Per Ardua Asbestos
In the UK there is a curious annual institution called the Model Engineer Exhibition - or at least it used to be. The exhibition is named after a magazine called 'The Model Engineer' which is the oldest model magazine in the world. The magazine was the original sponsor and organiser of the exhibition. It's also possibly the only fortnightly modelling magazine in the world. The exhibition traditionally takes place in late December - early January.
In the usual course of events the magazine changed hands several times and eventually became a part of the MAP organisation, later Argus Publications and now Nexus Publications. Somewhere in there a lot of people lost sight of its beginnings and it became commonly known as the Model EngineerING Exhibition. The latest sponsors/organisers also having lost sight of its beginnings decided to change the name to the International Model Show and Model Engineer(ing) Exhibition, or IMS & MEE. You might contemplate here the apparently natural course of events from the logical to the inexplicable.
The venue for this event has also changed repeatedly over the years but has now settled on the mighty Olympia in London. It should be pointed out to those who don't know the place that it would be difficult indeed to find a place which is harder to get to, or get into. A few years ago, someone had the brilliant idea of actually flying models inside the place during the show. This started as a very casual affair but has assumed the proportions of a monster. It is clear that the original intention was to cater for free-flight and control-line flying with the odd R/C heli thrown in.
What this has transitioned into is a chance for those who enjoy violent 3D heli manoeuvres or hovering(?) aeroplanes to show off their skills. Imagine the sight of a 40 powered R/C aeroplane hovering within 5 feet of a balcony crowded with people. Yes, there is a net around the edge of the balcony. It is so substantial that you almost have to touch it to know that it's there!
One worthy individual who had dinged his 30 size heli, promptly fired up his 61 powered machine and continued the show. Another flew his model into the balcony and then admitted over the PA that this was due to the batteries being flat.
Perhaps this is the time to point out that all of this occurs in an area about 180 x 80 feet (55 x 24 metres) and about 100 feet (30 metres) high. That's between the balconies. The balconies are about 35 feet (10 metres) high and supported by columns. There are areas under the balconies which are off limits. The whole is covered by a glass roof with lots of beams and trusses. In December there is not a great deal of natural light - none after mid afternoon and the artificial lighting is poor. The areas under the balconies are dark with no clear boundary. Control-line flyers are restricted to 35 foot lines and free-flight flyers frequently loose models which become hung up in the roof supports.
Until this year the flying was 'organised' by the sponsoring group but this time it was taken over by our national body the BMFA (ex-SMAE) who have strict rules within the organisation relating to insurance, R/C frequencies and qualifications for public display flying. All of these appeared to be completely ignored, despite the presence of their own display stand. Questions on the subject were also ignored.
Some of you may have realised by now that this column is supposed to be of a somewhat humourous nature and you might be asking where the humour lies in the above piece. Well, dear reader, I just wanted to reassure you that the future of our hobby is in good hands.
Saucery?
I'm a little disappointed - no, I'm a lot disappointed - that no-one appears to have any ideas, or opinions, on the Magical problem that I talked about last time. That will teach me to talk about helicopters!
All of which tends to put me off the idea of talking about other similar problems. Such things as the great OS 61 FSR-H flame-out mystery come to mind. Or even such things as the OS 61 SX-H carburation mystery (the mystery being, 'does it actually exist?' - no the mystery, not the carburation). There seems to be no reason at all to discuss such things as hot and cold plugs (one mans hot is another mans cold), why they exist, what they do, how to tell and who cares.
Perhaps I should change tack and start a survey on the incidence of alien abductions amongst our readers and try to prove some correlation between time loss experiences and carbon rotor blades. I could try to establish some connection between crop circles and the incidence of control-line flyers in the affected area.
Question 1: Am I the only person on this planet who has experienced time GAIN?
Question 2: How many unidentified flying objects have you seen. Too general? How many of you seen while flying an R/C helicopter?
For those who want to know my answers to question 2 they are, in order, 'I've lost count' and 'one'. In none of these cases had I been imbibing noxious substances.
We are certainly covering a lot of ground here but the real message is that magazine communication is a two-way process and we, I, need your input. The number of people who can actually talk usefully about model heli's is severely limited and those who can soon find it boring. In the vast majority of cases it then gets the reaction from the editor that it deserves and all our standards drop.
It is quite clear to me that no-one ever reads this stuff, so I can say just about anything and get no reaction whatever. Despite the vast number of people who see the magazine, not one of you can be bothered to send an email telling me that I'm off my trolly. If you want me to talk about helicopters give me some help.
Is that enough Tony?