It clearly did, it was two or three deep at times, the helicopter did well to have twenty people there!

I'm sorry, you are just plain wrong, while showline has more than any other single line, it does not have more than all the others put together, also your counting is out by quite a bit, there was always a lot more than 20 watching helis when I went past.  In my opinion, when weather allows, more people watch the various control line circles than watch showline

I'm sorry, you are just plain wrong, while showline has more than any other single line, it does not have more than all the others put together, also your counting is out by quite a bit, there was always a lot more than 20 watching helis when I went past.  In my opinion, when weather allows, more people watch the various control line circles than watch showline

We are going to have to agree to disagree then, I was one of two people watching the helicopters at one point on Saturday, the other being my brother........

Sheridan

We are going to have to agree to disagree then, I was one of two people watching the helicopters at one point on Saturday, the other being my brother........

Sheridan

I think I'll either agree, or disagree, or disagree with you both. On Saturday I visited:

IMAC-1 once. No spectators, just me.
IMAC-2 once, No spectators, just me, and they looked at me suspiciously until I went away 
Pylon once, no spectators, unless you count some people sitting in their cars reading the paper
Heli twice, about ten people milling around but no "spectators". I may have been unlucky as there wasn't much going on when I visited
Aerobatics twice, about 20 or 30 non-competitors milling about
Scale twice, maybe 30 or 40 people sitting around and mingling
ShowLine, five times. Never more than one solid line of people but most times it was possible to find a space at the fence and get a good view; it was certainly never packed '2 or 3 deep' like there was a huge crowd fighting to get a look-in, although there were probably a couple of hundred people there.

makes me wonder what everyone was doing; presumably huddled up in their caravans having cups of tea 

May? - It clearly did, it was two or three deep at times, the helicopter did well to have twenty people there!

When we were at the show line the attendance was very poor, along with the number of models compared to all the other years I have attended.

I know of few people who had no intention of flying regardless of the weather, and these are people who support a large number of the events during the show season.

Jeezey

You couldn't of been at Pylon, when the big FAI course was running. We had more spectators than I've seen up at the pylon end before, there was a steady stream of people coming and going, asking questions and enjoying the racing.

Duncan

IMAC was busy on Monday when we were on the show line. Saturday and Sunday was quiet because the BMFA don't like us and kick us into the compound to a horrible site where noone can find us.

I thought IMAC was very popular as the aircraft also joined in to the Scale aircraft. I thought it very interresting of them to give us two completetly diferent types of modeling to compare in the same airspace  but then again I supose someone will tell me the engines on the IMAC machines are not big enough to fight those strong winds  Must have been a real bugger for those  scale Bi planes fitted with a little Laser 

IMAC was busy on Monday when we were on the show line. Saturday and Sunday was quiet because the BMFA don't like us and kick us into the compound to a horrible site where noone can find us.

you know,   my days with the bmfa at the nats are over,   but i really must take this comment to task,    there is simply NO-WHERE else to go,  at nats planning, its been discussed at lenght,        there is NO MORE ROOM, get this into your head will you             i would like to see other events, like 3 d flying, glider towing, 3d heli,    all want space,   just where do they go? 

you know,   my days with the bmfa at the nats are over,   but i really must take this comment to task,    there is simply NO-WHERE else to go,  at nats planning, its been discussed at lenght,        there is NO MORE ROOM, get this into your head will you             i would like to see other events, like 3 d flying, glider towing, 3d heli,    all want space,   just where do they go?  

Beat me to it Alan, for some reason the RAF won't fund the 1 mile runway extension we asked for.  As it happens the new improved access road to IMAC worked very well so there wasn't a problem for spectators getting across to the compound.

LOL Beaky

It was the same with the F3A line, a couple of them were lucky not to be taken out by a pylon model. We had several right over our heads while on the course.

One of them even flew over our cars and some spectators while trying to land on Sunday. Yes it was really windy, but we were a long way down from the pilots box and he was only about 20ft off the deck  . So much for one of them saying they never stray more than 150m from the pilot as suggested on another forum  .

Anyway, no harm was done and we all enjoyed ourselves, roll on next year

Regarding the disciplines, when you go up to, for example, there is no "lectern" with information on it.
For example, on Pylon, information (should) be on a board, explaining makes of engines, aircraft, etc, and rules of the competition. There is nothing, apart from asking someone - who may be too busy to answer questions, or the person to ask.
At Museums, they have info boards, which, I reckon can be built, put into the ground, updated and taken to the next meet, where the public are.
You go up to a competition line, with no clue what is going on - which makes it annoying and after all, we are all learning.
If I wanted to enter a competition, then I would want to watch what is going on, and make notes. Otherwise, it just doesn't make sense.

