Please remember to rejoin the BMFA for 2026. It is essential to be a member for insurance, but the website is not open for membership renewals until December. From 1st December, renewal is easily accomplished by logging on to www.bmfa.justgo.com and paying the money.
The AGM of the Scotland Area took place as a Zoom call a week ago, on Tuesday 11th November. There were 18 members on the call, representing 8 affiliated clubs (out of around 900 members and 26 clubs).
Not much has changed. Mark Christie finished his stint as Treasurer and was replaced by Nigel Miscampbell of Glenluce and Galloway club. Iain Nicol stood down as Area Delegate to concentrate on his business, and has yet to be replaced. Bill Anderson our Achievement Scheme Coordinator tendered his apologies for missing the meeting due to a very recent bereavement, and so any enquiries about Training and Testing should be directed temporarily to the chairman, Alasdair Sutherland. Bill did send a list of this year’s achievements and the examiners involved, and the meeting ratified his list of Chief Examiners, 2 for helicopters and 4 for fixed wing.
Mark reported that our Area finances (up to March this year) are healthy, after receiving a substantial income from BMFA Central as we are a new Area. Our attempts to spend that money by supporting club events and Area events in conjunction with the SAA came to nothing for various reasons. Having failed to spend our initial Area Grant makes it more difficult to get more, and BMFA rules constrain what we can spend the money on. Our spend has to support aeromodelling in Scotland in general, and the BMFA in particular, so we are looking at supporting the Achievement Scheme, Club Events, and national events in conjunction with the SAA.
The meeting also agreed a simpler (and more generous) arrangement for paying expenses for examiners who travel to other clubs to conduct tests for the Achievement scheme.
A number of officer posts remain unfilled in our Area, namely:-
-
Vice-chairman
-
Area Delegate*
-
Communications Officer (IT)
-
Flying Disciplines Representative
-
Outreach Officer
Some of these are options suggested by head office, but the Area Delegate post is mandatory and so these will be on the agenda at the next meeting on Tuesday 10th March 2026. An explanation of these roles will be posted nearer the time, along with a registration link for the Zoom call.
