Tony Roberts welcomed the committee to his house for the meeting
Apologies for absence received from Mick Mace, Neil Viney and Paul Joslyn. Present were Martin Dance (Chairman), Ron Perkins (Treasurer), Dave Belcher, Tony Roberts, Jack Bishop, Kevin Mercer, Andrew Stretton (Secretary).
The minutes from the meeting held on 3rd February were agreed. The majority of matters arising were listed elsewhere on the agenda. Tony Roberts presented an updated action sheet covering progress since the meeting.
Tony reported that he had contacted the BMFA about writing to other clubs in the area and had now sent a letter to clubs within a 25 mile radius via the BMFA even though no details about the event could be included. Sixteen clubs had been identified. The content of the letter was read out and Tony agreed to provide the secretary with a copy. Some replies had been received asking for details about the date and venue.
The secretary pointed out that a press release in the BMFA news without a date and venue was of limited value and that it would have been better to wait until this information could be provided. The secretary also pointed out that there was no need for the BMFA to send a display assessment form since he, The Chairman and Dave Belcher already had copies, both printed and electronic.
Jack Bishop was still intending to produce a replica of the Rook, but had as yet not received the necessary details etc. This was being arranged.
Tony Roberts reported that he had written to Mean Fidler requesting permission to assess the suitability of the festival site for a display and if acceptable, to use the site. He had received no reply by the 22nd February and had then telephoned the company. They suggested they had not received the letter and Tony arranged for a copy to be provided the same day. They confirmed that they had received this and the letter was being put in front of the appropriate person immediately. Hopefully a response will be provided very soon.
All were agreed that the Reading festival site is likely to be suitable as there is sufficient space there and it is separated from the river towpath by a fence
There was further discussion about a contingency site. It seemed unlikely that the Abbey RFC site would be suitable and there could be problems with Bulmershe school because of power lines which over sail the site. The possibility of other school sites was discussed. It was agreed to wait to hear the response from Mean Fidler before proceeding.
Until a preliminary response is received from Mean Fidler there could be no discussion about the potential cost of the site though it was hoped that as the event is a celebration and also a charitable event there might be no cost.
It was agreed that a Sunday was probably the best day to hold the event. Possible dates were then discussed. Given that the date of formation of the club was the end of May it was considered that as close to the end of May as practicable was preferable. May 28th is a Bank Holiday weekend and it was agreed that Bank Holiday weekends were not particularly suitable. The previous weekend was Sandown and therefore ruled out. After consultation with the BMFA events calendar it was agreed that possible dates in order of preference would be 4th June, 18th June or 2nd July. If specifying dates to a prospective site owner, the other dates should be written out as clashing with other major events which many members of the club and other invited clubs are likely to attend.
The event should be a celebration of model flying and in particular of Wilf Smallcombe, the founder of the club and of Gerry Jackman who was the first person to successfully fly a gas turbine powered model.
The intention is to produce a programme with biographies. The programme would be for sale at the event.
There was discussion about whether there would be an entry fee. It was agreed that the event should be free, but people encouraged to buy copies of the programme. This decision may have to be reviewed if a charge is to be levied for use of the site.
Car parking would need to be provided and no charge made for it. This would need to be discussed with the Borough and agreement reached about which entrance(s) to the site could be used.
There should be static exhibitions as well as a flying display. The former would need the provision of a marquee. The chairman said that the scout group he is involved with has a marquee but he was not certain whether it would be large enough. He would make enquiries and also enquire of other scout groups. The alternative was to hire a commercial marquee and costs of this would be investigated.
The club should also look into the possibility of the BMFA attending with their caravan/trailer.
Trade involvement. This would depend on the arrangements with a site owner. There could be a conflict if the site is provided free and would be subject to discussion with a site owner. It would need to be made clear to traders that no facilities by way of marquees etc would be provided and that they would need to provide their own. Depending on the arrangements they could be asked for a contribution towards the costs of the show, or for a donation to charity. The decision on their presence was deferred dependant on the outcome of site negotiations.