Regarding the disciplines, when you go up to, for example, there is no "lectern" with information on it.
For example, on Pylon, information (should) be on a board, explaining makes of engines, aircraft, etc, and rules of the competition. There is nothing, apart from asking someone - who may be too busy to answer questions, or the person to ask.
At Museums, they have info boards, which, I reckon can be built, put into the ground, updated and taken to the next meet, where the public are.
You go up to a competition line, with no clue what is going on - which makes it annoying and after all, we are all learning.
If I wanted to enter a competition, then I would want to watch what is going on, and make notes. Otherwise, it just doesn't make sense.

That would get my vote, as would better (well some - I didn't see any) signs.  Sorry BMFA, this is a job that needs doing.

Kids thoroughly enjoyed staying till late in the hanger, fri/sat/sun and going in monday morning.In fact they spent most of their time either in there, down the trade stands with Owen and his son, or in their caravan.

So thanks to Owen and his son Mick for putting up with my kids trailing after them all the time.

No problem Marian, it was more pleasure than pain.   

That would get my vote, as would better (well some - I didn't see any) signs.  Sorry BMFA, this is a job that needs doing.

There is an airfield map on the back of the program, also some A3 maps dotted around the airfield.  There were signs on the rope that runs round from scale to helicopters too.

Surely, everone who goes to the Nations must know that it is not staged as a show to entertain paying guests but as a competition venue where the best of the best meet to compete for the various titles.

The spectacular evening free flights although unique and unparalleled at any other event and the show line, the swopmeet and trade, are in fact side shows to the main event.

Which line attracts the spectators is irrelevant.

The Nationals is different to any other event or show and I for one, prefer it to remain so.  Any event could be tweeked but by and large, I wouldn't change a thing.
Stu k

Surely, everone who goes to the Nations must know that it is not staged as a show to entertain paying guests but as a competition venue where the best of the best meet to compete for the various titles.

The spectacular evening free flights although unique and unparalleled at any other event and the show line, the swopmeet and trade, are in fact side shows to the main event.

Which line attracts the spectators is irrelevant.

The Nationals is different to any other event or show and I for one, prefer it to remain so.  Any event could be tweeked but by and large, I wouldn't change a thing.
Stu k

Well said Stu!!

P.S. Thanks for moving the car. 

IMAC was busy on Monday when we were on the show line. Saturday and Sunday was quiet because the BMFA don't like us and kick us into the compound to a horrible site where noone can find us.

I was able to get over to IMAC both Saturday and Sunday, taking visitors over.

Thoroughly enjoyed it too, though a few signs up there, explaining what it was all about, might be a good idea.

Nige

Surely, everone who goes to the Nations must know that it is not staged as a show to entertain paying guests but as a competition venue where the best of the best meet to compete for the various titles.

But this is the problem that the BMFA don't seem to realise.

The Nationals strapline on the marketing was 'The biggest model flying event in Europe' it may still be but I haven't seen much marketing for it. The general paying public who attend the Nationals want to be entertained and should be. Not everyone who attends is into the hobby. Note it said event not competition. Should it need to say 'move along, there is nothing to see'?

Just because it is a competition does not mean it can't be entertaining, look at the Olympics, World Cup, British Athletics Championships etc, they are all entertaining.

The events in their own right are very entertaining to watch if you know what the rules are and what the competitors are doing, alot of the people visiting are not involved with the hobby so haven't got a clue.

The requests for rules boards and signage were reasonable requests. For example the helicopter line looks really boring if you watch the helos hover, land hover land, turn 180 degrees then land. If there were boards at the spectator line that explained there were set manoeuvres that the competitors had to do then it would be more entertaining.

It doesn't take much effort. This request was immediately met with a defensive reply of there being a map on the programme and signs on the ropes, these signs you couldn't read because of the wind.

It seems to be that any suggestions to make the event better are met with a defensive reply even if they are being offered with goodwill particularly where Top Gun is concerned. Several high profile entertaining pilots were missing from the showline this year, what will it take for the BMFA to listen?

It reminds me of it's my ball and your not playing with it......

Sheridan

The requests for rules boards and signage were reasonable requests. For example the helicopter line looks really boring if you watch the helos hover, land hover land, turn 180 degrees then land. If there were boards at the spectator line that explained there were set manoeuvres that the competitors had to do then it would be more entertaining.

