Minutes of the Meeting of the BMFA North West Area
Held on 15th January 2008 at St Adian's, Winstanley, Wigan

Persons Present
David Lloyd-Jones Chairman & Delegate/CCMAA
Mike Colling FSMAE Vice Chairman/Wigan MAC
Derek Gilbert Secretary, Treasurer/Sale MFC
Steve Ogden PRO/PMAG
Keith Barker Webmaster/ Rochdale MAC
Roy Allam Achievement Sch Coord/FCMFA
John O'Donnell Timperley MF
Phil Eccles Blackpool & Fylde R/C MS
Dave Swarbrick Blackpool & Fylde R/C MS
Graham Hughes Halton & Dist MFC
A Bolton Halton & Dist MFC
Tom Anyon Fylde Coast MFA
Gerry Ferer Timperley MF
Jim Radcliffe Timperley &DMAC
Sue Reeves PMAG
Chris Bromley FSMAE Fellow
8 voting

The meeting started at 8.09pm

Apologies for absence.
Syd Lawton, Wayne Howman and Ivan Mottershaw

Presentation
The Chairman presented Chris Bromley with a radio set to mark the area's appreciation for the 21 years he had guided the area as Chairman.

Correspondence.
DLJ read an E Mail he had received from Peter Spurway in which he was commenting on our previous meeting's minutes and appeared to have misunderstood the point we were making regarding examiners meetings held in other areas. DLJ read his reply detailing our own experiences and that we were not blaming anyone and perhaps Peter had misunderstood our views.
The latest safety bulletin 6 was discussed reminding clubs to ensure mobile phones are not used on the field as they have been known to interfere with synthesized transmitters.
DJG noted an E Mail from Shropshire Indoor Modelers who felt they were too far away to attend this area meetings and would be approaching the Office to see if they could become part of the Midlands area.


Minutes of the previous meeting held on 9th October.
Corrections
Page 4: 47 should read "about 50"
Page 5: remove "scale" . line 7 to read "August Nationals program."
The minutes were proposed by Rochdale and seconded by Timperley and approved unanimously by the meeting.


Matters Arising.
JR confirmed that the evening with the Timperley Scouts troop went very well and was well attended.
CB confirmed that the marquee for Cosford and Woodvale is booked in advance by the organizers and there is no choice.
Officers' Reports.
The Treasurer reported that he now had the stock count at the end of last season's shows and whilst the sales were down considerably on previous years the profit earned was about the level we would expect.
Sue stated that she did not want to do the saleable goods anymore and Steve said he not willing to be responsible for them.
The Treasurer was asked to write to David Phipps to see if the stock could be sold back to the BMFA.
GF enquired what happens with the BMFA stand. CB confirmed he will continue to run the stand for the Area/BMFA and that the costs will continue to be covered by the BMFA.
The PRO reported that he had designed a poster for the indoor meetings.
J O'D asked what we are proposing regarding the Flight Challenge. DLJ has discussed with Manny Williamson that we should have local timed entries from schools which if they do well, may be more likely to send a team. MC was in agreement.


Council Meetings.
Agenda for Area Council Meeting on 2nd February
There is to be a proposal that the RCPTC has a permanent rep on the ASRC. SO stated that many items come out of review committee which would be better discussed by power tech first and we should support this.
The Delegate said there was nothing else on the agenda of particular interest to the NW-Area.
Full Council Meeting 12th January
The Delegate reviewed the minutes in detail for the meeting, points of interest discussed were:
Council had agreed to fund additional honours boards DLJ felt we should also include the listing on the web site.
The CCPR has a new grant system coming up and was mentioned on their web site on the 12 Sept 2007 - BINGOLOTTO is a new initiative designed to raise money for grassroots sports and recreation projects. More info can be obtained from Eliot Caton on 020 7976 3926 or ecaton@ccpr.org.uk
Two proposals from this area were put forward regarding records, but neither was seconded and therefore not discussed.
Full copies of the minutes are on both the area and the BMFA web sites.
There followed a discussion on the Futaba 2.4ghz sets and CB explained the problems with the coding reverting to the default code and possible conflicts with gear with similar problems.

Area Fly-ins
KB confirmed that the Rochdale indoor was going well with no problems.
DLJ confirmed Woodvale would happen this year,but with no camping other than trade and competitors. The organizers have confirmed the tent will be erected on Friday and will provide 50 passes for the Eddie Riding, however we will have to pay for our own tables - say £150. John Bridge is providing a multi engine trophy.
No date set yet for Shawbury.

Council Proposals
After some discussion it was agreed to put a proposal for a Members Code of Ethics to the meeting. DS was not convinced we needed one, but DLJ made the point that if an officer or member denigrated the BMFA we have no means of addressing the issue.
The proposal was proposed by DLJ and seconded by DJG voting F:1 A: 4 Ab: 3 and the proposal failed.

DLJ proposed that the entries on the Honours Boards in the office also be posted on the BMFA web site. This was seconded by Blackpool & Fylde. Voting F: 8 A: 0 Ab: 0. The proposal is to be put before the next Full Council Meeting.

AOB
Blackpool & Fylde raised concern over the control of people flying jets and thought a "B" cert at least should be mandatory for both shows and club fields.
It was noted that a code of practice is under discussion and CB confirmed that the BMFA are talking to the CAA regarding over 20 kilo models and Jets and something may come out of this soon.

The meeting closed at 10.40pm.

These minutes are provisional until approved at the next area meeting.