First aid facilities would need to be provided. As the club’s chosen charity, the Air Ambulance does not provide such facilities, the St John’s Ambulance would be approached.
There would also need to be some catering facilities and it was agreed that a ‘burger’ van and ice cream van would be the best option and suitable people would be identified once a site and date were set.
Toilet facilities will need to be provided and some form of mobile toilets would be needed. These would need to be hired in for the event.
Crowd control would also be required. This would need to be in the form of a barrier between the flying area and the public area. As the event was to encourage younger people and children it was considered that the barrier should be some form of fencing such as the type of plastic netting (Netlon) used at Beale Park. It was considered there was the possibility of obtaining sponsorship for this.
There was then discussion about the format of a flying display. A sequential programme of flying from trainers through sport to scale and old time models was agreed. The display would be for all radio controlled models weighing less than 20 Kgs. This would be spelt out in invitations to other clubs.
The club trainer and buddy box would also be used to give interested people some ‘hands on’ experience of model flying. This could be continue while other types of flying were taking place as happened at RVCP attended by the Secretary and Treasurer.
There was also the possibility of free flight , control line and electric flight. There was discussion about whether to include gliders. The possibility remains, but the practicalities would have to be reviewed again.
The club has a public address system which could be used. There would need to be several people who could take it in turns to do the commentary.
The club would also need to provide the flight line director and flight line marshal, both of whom must be B certificate holders. These duties can be rotated with suitably qualified members within the club. Frequency control and transmitter control would also be needed and could be provided by other club members.
It was agreed that the scope of the event should not be over ambitious given the limited number of people within the club who hold B certificates and can act in the various roles. Some assistance could be provided from other clubs, but they should principally attend to fly.
It was agreed that hospitality would be provided for pilots from visiting clubs.
The aim of the club is to cover its costs in running the event Tony Roberts explained that a grant towards some specific cost of the event may be available from the Borough. One possibility was that the cost of the toilet facilities be covered by such a grant. The maximum likely to be available this way was £300. Applications have to be made by 6th May and it was agreed that an application be made once a site is confirmed.
Tony Roberts has also been in touch with two organisations that can assist with arranging sponsorship money. It was agreed that Tony continue to explore this avenue.
It was confirmed that any expenses incurred by members of the committee in making arrangements for the event would be reimbursed by the club.
There was then discussion about what level of contingency funding the club should be prepared to make. The committee agreed that this should not exceed £1500.
It was agreed that national advertising was not required. The event should be advertised in the local papers and on local TV and Radio. It should be advertised to local clubs who should be invited to come and fly or to bring static display models to the event. This process had been started by the letter sent to local clubs via the BMFA.
The chairman suggested that there was no need for separate sub committee as the officers of the club would need to be involved in the decision making process since they were principally accountable to the membership. It was agreed that no sub committee would be formed and that all decisions would be referred to the committee. To facilitate this and expedite matters where necessary, additional meetings of the committee would be held when required.
It was agreed that Tony Roberts continue as the Event Coordinator.
Dave belcher suggested that if we were unable to find a site for the planned display that we should hold an event for members of the club only. After some discussion it was agreed that the club should some form of fly in and picnic or barbecue for its members in the late summer or early autumn irrespective of whether the display goes ahead. The secretary suggested that the club may be able to hold the event at Dreadnought and he would speak to the park management. In the past there had been issues around the use of barbecues, but he thought that for a special event it might be possible to get permission.
The next meeting of the committee was originally arranged to be held on Thursday 23rd March, but following a request the meeting has been moved to the Wednesday and will now be on 22nd March at the David Lloyd centre unless there is a specific need to meet before then.
The committee thanked Tony for his hospitality and for all his hard work so far in taking the event forward.
Meeting closed at 22:00