They are reasonable requsts, and it is up to the specialist bodoes running those lines to provide them, the BMFA don't run the individual lines, we provide the infrastructure to allow the specialist bodies to run their lines.

It doesn't take much effort. This request was immediately met with a defensive reply of there being a map on the programme and signs on the ropes, these signs you couldn't read because of the wind.

Sorry you thought it defensive, personally I considered it corrective.

It seems to be that any suggestions to make the event better are met with a defensive reply even if they are being offered with goodwill particularly where Top Gun is concerned. Several high profile entertaining pilots were missing from the showline this year, what will it take for the BMFA to listen?

Constructive suggestions are gratefully received, I happen to think the airfield map in the program (which is free btw) meets the requirements you were after.

Hi Sheridan

I would love to see more boards up by each flight line, but it does need to be the people "in the know" who create those boards, which mostly means the competitors (and generally they seem to have their hands full before and during the Nats).

I'd wanted to avoid singling out a flightline, but as an example take GBRCAA.  They'd put tape up to create an area for spectators to watch from, they had signs up, laminated folders showing what was happening, and a commentator operating most of the time.
The competitors had numbered bibs on, and there was a board up showing how each competitor was doing.
Made it very easy to appreciate what was happening, and the only thing that drove the spectators away was the torrential downpours Saturday.

What I have found on every single flight line is the competitors love talking about their aspect of the sport, and what's happening, if you ask them.  At my first Nats, knowing nothing about what was happening, I had a chat with a guy about his 100s model (going back a few years!).  He apologised part way through the chat, grabbed his model, flew his slot, then came back and carried on nattering - talk about enthusiastic.

I am hoping to encourage more non-model fliers from the area along next year, so your comments about making the activity more accessable to the uninitiated will certainly not be ignored.

Nige

I think I'll either agree, or disagree, or disagree with you both. On Saturday I visited:

IMAC-1 once. No spectators, just me.
IMAC-2 once, No spectators, just me, and they looked at me suspiciously until I went away 
Pylon once, no spectators, unless you count some people sitting in their cars reading the paper
Heli twice, about ten people milling around but no "spectators". I may have been unlucky as there wasn't much going on when I visited
Aerobatics twice, about 20 or 30 non-competitors milling about
Scale twice, maybe 30 or 40 people sitting around and mingling
ShowLine, five times. Never more than one solid line of people but most times it was possible to find a space at the fence and get a good view; it was certainly never packed '2 or 3 deep' like there was a huge crowd fighting to get a look-in, although there were probably a couple of hundred people there.

makes me wonder what everyone was doing; presumably huddled up in their caravans having cups of tea 

Did you not manage to get to any of the control line circles?

ABOUT THE INFO BOARDS,   its down the the line CD,  and is a very needed thing,    balls in their coart,  they get asked, but dont comply,  as said, only one is GBRCA,    they seem to want to get others interested,    the rest need a kick up the rear

ABOUT THE INFO BOARDS,   its down the the line CD,  and is a very needed thing,    balls in their coart,  they get asked, but dont comply,  as said, only one is GBRCA,    they seem to want to get others interested,    the rest need a kick up the rear

Is there no way that the BMFA can organise this so they are all uniform? - I have visions of some really fancy info boards and other hand written on the back of a sheet of A4?

It surely must be possible to get them sponsored, for example TJD Models present Pylon etc......?

Sheridan

This was my first NATS, I thought it was ace and look forward to next year 

Re information on whats going on: I was lucky enough to be with some folks who understand whats going on so I just had to ask. If not with them I would just ask someone behind the line.

The best line for me was scale. Not only were there some stunning models but John Carpenter on the mic was the best I have heard. Informative, explaining what was required and what was coming up, with very funny comments in beetween. It really was top stuff.

Might even have a go meself next year 

Thanks to all the crew that put this event on 

PS especially the freeflight marshalls, what a top bunch 

Is there no way that the BMFA can organise this so they are all uniform? - I have visions of some really fancy info boards and other hand written on the back of a sheet of A4?

It surely must be possible to get them sponsored, for example TJD Models present Pylon etc......?

Sheridan

wont happen,    it will always be the responsibility of the CDs,    they know whats happening more than the BMFA,    sponsering?  why?

that would need someone to chase around after sponsors,    or perhaps someone could be appointed to chase the sponsors?   fancy the job?