The BMFA are delighted to announce a very exciting relationship with the charity SkillForce. During the past few months the BMFA and SkillForce have been looking at ways the two organisations can work together and complement one another.   Read more about this exciting new partnership and SkillForce at https://www.bmfa.org/Home/SkillForce

The Government has today published their consultation ‘Taking Flight: The Future of Drones in the UK’. The measures in the consultation are part of the Governments wider drones programme and strategy, and will help shape the content of a draft Drones Bill which will be published later this year, as well as other future measures.  The measures under consultation include: Proposals for regulating and mandating the use of ‘apps’ on which pilots would file flight plans ahead of take-off Add...

The recent 2018 amendments to the Air Navigation Order will come into effect on the 30th July, making it illegal to operate any unmanned aircraft (including model aircraft) above 400ft. The UK model flying associations (BMFA, SAA, LMA & FPVUK) have been working in close collaboration in ongoing negotiations with the Department for Transport (DfT) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and we are pleased to report that earlier today the CAA issued us with a joint ‘Permission’ to allow our memb...

Individual and Team Bronze medals for the GBR team at the recent 2018 F2 (Control Line) World Championships in the F2A (Speed) Class.

The latest meeting between the Department for Transport (DfT), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and representatives from the UK Model Flying Associations took place this afternoon (Friday 15th June) at the DfT offices in London.The most urgent matter to address was the recent change to the Air Navigation Order (ANO) which introduced (in Article 94A) a 400ft height limit on the operation of all Small Unmanned Aircraft (SUA) which will come into effect on the 30th July 2018.  Whilst the changes to t...

On March 25th, British aeromodelling lost not only one of its most celebrated national and international competitors but one of the very few remaining links to our beginnings before World War 2. Ray Monks built his first models at the age of seven or eight during the 1930’s- free flight, of course, there was nothing else in those days- and by the early forties he was entering competitions. In 1945 he won the S.M.A.E.’s prestigious Hamley trophy (on what is now Heathrow airport) and in 1951 qua...

The Government has today announced proposed changes to the Air Navigation Order (ANO) to introduce increased regulations aimed at drone pilots. The proposed changes are as follows: Operators of drones above 250g to be registered (effective from 30th Nov 2019).  It is hoped that membership of one of the UK Model Flying Associations will satisfy this requirement. Drone operators will be required to take an on online safety test to verify their knowledge of the regulations (effective from 30...

As reported in the last issue of the BMFA news the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes in to force on 25th May 2018, there are a number of documents available for you to download from the club support page at https://www.bmfa.org/Clubs/Club-Support these should provide you with all the information BMFA Affiliated Clubs and Specialist Bodies require so you are able to take the necessary steps towards GDPR compliance. GDPR is quite a complex regulation and there is a huge amount of...

It is my sad duty to report the death of recently retired BMFA Chairman, Chris Moynihan, who passed away at his home on 6th February 2018 after a long battle with cancer.  Chris had been receiving treatment for some time but remained in good spirits and active as BMFA Chairman for as long as he was able.  Having started model flying as a 10-year-old in 1956, Chris was drawn towards silent flight where he made his mark as a keen thermal soaring competitor and competition organiser. However, alwa...

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has now published the Technical Opinion and Draft Regulations for Unmanned Aircraft.  All of the documents can be found on the EASA website here: https://www.easa.europa.eu/document-library/opinions/opinion-012018 Model aircraft remain within the scope of these Regulations, but thanks to the lobbying carried out on behalf of the model flying community by Europe Air Sports, the Basic Regulation (which underpins these regulations and specifies what they ...