Dear All,
Many thanks to those of you who attended the meeting last Saturday. Turnout was excellent and the meeting went very well with contributions from everyone, which was great.
Thanks also to all of you who sent apologies – 21 in total – it made a big difference to know who was not coming and how you wished to vote on the electric assist rule change.
The meeting seemed to run well in the Dolphin pub and an afternoon slot seemed to suit a good number of people. I am sure we will be using this venue again next year.
Below is a summary of the key points that came up in the meeting. The full minutes will be written and circulated as soon as possible.
I hope you all have an excellent winter with flying and or building – 2017 promises to be a good year for WSRFC – I look forward to seeing you sometime up the hill.
best regards,
Chris
Rule Book Changes
The new club rules and associated version of the club handbook were discussed and the matter of accepting the new proposal, to allow electric assisted flight, was voted on. The motion to accept the new handbook and rules was carried, with a unanimous vote for at the meeting, plus 21 further votes for and 1 vote against by proxy .
This change has immediate effect and is simply a continuation, in permanent form, of the trial that has been running for many years.
Please be extremely considerate and conscious of the fact that electric-assisted flying is permissible for height gain only and in general terms for the allowance of soaring when the lift is very light or when it is not on the slopes. What we as a club must avoid, is giving the impression to visitors and other non-members that e-flight in general is allowed at Whitesheet – which it is not.
The club committee (and also the club membership) will continue to monitor the use of e-soaring in 2017 and the matter will be reviewed again at the 2017 AGM. Minor tweaks or rule changes can then be made if necessary.
I very much hope that the changes will allow more soaring to take place at Whitesheet, more of the time. I also hope that these changes will encourage greater membership and better participation in future events at the hill, as our flyers will be encouraged to make the journey and meet up, knowing that the weather conditions have a lower impact on whether or not they will get some flying in.
Let’s all make the most of this opportunity in 2017.
Please note the new handbook which is now in effect is available to download here:
http://whitesheet.org.uk/club-rules-constitution/
Club Funds
The club remains in a healthy state, financially. On the 7th November, the closing balance of the main club account stood at £5346.21. The balance of the road funds account stood at £392.87.
It was agreed that in order to simplify the accounting burden on the Treasurer, the funds in the road repair account will be transferred to the main account. The road fund account can then be closed.
The fund in the road repair account will however be ring-fenced in the club accounting documentation, to reflect that the source of this money was from donations specifically for the repair of the road. Should road repairs be funded by the club in future, this money will remain available for this purpose.
The club had made more effort in 2016 to spend the money it received from subscriptions. This had taken the form of gratuities for land owners, stickers and posters for members and prizes for the competitions. Ignoring BMFA fees (which come in and go out of the accounts in equal measure) the club expenditure was £824.95 against an income from membership fees of £860.
Some of the expenditure in 2016 (sticker materials, vagabond prize for example) will roll over to 2017 and these costs will not reoccur next year. The committee will continue to think of ways of using the club funds to benefit the membership in 2017. Anyone with good ideas are encouraged to get in touch.
With the aim of avoiding further excess accrual of funds in the club account, it was generally agreed that the club was spending at around the right level, along with setting appropriate fees for the membership.
Committee
The following committee was proposed and voted for at the AGM:
- Chairman – Chris Lamming (I’m afraid you are stuck with me for another year!)
- Vice chair – David Bradfield
- Secretary – Julian Yelliah
- Treasurer – Ian Duff
- Membership Secretary – Den Larking
- Competition Secretary – Stuart Wallace
- Scale Secretary – Chris Williams
- Additional Committee Member – Jess Nichols
Membership Fees and BMFA Renewal
The present fee rate of £10 for adult members and £0 for juniors was proposed and accepted. This will remain the fee rate for the forthcoming year.
If you are intending on renewing your BMFA membership through the club (which is encouraged), please could you forward your membership fee and BMFA fee to Ian as soon as possible, preferably before the end of December. This makes the job of processing the membership applications with the BMFA much easier, in terms of the group-order/bulk purchase of membership. Please see the join page for Ian’s details:
http://whitesheet.org.uk/application-for-membership-form-2/
Note that the BMFA have just announced that there are no changes to the renewal rates in 2017, see here for details:
https://bmfa.org/News/News-Page/ArticleID/2421/BMFA-Subscriptions-2017-No-increase
The score so far:
Weather: 5
White Sheet: 1
Blackdown RCFC Fly-in 2017
Smeathorpe Airfield (EX14 9RQ) 3rd & 4th June
All experience welcome (BMFA and or LMA insued)
Free camping available from the evening of Friday 2nd – Sunday 4th.
Upottery Airfield halfway between Honiton and Taunton about 4 miles NW of the junction of A30 &A303
The access point is at the south west corner of the airfield adjacent to the car speedway banger track.
Contact 01823 619039 / 07588302334
Email events@blackdownrcfc.co.uk