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By mikef · Posted
This just in from Manny - sent at 2255 Good evening Mike Firstly, thank you and well done on another very successful F3K event at the National Centre, the feedback has been very positive, hopefully we can get a repeat in the diary for next year (including the weather). Thank you for your Email pointing me to the posting on the BARCS Forum. Whilst I usually avoid posting on forums (there just aren’t enough hours in the day) sometimes a response is appropriate, would you be kind enough to post this in its entirety on my behalf as I am not a registered member? One of the problems with forum posts is that once they are out they are out, whether accurate or not they are in the public domain, that is in no way a criticism of Tony’s post however there are a few points that deserve clarification. I am pleased that Tony regards the Centre as a success and the general feedback we receive very much supports this view. Season tickets are always sold on the basis that they are predominantly a midweek ticket with access to some bonus weekends and also access to relevant events. The price has been pitched to reflect this and we are aware that for most of our season ticket holders it is a second or third flying facility, we would not want to “lure” members away from their home club, the price of £70.00 means that it they don’t have to visit many times to make it financially attractive compared to the day ticket price of £8.00 per day. Also the feedback from a significant proportion of season ticket holders (there are currently 80 in total) is that they purchase a ticket as a show of support for the project rather than because they are regular flyers, it has to be said that overall use of the site is still very light during the week, the other big benefit that season tickets report enjoying is exposure to the large range of disciplines that we accommodate at the Centre during the course of the year. Each year (and remember it is still early days) we try to plan a calendar that provides a broad spread of activity that will appeal to as many flyers and visitors as possible, a proportion of these events are open events such as the SAM 35 galas (which now include the very successful swapmeets) where we have radio, control line and free flight all taking place at the same time, also the events run by the Achievement Scheme Committee are open to all and there a are also sport fly events such as the Midland Area Fly-in which are open to all, there is also plenty of opportunity for day ticket flyers to turn up and fly mid-week and any club can book an away-day, on this basis I would strongly argue that the Centre is open to all and in not in any way “selective”, it is also worth noting that camping at BMFA Buckminster is becoming popular and more flyers are taking short model flying holidays at the National Centre in addition to those who camp for events and competitions. Where possible we do run activities and events concurrently, a good example is Control Line events that fit very well with the R/C flying due to the location of the circles (we recently hosted the Freestyle Master which brought 31 of the UK’s best fixed wing free style flyers to the Centre and on the same weekend we hosted a control line combat comp with over 30 entries) however some disciplines are not compatible and require exclusive use of the site (the F3K and BARCS eventsbeing good examples) the recent bank holiday weekend was designated as a quiet weekend so the Sat/Sun worked well for F3K whilst the Friday and Monday were set aside for season ticket holders electric/quiet flight only. In terms of the finances, the use of the National Centre doesn’t provide “a stream of cash to the BMFA” the income generated from season tickets, day tickets and event bookingscover the cost of running and administering the site, after the rent, rates, electric, diesel, water, wages, machine maintenance etc etc (it’s a very long list of expenditure) are paid, any surplus will go into further developing the facilities for the benefit of those who use the Centre, it is a tight but transparent budget (it’s published with the BMFA paperwork prior to the AGM) I hope this has picked up the main concerns expressed in Tony’s posting. Additionally I note Phil’s comment in the thread, it is of course down to personal viewpoint and perspective but we regularly receive visitors from each end of the country for the various events, some flyers happily travel long distances to compete or attend events for their particular area of interest but I appreciate it isn’t for everyone, at present we are certainly receiving strong support and not just from local flyers, two of our season ticket holders live in Glasgow, one in Plymouth and another in North Wales, certainly not just for the locals. Mike, thank you for your post in the same thread, points well made. With kind regards Manny W -
By wookman · Posted
Hi Mikey. I have had a rummage through the archive and found the article you are after. If you still need it I can scan it and send it over tomorrow evening. It forms part of that months "on the edge" column that Andy "Slopetrashuk" Ellison wrote for RCM&E for many years with his much missed (by me) informative, entertaining and forthright style. Andy makes it very clear that not all Sitar Specials were that special!
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