Minutes of the Meeting of the BMFA North West Area held on 24 February 2009
at St Adian's Parish Centre,
Winstanley, Wigan.
Persons Present
David Lloyd-Jones Chairman & Delegate/CCMAA
Derek Gilbert Secretary & Treasurer/Sale MFC
Keith Barker PRO/Webmaster/ Rochdale MAC
Roy Allam Achievement Sch Co-ord/FCMFA
John O'Donnell Timperley MF
Tom Anyon Fylde Coast MFA
Syd Bostock-Lawton Macclesfield MFC
Gerry Ferer Timperley MF
Jim Radcliffe Timperley &DMAC
Bob Welton Hale Hall MAC
Andy Ringland Hale Hall MAC
Jock Lindsey Bury Metro MFC
Dave Cooper Bury Metro MFC
Steve Ogden PMAG
Sue Reeves PMAG
Frank Fletcher RAF Shawbury MAC
11 voting
The meeting started at 8.08pm
Apologies for absence.
Wayne Holman, Mike Colling and Jerry York.
Correspondence.
The Secretary informed the meeting that he was sorry to hear that Peter Wheatland
had died recently.
The Chairman reported that Shropshire Indoor Flyers club had been suspended,
as apparently they had not been able to find volunteers to organize the indoor
flying at Shawbury.
Minutes of the meeting held on 2nd September 2008.
Corrections
None
Phoenix proposed and Rochdale seconded that the minutes of the 2nd September
meeting be approved. The meeting approved the minutes F: 10 A: 0 Ab: 1.
Minutes of the short meeting held on 3rd December 2008.
Corrections
None
Fylde Coast proposed and Phoenix seconded that the minutes of the 3rd December
Area meeting be approved. The meeting approved the minutes F: 10 A: 0 Ab: 1.
Matters Arising.
Roy Allam asked when the wind socks were due to be sent out. Syd Bostock-Lawton
confirmed that the order had been placed and they were due in 3 to 4 weeks.
Bob Welton noted that the Area web site had the minutes for the 3rd December
Area meeting twice, with the AGM minutes missing. Keith Barker agreed to amend
this.
Gerry Ferer noted that Chetwynd may be available for Free Flight use. John O'Donnell
remembered that there had been problems some years ago, but these may well be
forgotten now. Frank Fletcher felt that there could be some progress and it
is likely that there is no full size flying at weekends. The Secretary agreed
to contact Phil Owens and inform him of the meeting's discussion.
Officers' Reports.
The Chairman reported that Woodvale will be going ahead with camping this summer
and there will be an advert in the BMFA News. He had noticed that there was
no mention of the Eddie Riding on the Woodvale web site and had asked Dave Johnson
to amend this.
John O'Donell asked if electric power was allowed for Eddie Riding designs and
this was confirmed as acceptable.
The Secretary reported that the meeting dates for 2009 had been agreed, but
there was no guarantee that the ones after the summer break may not be available.
Keith Barker noted that the Rochdale indoor was becoming very popular with 45
attending at the last meeting.
Roy Allam noted that he was still waiting for the copies of the affiliation
forms that listed the club examiners so was unable to be certain of the current
club examiners in the area.
Council Meetings.
There were no agendas to be considered as the next Council meeting was to be
in June.
As all minutes were now available on the BMFA web site, the need to review them
in detail was discussed. The Chairman felt that it may be more useful if everyone
read the minutes and brought to this meeting a list of points that would be
of interest to discuss. Gerry Ferer noted that the minutes and agendas are still
often late in being published on the web site and Roy Allam asked how he could
receive them without a computer. The Chairman said he would raise the late minutes
at Council and would arrange for a hard copy to be sent to Roy.
The Chairman reviewed the minutes of the Full Council meeting of 10th January
and the Areas Council meeting of 31st January.
Gerry Ferer felt the Club Bulletin copy of the minutes were useful, but can
be too condensed, in particular this month the changes in officers was left
out which may be of interest to many members.
John O'Donnell noted that the contest fees reported were in fact the previous
years fees and not the 2009 ones. It was felt that the old fees should be used
until all members can be told of the correct amounts. The Chairman agreed to
raise this with Dave Phipps.
Jerry Ferer asked if the lists the archivist had would be available for members
to review, particularly if these included plans and magazines.
The proposal by the Mid-West area for an indoor achievement scheme was discussed
and the meeting agreed that it was not needed or practicable and the Delegate
agreed to oppose it at the next Areas Council meeting.
The meeting was reminded of the problems with using glider tugs over 7kg which
would be likely to exceed 400 ft should liase with the BMFA office to obtain
exemption.
The proposal to allow observers at club and BMFA events was discussed and the
meeting was told that this was not intended to cover general club flying but
only to refer to "public" events insured through the BMFA.
Area Fly-ins
Keith Barker confirmed that the Rochdale indoor events were proving very popular
and were receiving a lot of publicity in the magazines. He also brought a copy
of an article in a local web paper which had an article on the events with several
excellent photos.
The Chairman confirmed that the Eddie Riding is on schedule and should benefit
with a tent nearer the middle of the flight line this year.
Frank Fletcher stated that the Shawbury scale fly-in is confirmed for the 12th
July.
FUNDS
The Treasurer confirmed that an order had been placed for the wind socks, which
should be posted to the clubs before the next meeting.
INSURANCE CLAIMS
A recent third party insurance claim was discussed and the meeting was told
about the difference in law between an accident and a situation whereby the
pilot or the club may have been negligent.
It was explained that, whilst at the time of an incident we should not admit
liability to a third party, it is most important that we are completely honest
with the insurance company and ensure that all the facts are correctly disclosed.
It was recommended that before the incident is reported to the insurance company
the facts are discussed with a senior member of the BMFA management or the Area
Committee to ensure no relevant detail is missed in the incident report.
AOB
The Chairman explained that the proposal regarding club visits by head office
staff submitted in June was not discussed at the Council meeting and no vote
taken. He therefore wished to resubmit the proposal and this was seconded by
Rochdale. The meeting voted unanimously to support it.
The meeting closed at 10.21pm.
These minutes are provisional until approved at the next area meeting.